New XLTE network available for Marquette Verizon Wireless customers

If you’ve noticed your cell phone is having an easier time connecting to a network, it’s because portions of Marquette are now part of a XLTE network.

Verizon Wireless added its XLTE network in May, and for the first time it is available to Verizon phone users in Marquette.  There is now added bandwidth delivered to customers.  The XLTE network is not necessarily faster, but an Advanced Wireless Services spectrum doubles the amount of space on the network.

“It’s going to allow more people to be on at certain times, so during five o’clock your speeds would have decreased if we just had a 4G LTE, but by expanding it with AWS you’re actually increasing the spectrum so more people can access the Internet at those maximum speeds,” Verizon Wireless assistant manager Craig Bray said.

“It really is going to open it up, especially Northern Michigan University students come back in, a lot more students come in and start using the data network, it’s going to open it up for everybody so they can use and people that are local to Marquette can also use it, so it’s going to be great.”

Right now, about two dozen types of phones and tablets can utilize the network.

“We always recommend the phones are up to the current update on it,” Bray said. “With that being said, they wouldn’t have to do anything different on it. They’re ready to go, as a long as they have XLTE–ready devices. There’s about 30 of them right now, including the Droids, (Samsung Galaxy) S5, the new iPhones and the (Samsung Galaxy) S4.”

Bray said if anyone has questions concerning if their phone is compatible with the XLTE network, they can stop into the Verizon Wireless store in Marquette Township.