Report: Verizon 4G handsets out by mid-2011

From CNET News.com: Anthony Melone, chief technology officer at Verizon Wireless, told the newspaper he expects Verizon to be able to offer mobile handsets with 4G capability within three to six months after it launches its commercial 4G network. This is about six months sooner than had previously been expected.

At the GSMA's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February, Dick Lynch, an executive vice president and CTO for Verizon Communications, said Verizon Wireless is on track to launch its service in 25 to 30 markets throughout the U.S. by the end of 2010. The company, which is using a technology called LTE or long term evolution, is in the final phase, or "Phase 4," of its technology testing. Verizon Wireless is building its new 4G wireless network using spectrum it bought in the 700MHz auction.

The company should be able to start launching commercial deployments within the next couple of months as it finishes testing in cities like Boston and Seattle, Lynch said.

Typically, when a new generation of wireless network is launched, the first devices to use the new network are USB air cards that plug into laptops to provide faster Internet connections. Cell phones and other mobile devices with the new technology embedded usually show up in the market about year later.

But it looks like the development cycle on LTE handset technology is happening faster. Air cards will still be introduced to the market first, but mobile handsets with LTE technology embedded will follow more quickly than they usually do. At Mobile World Congress, Lynch and executives from the European carrier Orange as well as from equipment maker Ericsson, said LTE handsets will be introduced sooner than anyone had anticipated.

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