Some Ohio University students may have noticed something different about their cell phone service after arriving in Athens after Spring Break.
Verizon Wireless recently upgraded its network in Athens to include 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) coverage.The upgrade will be announced in April, Verizon spokesperson Laura Merritt said.
“It is a long process to build up our LTE network,” Merritt said. “We do a lot of testing before our official launch. We want to make sure costumers have a great experience.”
Currently, Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE service is available in 480 cities, which covers 87 percent of the U.S. population. Coverage in Athens will be spread throughout OU’s campus and downtown Athens.
“The expansion of our 4G LTE network coverage in Athens and on the Ohio University campus will allow customers, whether students, faculty, residents or visitors, to stay connected like never before — uploading, downloading and connecting online with speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G,” said Mark Frazier, president of the Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia region of Verizon
Wireless. “We are enabling more consumers and businesses to take advantage of the innovations that are being brought to market through 4G LTE technology.”
Verizon Wireless has invested more than $80 billion in its network since 2000.
“This is technology that we and most other carriers have embraced and we are moving into the direction of true 4G LTE deployment,” Merritt said. “The good news is Verizon has been building our 4G LTE network since December 2010 and we are almost finished to have 4G everywhere that we had 3G previously.”
OIT Communications Manager Sean O’Malley said it will be interesting to see if Verizon’s new 4G LTE speeds will ease the constant demand of Wi-Fi on campus.
“Anytime you can crank up the bandwidth, especially on a mobile device, that is a good thing,” he said.
The cheapest option, for a single smart phone with 1GB of data per month, costs Verizon Wireless customers $90 per month.
“It is all about the gift of mobility and not having to be tied to a desk, a dorm or an apartment or having to hunt down available Wi-Fi, which is really important particularly for college students,” Merritt said. “That is where it is going to be a real benefit for them and once you have experienced 4G LTE, it is hard to go back.”
bc822010@ohiou.edu
