Trials in Boston and Seattle show the LTE network is able to hold peak download speeds of 40 to 50 megabits per second and peak upload speeds of 20 to 25 megabits per second, the New Jersey-based wireless carrier announced Monday.

Verizon's development of LTE began in August in response to consumer demands for more bandwidth and richer applications. Since then, engineers have been testing the LTE network in both cities with voice calls, web browsing, file uploads and downloads, and voice calls using Voice over Internet Protocol.

A Faster, Richer, Experience

The next-generation 4G cellular technology is more than 10 times faster than 3G and has enhanced security .

Verizon said it will be the first to roll out LTE this year, and boasted that the new network will have superior coverage and performance, thanks to its 700-MHz national deployment in 49 states, including Hawaii.

The company has an aggressive rollout plan for its LTE network, according to CTO Tony Melone, who said Verizon plans to deploy the network to approximately 100 million people in 25 to 30 markets by the end of the year.

The company already is in the process of installing LTE equipment at switching centers and cell sites throughout the nation as part of its investment in its voice and data infrastructure .

Analysts expect LTE to grow faster than past mobile standards. LTE is expected to take four years to reach 100 million subscriptions, which is two years less than it took for High Speed Packet Access to reach the same number of subscriptions.

LTE subscriptions worldwide will grow at a compound annual rate of 404 percent from 2010 to 2014 and reach 136 million by the end of 2014, according to a Pyramid Research report.

Neck and Neck

While Verizon says it will be the first to roll out the network this year, it's not the only company aggressively pushing LTE. As of May, 27 mobile operators had said they would deploy LTE, according to Pyramid Research. Twelve of those 27 operators said they would roll out commercial services this year.

NTT DoCoMo, a Japanese mobile operator, is neck and neck with Verizon to roll out LTE. The company, which was the first to launch commercial 3G services, has plans to invest $3.2 billion to $4.2 billion on the next-generation network and plans to launch commercial LTE services in the second half of this year with uplink speeds of 75 Mbps and downlinks of 300 Mbps, according to the Japanese newspaper Nikkei.

Novatel Wireless completed its first data-transmission call using LTE last month. The San Diego, Calif.-based company is working with operators to launch commercial data services by December.

Ericsson, which expects to own 25 percent of all core patents for LTE, will be the key supplier of LTE equipment for AT&T, which plans to deploy a LTE network by 2011.