Verizon’s currently in the midst of a major upgrade to its LTE network, adding support for new frequency coverage. Historically, the company has operated its LTE offerings down in the 700MHz range, but recently it’s been building new support for the AWS band, as already used by T-Mobile and AT&T. So far the addition of this new AWS coverage has been relatively low-key, primarily referenced in industry discussions about the company’s ongoing network operations. But now a new leak attempts to reveal a much more high-profile branding for the move, as Verizon appears to be getting ready to announce what it calls XLTE.

The full details aren’t yet clear, but it looks like Verizon could be planning an announcement of XLTE for next Monday. Sources providing this info have also talked about the company updating existing handsets for XLTE, but again, the details are a little loose. The weird thing there is that many current Verizon phones can already talk over AWS where the service is deployed, making a specific XLTE update sound unnecessary, but maybe we’re talking more about branding than compatibility – new iconography featuring the XLTE name.

But will this make your phone any faster? That’s a good question, and beyond simply delivering users higher-speed data, the addition of AWS support should also help mediate issues with congestion during peak periods. Either way, sounds like a welcome move to us.

Source: Droid-life