Will this be the last time we ever upgrade a cell phone again?

Verizon LTE in 30 cities by year end, AT&T aims for mid-2011
[Via Ars Technica]

Both AT&T and Verizon are moving forward with their 4G/LTE networks in the US, with one launching by the end of the year and the other going commercial by mid-2011. And, with the recent approval of the first LTE phone by the FCC, the door is opening for a trickle, then flood, of new LTE devices to hop on those networks.

AT&T Operations CEO John Stankey announced at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2010 Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference this week that the company expects to give its LTE network a good kick by the middle of 2011, and cover between 70 million and 75 million users by the end of the year. Stankey did not specify which cities would get LTE first, but the company is already carrying out trials in Baltimore and Dallas, so those cities are surely on the list.

Why is AT&T waiting so long to roll out LTE when Verizon has already said that it plans to hit a number of major US markets by the end of 2010? The company apparently wants to milk its HSPA network as long as possible while it waits for the LTE market to “mature” (read: let someone else work out the kinks). In the meantime, AT&T is working on upgrading to HSPA+ this year with theoretical max data speeds at 56Mbps.

[More]

So, the phone companies expect us to upgrade once more to get reasonable voice/data that they can charge an arm and a leg for. I can hardly wait until White-fi begins to reduce their influence.

White-fi + Face Time + iPod Touch = little need for a cell phone.