Is Thunderbolt going to Run 3G till Summer

[am4966]

I was doing some reading and came across this post on droidlife:

"so i just heard something new from my local verizon rep, and maybe this is old news, but it was a shock to me. first off, i prefaced with the fact that i was off-contract and was looking for the most advanced phone, which led her to ask, "are you talking about the thunderbolt?" she immediately said that they officially were allowed to go public with the the feb 24 launch date (this is near atlanta, fyi.) i asked why this wasn't published and she only speculated that it had to do with iphone sales.

after asking several questions about signal strength and 4g-related questions, she told me that on the 24th, the thunderbolt would be available, but would only run on the 3g cdma network until summer, when they would officially launch the mobile 4g lte network. this means that no matter where you are, the thunderbolt will only be 3g till some time this summer. she called it a "4g ready" phone, to be later upgraded to 4g."

Verizon sold its soul to Apple and got ****ty sales in return! How do you like those Apples!?

 

[bberrynewbie84]

too many rumors man!

 

[biff6789]

"Local Verizon reps" have a pretty poor track record of what's happening with this phone lately

Plus we have a video here showing a model that is clearly activated and running LTE:

YouTube - HTC Thunderbolt: 4G LTE Demonstration

This whole phone is about the launch of their LTE network... it would be quite dumb to launch an LTE network with an LTE phone that doesn't run LTE, nomsayin

 

[I am Fake Jesus]

4g has been launched already for usb mobile modems in launch cities. they will be adding cities over the next 2 years until all verizon coverage is updated

 

[biff6789]

4g has been launched already for usb mobile modems in launch cities. they will be adding cities over the next 2 years until all verizon coverage is updated

You're right, I should have been more clear... This is the launch of their LTE network for handheld devices, not overall - which was the point I was trying to make. Apologies for the ambiguity

But still, this phone will run LTE out of the box when it eventually drops between now and Labor Day

 

[racedog]

But still, this phone will run LTE out of the box when it eventually drops between now and Labor Day

Yes, thinking anything else is a little nuts. Verizon isn't about to put out their first LTE phone with LTE not running. Again,forget asking sales reps these questions, they don't have the right answers, they are just guessing or passing along rumors.

R

 

[Nitros7]

Yes, thinking anything else is a little nuts. Verizon isn't about to put out their first LTE phone with LTE not running. Again,forget asking sales reps these questions, they don't have the right answers, they are just guessing or passing along rumors.

R

That would be the altimate kick in the teeth... oh i know you waited for this phone, but now you have it... its not going to run 4G for 2-3 months, but hey its a 4G phone!!! thats when I tell the vzw rep where he can stick it.

 

[I am Fake Jesus]

well i might be wrong, but the towers send out the 4g lte radio signals, the usb sticks have a lte radio to recieve, so does the bolt.....so why wouldnt handsets pick the same freq up......riddle me that

 

[Droid800]

Does atlanta have 4G yet? She could have been saying that it won't run LTE until the network is up and running there.

 

[robdec17]

Yes Atlanta has been 4G LTE since December

 

[ufmace]

Not buying it.. Since store reps usually don't know that much and it's damn hard to believe they're going to hype the crap out of the release of the first LTE phone and then not activate it for months.

What is believable is that your city might not have LTE service active now and it might take a few months. Also that calling is over conventional 2G right now and might be upgraded to use VoLTE calling in the next few months or so.

 

[menji]

I have never heard a phone generate as many rumors as this phone has...then again I have never followed a phone's release as closely as this one. We should start a thread that names every erroneous rumor the tbolt generated. of course can't start it until the phone is released. irony? lol

 

[Droid800]

Yes Atlanta has been 4G LTE since December

Just re-read his post; he said it was 'near atlanta'. That could mean any number of things. For all we know, the area where the store was has no LTE yet.

 

[rigorx]

They aren't going to promote this phone as their first 4G LTE phone, only to launch it with 3G only lol. They'd simply sit on the phone (or be launching some other phone all together) until the LTE network was ready to go live for phone devices.

Regarding all these reports you read, just ask yourself if it makes sense at all in terms of business / advertising / common sense.

 

[I am Fake Jesus]

if it truly does release as a 3g only phone. as much as i love it. i will pass. cause the delays, now skype is being pulled off the phone. 3g only launch.

i could only imagine an update or bug fixes. i would be scared for slow to no support after purchase

 

[biff6789]

if it truly does release as a 3g only phone. as much as i love it. i will pass. cause the delays, now skype is being pulled off the phone. 3g only launch.

i could only imagine an update or bug fixes. i would be scared for slow to no support after purchase

It's not gonna be 3G-only at launch. And Skype will make it to the phone eventually

Let not your heart be troubled

 

[I am Fake Jesus]

I'm just saying if it was true. Trust me verizon would not be that dumb. I no that. I am trusting we will have this phone Thursday an if in 4g range getting some lightning speeds.

 

[Droid800]

if it truly does release as a 3g only phone. as much as i love it. i will pass. cause the delays, now skype is being pulled off the phone. 3g only launch.

i could only imagine an update or bug fixes. i would be scared for slow to no support after purchase

Why would you be afraid of that? This is Verizon's flagship phone, it won't be left unsupported.

 

[UvaWiseGuy#CB]

@Droid800 - You must not be among the Storm users. We remember when it was the new flagship for RIM and VZW, its response to the iPhone. A couple of months later after a rocky launch, we got 5.0 update and then it was like the Storm disappeared from the VZW radar screen completely. I'm still planning to go with the T-Bolt, but I understand the apprehension expressed by Fake.

 

[Droid800]

@Droid800 - You must not be among the Storm users. We remember when it was the new flagship for RIM and VZW, its response to the iPhone. A couple of months later after a rocky launch, we got 5.0 update and then it was like the Storm disappeared from the VZW radar screen completely. I'm still planning to go with the T-Bolt, but I understand the apprehension expressed by Fake.

Well, that's because RIM sucks at updates and support. HTC is pretty awesome with that, and so is Verizon.

Trust me, you have nothing to worry about.