Verizon Wireless To Expand Its 4G LTE Network In The San Francisco Bay Area In Coming Weeks

Verizon Wireless announced Friday that it would expand its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in the San Francisco Bay Area in the coming weeks.

According to the company, the expanded 4G LTE network will enable customers in more parts of the Bay Area to use their wireless devices to surf the Web, stream music and video and take advantage of thousands of applications, all with speeds up to 10 times faster than before.

The Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network is currently available in much of the San Francisco Bay Area including Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Solano Counties.

With the planned network expansion, residents in Northern California's wine country, including the city of Napa, Coombsville, Yountville, St. Helena, Calistoga, parts of Angwin, along Hwy 29 from the city of Napa to St. Helena and the city of Sonoma will have access to Verizon's 4G LTE network, which the company claims is the nation's fastest.

As of June 21, Verizon's 4G LTE network covers more than two-thirds of the U.S. population, allowing consumers in 304 markets to take advantage of the faster 4G LTE network with a wide variety of 4G LTE supported devices, including the DROID 4 and the DROID RAZR(TM) MAXX(TM) by Motorola. By the end of 2012, the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network will be available in more than 400 markets, spanning 49 states.

The company offers a variety of smart accessories, including the FitBit Ultra Wireless Activity Tracker and the Withings WiFi Scale, for customers to use with their 4G LTE devices. A full list of smart accessories can be found here.

In fully loaded network environments, Verizon Wireless 4G LTE customers should experience average data rates of 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) on the downlink and 2 to 5 Mbps on the uplink, claimed the company.