U.S. Cellular plans to bring its high-speed mobile network to several Central Oregon communities by the end of the year, the company announced Friday.

Customers in Bend, Redmond, Terrebonne and Powell Butte will be able to access 4G Long Term Evolution service, which provides faster Web browsing and video streaming on smartphones and tablets.

U.S. Cellular, which had 5.8 million customers in 26 states at the end of the third quarter, expects to have 4G LTE service in 3,800 communities across the nation by the end of the year.

Verizon Wireless rolled out 4G LTE service in Bend in October, and BendBroadband upgraded its wireless Internet to 4G LTE in 2011. Most of the major carriers offer some type of 4G service, and much of the nation’s more populated areas have 3G, or third generation, coverage.

To use the higher-speed 4G LTE network, however, consumers must have smartphones or other devices equipped to access it. Many 3G devices cannot access 4G LTE.

— From staff reports