Verizon explains 4G LTE network issues as "growing pains"

After a month that saw 3 separate 4G LTE network outages, Verizon Wireless has issued a press release detailing some points as to why its network has been unstable and what the carrier is doing to shore it up for the future.

December has been a rough month for Verizon's LTE network, with no fewer than 3 outages affecting users across the country. Earlier this year, the network went down for multiple days, leaving many customers without any access to the 4G services. Adding to the issue, even when 4G device owners tried to use Verizon's 3G network, which was still operational, many found that they could not connect to that, either.

Verizon explains that each network outage was caused by a different technical issue, and engineers have addressed the problems as they have been discovered. A single problem has not caused the network to go down more than once, but each incident was caused by something new and unexpected. The carrier attributes this to the growing pains of being the first major carrier to deploy a nationwide LTE network, and notes that it has learned from each situation. Verizon points out that the 4G LTE network has seen 99 percent uptime since it was launched in late 2010.

Verizon says that one of the steps that it is taking to prevent future nationwide outages is to segment the network into geographic areas, limiting problems to a certain locale to prevent them from taking the whole network down. It is a bit surprising that this method wasn't already in use, considering the scale of Verizon's network. The carrier says that it has deployed numerous software fixes that will improve the reliability of the network, and that it is using techniques learned from its 3G and 1xRTT networks to maintain uptime.

So, there you have it. Verizon's network is new and runs into issues from time to time, but the carrier insists that it is constantly working to improve the network and limit downtime. It's just unfortunate that so many of the outages happened to rear their heads in the span of one month, leaving a tarnished mark on Verizon's stellar reputation. Hopefully 2012 will be a better year for 4G LTE reliability. As to whether or not other carriers will face the same problems with their new LTE networks, it is hard to say, but to be fair to Verizon, the switch to LTE from CDMA is a much bigger technical leap than the jump from HSPA+ to LTE, as is the case with AT&T's LTE network.
(mobileburn.com)

Verizon says it fixed network problem

Uh oh! It seems that it's not a good day to be a Verizon Wireless user. Based on an overwhelming number of reports in support forums, the cellular provider's customers are experiencing 3G and 4G data outages across the U.S. right now.

We've reached out to Verizon for more information about the issue and will update this story once we hear back, but in the meantime we're checking on the complaints in Verizon's own support forums.

Users are reporting trouble maintaining a steady data connection as well as misleading connectivity statuses (some devices are displaying icons which suggest connectivity, but no actual connection occurs). According to the folks at The Verge — who have been keeping track of the origins of the posts — the reports are coming in from "pretty much everywhere" including California, Rhode Island, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New Jersey, and New York.

Are you a Verizon customer and experiencing issues with your data connection? Please let us know in the comments below.

Update: Verizon Wireless responded to us with a brief note stating that things should be getting back to normal:

Verizon Wireless 4G LTE service is returning to normal this morning after company engineers worked to resolve an issue with the 4G network during the early morning hours today. Throughout this time, 4G LTE customers were able to make voice calls and send and receive text messages. The 3G data network operated normally.

Wireless analyst Jeff Kagan chimed in to point out that it's not particularly surprising that an outage like this occurred in the first place. "As the wireless world becomes more about wireless data we can experience more of these outages," he says. He also offers some words of warning:

Expect wireless data traffic to explode during the holidays starting this week with Chanukah, then Christmas and the weeks following. We should brace for impact of all those users gobbling all that wireless data. Sounds like the right atmosphere for outages and slowdowns.

Updated at 6:45 p.m. ET: Verizon Wireless said it has fixed the data service problem, the second high-profile service problem this month for the company. The carrier said the problem with its 4G network was resolved by 2 p.m. ET, with data service restored for all customers of the 4G network late in the day. Verizon did not explain the cause of the problem. While some customers had complained online of problems with the older 3G service on Wednesday, company spokesman Tom Pica said 3G devices had not been affected. Verizon Wireless said that voice and text services had not stopped working — Reuters