Verizon notches 500th LTE market, declares initial rollout done

Verizon Wireless has completed the initial rollout of its 4G LTE network, covering 95 percent of the U.S. population, and is now looking to reuse other spectrum for LTE and deploy small cells using the technology.

On Thursday, in Parkersburg, West Virginia, the carrier is announcing its 500th market served by LTE. The LTE network now covers 99 percent of the area served by Verizon's 3G network and reaches 298 million U.S. residents, the company said.

Verizon is the second-largest mobile operator in the U.S., measured by customers, and kicked off the first major national LTE rollout in the world in 2010. All the national U.S. carriers have followed suit, including Sprint Nextel, which had already offered 4G service with WiMax. LTE offers both higher speeds and higher efficiency than 3G, helping carriers meet growing demands for mobile data capacity. Verizon says its network has delivered its promised average speeds of 5Mbps (bits per second) to 12Mbps downstream and 2Mbps to 5Mbps upstream.

The LTE network now carries 57 percent of Verizon Wireless data traffic, said Nicki Palmer, chief network officer at Verizon Wireless, on a conference call on Wednesday. Verizon believes the 3G network reached its peak utilization earlier this year, but it will keep that system up and running at least through 2019, she said.

The initial LTE rollout that Verizon is finishing runs on frequencies in the 700MHz band, which is well suited for long distances. But the company plans to also use other bands for LTE in order to keep up with mobile data growth it forecasts at 700 percent to 800 percent over the next three years.

Through the rest of this year, Verizon plans to turn on LTE service in the AWS (Advanced Wireless Services) band at thousands of its large-scale "macro" cell sites where 700MHz LTE is already running. Most of the handsets Verizon introduces through the rest of this year will be able to use that AWS LTE service, she said. Starting in 2015, the company expects to start reusing spectrum in the PCS (Personal Communications Service) band for LTE, Palmer said.

Starting late this year, Verizon will also deploy LTE-only small cells, primarily in dense urban areas, she said. Small cells allow carriers to deliver more network capacity for nearby users.

Verizon and AT&T regularly trade claims about network performance and coverage, but for consumers in most areas, the difference isn't that significant, said industry analyst Maribel Lopez of Lopez Research.

"At this point, I think they're both good enough," Lopez said. Performance woes caused by networks getting overwhelmed with traffic are largely a thing of the past, she said.

"They've finally nailed the 'How do I roll out the network?' thing," Lopez said.

The U.S. retains its lead in LTE, according to analyst Roger Entner of Recon Analytics. Though most carriers around the world have committed to LTE and it's heavily deployed in some countries, such as South Korea, in most areas it's just getting off the ground, he said. For example, spectrum regulations in some European countries have kept LTE rollouts slow, Entner said. "The U.S. is continuing to be far, far ahead of everybody else," he said.

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CineEurope: Universal Declares 'Kick-Ass 2' 'Irreverent, Dark and Often Offensive'

BARCELONA – Universal Pictures International executive vp marketing Simon Hewlett promised Tuesday that Kick-Ass 2 provides a "bigger, badder, more ballsy adventure."

Hewlett's comments at CineEurope, the annual convention of foreign exhibitors in Barcelona, came just one day after Jim Carrey -- who plays a bat-wielding crime fighter in the R-rated superhero pic -- withdrew his support of the movie, saying he couldn't support its level of violence in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shootings.

"I did Kick-Ass 2 a month b4 Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence. My apologies to others involve[d] with the film. I am not ashamed of it but recent events have caused a change in my heart," Carrey said in a tweet.

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Hewlett didn't address Carrey's tweet during his presentation before theater owners, but noted that the movie is controversial. "It's irreverent, dark and often offensive," he said.

The executive said that while the original Kick-Ass, released in 2010, didn't do well in every foreign territory, it did huge business on DVD across the international marketplace. It also was heavily pirated.

CineEurope attendees reacted very favorably to footage of Kick-Ass 2, and Universal believes the sequel, with Chloe Moretz and Aaron Taylor-Johnson returning in the title roles, will do strong business both domestically and internationally. The first film, released by Lionsgate in the U.S., quickly turned into a sleeper hit in North America, grossing $48.1 million. Overseas, the movie also did $48.1 million, doing its best in the U.K., France and Australia.

The sequel, based on the comic books by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr., begins its worldwide rollout in August.

STORY: Jim Carrey Condemns Violence in 'Kick-Ass 2'

Millar, responding on his official forum to Carrey's tweet, said: "[I'm] baffled by this sudden announcement as nothing seen in this picture wasn't in the screenplay 18 months ago. Yes, the body count is very high, but a movie called Kick-Ass 2 really has to do what it says on the tin. A sequel to the picture that gave us Hit Girl was always going to have some blood on the floor and this should have been no shock to a guy who enjoyed the first movie so much.

"Like Jim, I'm horrified by real-life violence (even though I'm Scottish), but Kick-Ass 2 isn't a documentary. No actors were harmed in the making of this production! This is fiction … and avoids the usual bloodless body count of most big summer pictures and focuses instead of the CONSEQUENCES of violence, whether it's the ramifications for friends and family or, as we saw in the first movie, Kick-Ass spending six months in hospital after his first street altercation. Ironically, Jim's character in Kick-Ass 2 is a Born-Again Christian and the big deal we made of the fact that he refuses to fire a gun is something he told us attracted him to the role in the first place."

Hewlett promoted a slew of other upcoming Universal international releases, including Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and Robert Redford's All Is Lost. He also previewed footage of the studio's upcoming summer tentpole R.I.P.D., starring Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds, Richard Curtis' fall film About Time, starring Rachel McAdams and Domhnall Gleeson, and Keanu Reeves' 47 Ronin, which Universal releases worldwide in December.

Following the presentation, Universal bowled over theater owners with a screening of upcoming animated tentpole Despicable Me 2.

 

Malaysia Declares Emergency From Cross Border Blanket Of Smoke

The landmark Petronas Twin Towers (top, right) in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, are barely visible amid the thick smoke. It's even worse farther south.

Malaysia has declared a state of emergency in the country's south after choking smog from slash-and-burn agriculture in neighboring Indonesia enveloped the region.

Residents in Muar and Ledang districts of Johor state have been told to stay indoors. This comes after a similar order in Singapore last week.

Smog from Indonesia is a perennial problem in Malaysia and Singapore, but the pollution levels this year have hit record levels. The fires in Indonesia are set by palm oil producers clearing jungle for new planting.

Malaysian officials on Sunday said the Pollution Standards Index in Muar and Ledang had topped 700, more than twice the 300 level considered dangerous.

It's gotten to the point the smog has become a political and diplomatic issue, straining relations between Indonesia and its neighbors.

"Schools in the region have been ordered to remain closed. Local authorities have distributed face masks to residents.

Even in Kuala Lumpur, where smog levels have so far remained moderate, visibility is now strongly reduced and the smell of thick smoke hangs in the air, correspondents say.

Kuala Lumpur resident Raj Ahmed told the BBC: 'You wake up in the morning and you can smell burnt wood - you look out the window and there is constant smog clouding the major landmarks that you would ordinarily see.

'If you go outside, it's like constantly standing close to a small barbecue.'"