US carrier Verizon Wireless today announced it will launch its LTE network on December 5 in 38 markets, a move that will make it the world’s largest commercial LTE operator. Over 100 million Americans will be covered with the new network at launch, providing average download speeds (even when fully loaded) of 5-12 Mb/s and average uplink speeds of 2-5 Mb/s. 

Two data plans will be available; a 5GB monthly allowance for US$50 or a 10GB monthly allowance for US$80. Both plans allow customers to top up their allowance, with an extra 1GB costing US$10. “We wanted to keep it simple and straightforward,” said Tony Melone, senior vice president and chief technical officer of Verizon Wireless, on a conference call. Melone said he expects that most customers will be attracted to the US$80 price plan. Interestingly, the plans undercut Verizon’s existing 3G data plans, which offer 5GB of data for a US$59.99 monthly price tag. Customers will receive numerous text alerts when they approach their limits.

On the device side, initial launch is clearly focused on laptop connectivity, with a USB modem from South Korean vendor LG available from December 5. The LG VL600 (pictured) will be “soon” followed by a USB from Pantech (the UML290). Both will cost US$99.99 on a two-year deal and are backwards compatible with the operator’s 3G EV-DO network. The operator promised more news on LTE smartphones at the CES show in January. “You can expect other devices by the middle of 2011,” claimed Melone.

In terms of handover to the new technology, Melone claimed there will be “no hiccup” in moving from an LTE zone into a 3G-only area. However, when moving ‘upwards’ from a 3G area into an LTE-enabled zone, the device will stay locked into 3G until the user stops transmitting data. Once the 3G data call is over, the device will then automatically ‘find’ the LTE network.

Melone reiterated plans to cover its entire 3G footprint with LTE technology by the end of 2013, and praised its radio access network partners Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent, as well as core network providers Cisco, Nokia Siemens Networks and Tekelec. He claimed that, whilst Verizon is not the first commercial LTE operator (a crown held by TeliaSonera), it is the first to launch LTE “at a scale that will really make a difference and kickstart the 4G LTE ecosystem.”

“This is a big deal,” he added. “I liken it to the success of the Android operating system. Android really took off when Verizon got behind it; the same thing will happen with LTE.”