Telecommunication and broadband company Verizon is shutting down 20 MHz airwaves allotted to 3G in New York, as the company makes way for its third 4G LTE network.
The 3G 20 MHz spectrum is now running 4G-LTE over Manhattan, with asimilar transition being reported in Cleveland’s network.
Network spotter Milan Milanovic initially reported about the shift in the Howard Forums Mobile community last month, when Milanovic spotted the new LET network.
He found that the 1980MHz/1990MHz chunk of frequencies allotted to the Verizon’s 3G EV-DO network was turned off.
This week, Milanovic noticed that the airwaves were back with LTE signals instead of the previously allotted CDMA signals, but the transmission power and the internet sped were slow.
Verizon hinted about re-launching some of its 3G networks for LTE in 2015, reported Gigaom.
Gigaom reported Verizon CTO Tony Melone as previously saying that the company could shut down 3G completely and provide 4G network to its customers.
Around 80% of Verizon’s mobile data traffic now uses LTE, but 41% of the traffic relies on 2G and 3G radios which may mean Verizon might have to keep EV-DO capacity online to support the devices that cannot run 4G networks.
Unlike 3G, Verizon’s 2G networks are expected to be retained by the company, but it could eventually be shifted to the new voice-over-LTE service.
