Verizon has announced rapid deployment of the a large-scale LTE network today from the CTIA Enterprise & Applications 2010 conference. Lowell McAdam, president and CEO of Verizon, detailed the company’s major network launch in 38 major metropolitan areas, covering more than 110 million Americans, by the end of the year. 

"With our initial 4G LTE launch, we will immediately reach more than one-third of all Americans where they live, right from the start. And, we will quickly introduce 4G LTE throughout the Verizon coverage area," said McAdam.

In addition, the company is launching 4G LTE in more than 60 commercial airports coast to coast – both the airports within the launch areas plus airports in other key cities.

According to Verizon the initial launch covers

• Large sections of the Northeast Corridor, including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. as well as Rochester, New York. 
• Throughout Miami and south Florida, Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and New Orleans as well as Charlotte, North Carolina and Nashville, Tennessee
• Chicagoland, St. Louis, the Twin Cities, Pittsburgh and major cities in Ohio
• Major population centers in California as well as Seattle, Phoenix, Denver and Las Vegas

Verizon Wireless expects 4G LTE average data rates to be 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) on the downlink and 2 to 5 Mbps on the uplink in real-world, loaded network environments.