In a Friday e-mail, Verizon Wireless' spokesman Jeffrey Nelson told Computerworld that there may be a two-minute connection delay when laptop users using USB modems switch over from a 3G coverage area to the carrier's new high-speed LTE (Long Term Evolution) network.

Nelson said in the e-mail that "hand-offs can take up to a couple minutes, but that was expected and a fix is in the works." Incidentally, the "hand-off" problem was already prophesized by Verizon's CTO Tony Melone on December 1.

With Verizon presently selling two USB modems - one from Pantech and the other from LG -, Nelson also added that the carrier will "relatively soon" come up with drivers for USB modems which work with Mac OS-based computers, which the LTE network does not yet support.

It is not clear whether the "hand-off" issue affects both of Verizon's modem versions equally or whether one device outperforms the other. Even though Nelson refrained from elaborating on the problematic modem, Business Insider's Matt Rosoff has said that the issue apparently affects the LG version.

Nelson further reported that other than the mentioned holdup for two minutes or so during the switch over, the LTE network - launched on Decmber 5 in 38 cities - is not facing any issues.

As per Nelson, the network has been handling data "as expected", which, going by the advertisements, includes download speeds of 5 Mbit/sec. to 12 Mbit/ses.