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Verizon Wireless is having a little marketing fun on Monday.
The company announced the launch of its XLTE service. Verizon is trying to pitch XLTE as an offering customers should get excited about, but it’s really just a rebranding. Rather than use the clunky AWS spectrum and 700MHz spectrum to describe the service, Verizon will now use XLTE.
Devices capable of connecting XLTE can access the AWS and the 700MHz spectrum in markets where the service is available. The technology allows for devices to achieve faster data speeds and access additional bandwidth during high-traffic times. The idea is to offload some of the heavy load the networks experience during peak usage.
Verizon’s move, which juggles different bands for faster traffic, is nearly identical to the one Sprint made in October when it launched its Spark service. That announcement was nothing more than a way for Sprint to brand its devices’ ability to work between three bands — one from the defunct Nextel network and two others from its Clearwire acquisition.
According to Verizon, its XLTE network is supported by 35 percent of the devices running on its service including Apple’s iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S. On the Android side, the Samsung Galaxy S4, Galaxy S5, and Galaxy Note 3 all work with XLTE.
