So far none of the smartphones that have been made based on Microsoft"s Windows Phone 7 have any support for using the faster LTE networks that are being built by Verizon Wireless and AT&T (Sprint will launch its own LTE network in 2012). Now a Verizon executive claims that Microsoft needs to get LTE support for future Windows Phone products sooner rather than later.
In a chat over at CNet News.com, Marni Walden, chief market officer of Verizon Wireless, is quoted as saying, "We"ve communicated to Microsoft that LTE is critical to us. We need to see a timeline that makes sense if we want to continue to represent them."
Microsoft representatives have said in the past that they plan to have Windows Phone products support LTE networks at some point but not said when that will actually happen. Walden said that while Verizon is still in discussions with Microsoft on getting a LTE-based Windows Phone there is no progress to report on that subject.
Verizon has the biggest LTE wireless network by far in the US which will cover about 200 million people when a new set of markets go live on December 15. It currently has 16 LTE-based devices for sale and more are on the way including the Android 4.0 based Samsung Galaxy Nexus.