It looks like Verizon will be taking the rollout of 4G LTE very seriously in 2012 as the carrier has revealed their plans to double their coverage to 400 markets by the end of the year, and at the same time push hard for LTE adoption by only issuing 4G LTE capable devices. This was revealed by the carrier’s CTO, David Small, who also mentioned that come 2013, the only state without Verizon’s 4G LTE coverage would be Alaska.
Their goal of aiming for 400 markets by the end of the year is a pretty ambitious one, although given that they have managed to cover about 200 markets since their initial rollout, and based on the speed that they have been rolling out network coverage, we guess it is possible for the carrier to reach their goal. As far as their “only 4G smartphones” decision is concerned, it could be a good idea especially given that a reported mere 5% of their customer base is utilizing the carrier’s LTE network, so by introducing a range budget to high-end 4G LTE capable devices (and hopefully affordable data plans to match) will no doubt make the adoption of LTE more appealing. Hopefully that plan only kicks in after they have rolled out more coverage, otherwise it just wouldn’t make sense to the rest of the Verizon subscribers without LTE coverage.