Associated Press (via Google):

AT&T’s LTE plans have figured in the company’s bid to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion. AT&T says it originally planned to build out LTE to cover 80 percent of the U.S. population, but if regulators let it buy T-Mobile, it will upgrade cell sites in rural areas as well, to cover 97 percent of the population. AT&T has less radio spectrum available for LTE than Verizon does, so it wants to take some of the spectrum T-Mobile uses for 3G and convert it to LTE.

AT&T’s rollout of LTE is a relatively soft launch, with five cities online now and 10 more expected by the end of the year. That’s far behind competitor Verizon, which offers LTE in dozens of cities. While new devices are required to access the faster networking technology, AT&T isn’t adding on new data plans – they’re a “perk thrown in with existing plans,” according to the report.

AT&T is facing stiff resistance to its proposed acquisition of T-Mobile. Seven states have joined the Department of Justice lawsuit to stop the merger in its tracks; they claim that reducing the number of cell phone networks will reduce competition.

Apple, for its part, hasn’t indicated when it will offer LTE-equipped devices.