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Verizon will launch or expand its 4G LTE wireless coverage to over a dozen new markets on June 16, the carrier announced today in a series of press releases.

Among the cities to receive Verizon's faster data coverage are: Salt Lake City, Utah; Spokane, Wash.; Madison and Milwaukee, Wis.; Hartford, Conn.; Boise, Idaho; Sacramento, Calif.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Springfield, Ohio. Detroit and the San Francisco Bay Area will see expanded LTE coverage at that time.

Verizon has been gradually rolling out its 4G LTE service since the operator's initial December launch.

A week after Clearwire, Comcast, and Sprint announced their WiMax expansion, Verizon has continued the 4G fun with today's news that its 4G LTE network is now live in what it calls nine new markets.

These are Mobile and Montgomery, Ala.; Greater Fairfield and New Haven, Conn.; Gainesville, Pensacola, and Tallahassee, Fla.; Fayetteville-Lumberton, N.C.; and Bryan-College Station and Temple-Killeen, Texas. Verizon also expanded its existing LTE coverage in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, New Orleans, and Philadelphia. In total, Verizon says it now offers 4G wireless in 55 U.S. metropolitan areas.

Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo revealed several interesting things at the Reuters Global Technology Summit. First, Verizon will continue to compete with AT&T on the iPhone--Big Red will sell the next-generation iPhone (referred to by some as the iPhone 5 or iPhone 4S) alongside AT&T.

Shammo also said that the next Verizon iPhone will operate in as many countries as AT&T's global iPhone. Reading between the lines, we can guess that Verizon is preparing for a big announcement on this front when the next-generation iPhone hits global shelves.

Verizon's CFO was less transparent about the next iPhone's speeds, suggesting that Verizon's portfolio of LTE Android phones would make up for a next-gen iPhone. "I think it's a bigger issue for Apple than it is for us," Reuters quotes. "Depending on where Apple plays, that's where we'll sell."… Read more

Sprint Nextel may be considering a hosting deal that could help it and its close partner Clearwire deploy a 4G LTE network to compete with rivals Verizon Wireless and AT&T.

Earlier this week, the blog Fierce Wireless reported that Sprint's CEO Dan Hesse said at a JP Morgan conference in Boston that Sprint may consider striking hosting deals that would allow other wireless providers to use some of Sprint's excess network capacity. In exchange, Sprint would get access to additional spectrum.

"This could be a source of additional spectrum or capacity," the blog quoted Hesse as saying. "But we haven't made any decisions on hosting."

The blog went on to report that Hesse acknowledged that Sprint has been talking to Clearwire about a network hosting deal.

"It also has been reported that there are some discussions between Clearwire and Sprint about the potential of Sprint hosting some spectrum. That's a potential that could happen. It's more economical for Clearwire to host it vs. building a separate network," Hesse was quoted as saying.

Sprint may be talking to other companies about hosting services and sharing spectrum. The Wall Street Journal and blog BroadbandReports have also reported recently that Sprint has been talking to LightSquared, which is building a nationwide LTE network, about a hosting arrangement as well. … Read more

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Richard Bennett's bio below.

The National Broadband Plan delivered to Congress by the Federal Communications Commission last year recommended the licensing of 500MHz of new spectrum to mobile broadband providers, including 120MHz currently held by local TV broadcasters. The nature of the incentive auction that would enable willing broadcasters to transfer this spectrum to mobile operators (for a portion of auction proceeds) is under debate in Washington, as are means of transferring additional spectrum currently held by government agencies.

Wheels move slowly in Washington, and mobile providers can't wait for … Read more

In our experience, Verizon's claim about offering the fastest 4G network has been consistently correct in CNET tests. Its LG VL600 LTE USB Modem proved the fastest among its peers, and now the Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot SCH-11 is by far the fastest among 4G cellular routers CNET has reviewed. But it's far from perfect.

Measuring just 3.5 inches by 2.3 inches by half an inch, Verizon's compact and good-looking Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot SCH-11 is about the same size as Sprint's MiFi 4082 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot or T-Mobile's 4G Mobile Hotspot ZTE MF61. All three routers support 3G and 4G networks and offer Internet access for up to five Wi-Fi clients.

However, the similarity ends there. The Samsung device doesn't support most features available in the other two, such as GPS, Wi-Fi Protected Setup, an external antenna port, microSD slot for network storage, and so on. The router doesn't even allow Wi-Fi clients to communicate with one another. It's just a simple router that shares a very fast connection to the Internet. … Read more

Panasonic's new Toughbook looks a lot like its old Toughbook. That is to say, it's bulky, is rated for MIL-STD-810G tests including drops up to 30 inches on its sides or 12 inches on the corners, and has a magnesium-alloy case, a shock-mounted hard drive, and spill-resistant keyboard.

The differences, however, are many: the new Toughbook 53 has lost over a pound of weight, dropping to a reasonable 5.6 pounds and downsizing its screen from 15.6 inches to 14 inches. The track pad has gotten larger, and added multitouch. 4G LTE service is now offered--a first … Read more

U.S. Cellular announced today its plans for bringing 4G LTE coverage and cell phones to more than a quarter of its customers in 2011.

The nation's sixth largest mobile operator will roll out 4G service in stages, starting with Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin. 

"In addition to our line-up of cutting-edge devices, customers who switch to U.S. Cellular get unique benefits like faster phone upgrades without continuously signing contracts, and join the happiest customers in wireless," said Mary Dillon, U.S. Cellular's president and CEO, in a statement.

U.S. … Read more

AT&T is pinning its future on getting its hands on more wireless spectrum. But should regulators allow AT&T, which owns more wireless spectrum than any other wireless operator across the nation, to gobble up even more of this scarce resource?

That's the big question that the Federal Communications Commission is grappling with as it scrutinizes the planned merger between AT&T and T-Mobile, which will transfer all of T-Mobile's spectrum to AT&T. The FCC is also in the middle of considering AT&T's plan to buy spectrum in the lower part of the 700MHz band of spectrum from Qualcomm.… Read more