Verizon 4G LTE turned on for 35 new cities by end of November

By Chris Burns/Oct. 10, 2011 11:59 am EST

This week Verizon has announced a new wave of 4G LTE expansions and activations including one set on October 20th and another on November 17th, these together combining to one again solidify the USA's largest carrier as also the nation's "most reliable" 4G network. What we've got here is LTE activation in 22 new cities and network expansion in four cities on Oct. 20, then LTE activation in 13 cities and network expansion in five cities on Nov. 17, this making Verizon's LTE total at 178 cities active in their 4G network by December.

Verizon devices enabled with LTE connectivity have been coming out of the woodwork as of late, with superstars still shining through – a couple of weeks ago, in fact, your humble narrator witnessed what could only be called a crushing blow of advertisements in New York City showing off the DROID Charge, this leading up to the DROID BIONIC and of course their strange and inexpensively priced cousin, the Pantech Breakout. All of these devices run on LTE for speed and all of them are up there in the top class for quality when ranked amongst the rest of the devices their manufacturers make — have a look at our reviews for a taste:

LG Revolution DROID Charge by Samsung DROID BIONIC the only dual-core smartphone currently with LTEHTC Thunderbolt Motorola XOOM on the docket for LTE upgrades, then it'll be the only tablet on LTE and only the second to be a dual-core LTE device in the USA

Here's what we're hearing from Verizon specifically on the expansion:

On Thursday, Oct. 20, Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE network will be available in Birmingham, Ala.; Modesto and Stockton, Calif.; Fort Myers, Fla.; Bloomington, Elkhart, Evansville, South Bend and Terre Haute, Ind.; Sioux City, Iowa; Hagerstown, Md.; Tupelo, Miss.; Albuquerque and Santa Fe, N.M.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Asheville, N.C.; Bartlesville, Okla.; Jackson and Martin, Tenn.; Greater Hampton Roads and Richmond, Va.; and Green Bay, Wis. Verizon Wireless is also expanding its 4G LTE network in Los Angeles and San Diego, Calif.; Washington, D.C.; and Erie, Pa. the same day.

On Thursday, Nov. 17, the company will turn on its 4G LTE network in Little Rock, Ark.; Savannah, Ga.; Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, Iowa; Lexington, Ky.; Kansas City and Springfield, Mo.; Lincoln, Neb.; Orange County, N.Y.; Greater Providence; Rapid City, S.D.; Roanoke, Va.; and Appleton, Wis. The company is also making major 4G LTE expansions on Nov. 17 in Louisville, Ky.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; and Nashville, Tenn.

You know good and well that your humble narrator is looking most forward to that expansion of LTE in Minneapolis / St Paul, MN. Time for extra speed! We're guessing CES in a few months will be, again, host to a whole new wave of LTE-laden devices like it was last year, and we're hoping they'll be coming out a BIT quicker than last year's CES group did. Hoping!