US Cellular to get HTC Desire, eventual LTE 4G
updated 05:40 pm EDT, Fri August 6, 2010
US Cellular to get HTC Desire in August, LTE 4G
Regional carrier US Cellular spoke about some of its future plans at an earnings report. The CDMA carrier will get the HTC Desire and BlackBerry Bold later in August, according to executive VP Alan Ferber. Also due are the Samsung Galaxy S and two LG smartphones, though no details or dates were revealed.
Eventually, Ferber added, the carrier will launch a next-generation LTE network for its subscribers. It's already involved in technical trials for the 4G service with several hardware partners. The main issue with LTE at US Cellular is not building out the network, but have a sufficient supply and choice of devices that support it, said Kenneth Meyers, the CFO at parent company Telephone & Data Systems.
US Cellular represents at least the fifth national carrier to have planned an upgrade to LTE, which at its best reaches 100Mbps downstream. Verizon will be the first with full service at the end of the year, but AT&T, T-Mobile and MetroPCS have all pledged to have service tested and active sometime in 2011. [via FierceWireless]
