"Verizon and AT&T both say their LTE networks will deliver about 5 to 12 Mbps downstream (from their networks or the Internet to a device, like downloading files) and 2 to 5 Mbps upstream. That’s two to four times higher than the rates AT&T expects even with its faster HSPA+ 3G deployments, and two to six times faster than Verizon’s current 3G network.
I haven’t tested LTE in Seattle yet, but reviews of LTE phones and adapters find that the 12 Mbps top-end rate AT&T and Verizon cite is often surpassed. The networks have hardly any users, and the two carriers are clearly setting expectations for when the technology takes off—as when millions of 4G-capable iPads leap into use. The larger pool of bandwidth and a better ability to divvy it up, however, will mean that congested LTE networks will remain far more useful than congested 3G networks.
Both AT&T and Verizon Wireless say that their LTE networks will be largely deployed by the end of 2013. Verizon Wireless has made the more explicit statement that it expects its current 3G footprint, reaching more than 95 percent of the U.S. population, to have LTE by then. AT&T is a bit vaguer about its final goal, although some of its licenses from the FCC have specific targets for population and geographic coverage."
Here are the data plans available for the new iPad:
So 2GB at 12Mbps means you max out your plan in 23 minutes. Of course that means you're downloading 2GB of data. I've been getting the 250MB plan from AT&T the past six months for occasional traveling. I haven't come close to going over while downloading email, twitter, maps, the occasional web page, etc. So unless I start streaming music or video I wouldn't expect to start using near 2GB. The faster access, say 10Mbps just means stuff will come in faster, about half as fast as my home wifi (I get 20Mbps via FIOS and a WiFi-n network). Again, I'm more concerned about coverage.
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