Verizon's kind of like the Usain Bolt of the U.S. wireless carriers – at least, when it comes to deployment of 4G LTE coverage.
The company just announced today that it's adding 34 new markets to its existing total, starting tomorrow, which brings the company up to 371 total markets for 4G LTE connectivity.
Or, as Verizon described in a statement released today, the company's 4G LTE network now blankets 75 percent of the U.S. population.
And Verizon had no problems comparing this fact against its lagging competition.
"Our 4G LTE network is currently in more markets than all other U.S. wireless providers combined, and our team is continuing to expand the network so that more customers across the nation can take advantage of 4G LTE speed and capabilities," said Verizon Wireless CTO Nicola Palmer.
Comparing carriers
Verizon is miles ahead of its major U.S. competition for total deployment and plans to cover 400 individual markets with 4G LTE coverage, "in the near future," Palmer says.
In fact, the 4G LTE markets served by AT&T and Sprint combined – remember, T-Mobile only plans to start dipping into 4G LTE coverage starting next year – don't add up to the number of areas covered by Verizon's 4G LTE.
AT&T, for example, hovers right around 50 total markets served with 4G LTE.
Sprint intends to reach 19 markets with 4G LTE coverage by early September – Labor Day, specifically.
Smartphone wars
The comprehensiveness of each carrier's coverage is also reflected in the number of 4G LTE-friendly smartphones each offers: As of this article's writing, Verizon's up to 44 total 4G-friendly smartphones.
AT&T, however, only offers 16.
And while Apple's white elephant in the room waits to make its official debut – expected the iPhone 5 to arrive in September with 4G connectivity in tow (Apple's first iPhone to sport such a feature) – it remains to be seen just how much each carrier's 4G LTE coverage might affect its slice of the iPhone 5 sales pie.
In other words, are potential iPhone 5 owners going to flock in larger-than-expected numbers to Verizon simply because of the size of its 4G LTE deployment?
To see which cities that are receiving new or expanded Verizon 4G LTE coverage, be sure to check out Verizon's comprehensive list.
