According to industry monitor FierceWireless, AT&T Mobility is set to launch 4G LTE (News - Alert) is five markets on Sunday September 18th. This information came from AT&T CFO John Stephens, who said that during an appearance at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Entertainment & Communications Conference.

Five target markets for AT&T’s (News - Alert) LTE service include Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. As per the report, the second largest carrier plans to expand to 15 markets by the end of 2011.

According to CNET, AT&T's HSPA+ network offers faster speeds than typical 3G. But, until the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) settles the semantic dispute over what does and does not constitute 4G, many regard AT&T's HSPA+ claim as a long, technically undeserved leap onto the 4G bandwagon, wrote CNET reporter Jessica Dolcourt.

Anyway, AT&T's LTE plans are slightly delayed by a few months. About a year ago, the largest carrier promised to deliver LTE network by mid-2011. Meanwhile, as AT&T plans to convert its HSPA+ network to true 4G LTE, it faces many hurdles, wrote Dolcourt.

As per the CNET report, AT&T lags far behind rival Verizon (News - Alert), which launched its LTE network last December. Since then, the carrier’s 4G network has grown by significantly. As a result, reports CNET, it now serves LTE to more than half of the US. Report indicates that AT&T will cover about 70 million people before the year-end. By comparison, Verizon will cover nearly 160 million people, about half of the country.

Meanwhile, AT&T continues to battle against the Department of Justice's attempt to block the merger with T-Mobile (News - Alert).

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