LTE received another teammate in the tug-of-war between WiMax and 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology yesterday when Cellular South announced its intentions today to build out a 4G mobile broadband network.
The regional carrier has declared that it will build out its spectrum in the lower 700 MHz band, but not anytime soon, unlike Verizon. Cellular South has the calendar circled for the fourth quarter of 2011.
In addition to sharing its 4G ambitions, Cellular South has also unveiled Samsung as its launch partner. The two companies penned a deal yesterday that will bring two Samsung smartphones to Cellular South in time for the carrier’s LTE launch.
Neither Samsung nor Cellular South is sharing further details about the smartphones, the spectrum, or the terms of the deal. What we can infer is that the regional operator has no intention to let the “4G revolution” pass them by.
MetroPCS became the first of the second-tier carriers to offer LTE speeds when it introduced the Samsung Craft in Las Vegas and Dallas earlier this year.