Verizon Wireless, the US operator, has announced that it has extended its LTE network to an additional 28 markets, taking the total number of cities the network covers to 102. Areas now enjoying LTE include Colorado Springs, Portland, Oregon, and Honolulu.

Verizon Wireless was the second US operator to launch LTE in the US after MetroPCS, but the first to offer it in a wide number of markets. It is currently ramping up its LTE network in a bid to establish a foothold ahead of rival AT&T, which has announced that it will be launching its own LTE network, “this summer”.

“In fewer than eight months we have introduced our 4G LTE network to more than 100 markets and we are continuing to aggressively expand our 4G LTE network; by the end of 2013 we plan to bring 4G LTE mobile broadband to our entire 3G coverage area”, said David Small, chief technical officer of Verizon Wireless, in a statement.

A range of LTE terminal devices are available to Verizon customers, including the LG Revolution, Samsung Droid Charge and HTC Thunderbolt smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet and a MiFi 4510L mobile hotspot device.

It claims that its 700MHz LTE network will deliver average real world network speeds of between 5-12Mbps on the downlink and 2-5Mbps on the uplink.

Verizon Wireless is currently the largest network operator in the US, with 33.13 per cent of the market, according to Informa WCIS statistics.

The LTE North America World Summit 2011 conference takes place on the 8-9 November 2011 in Dallas, Texas.