Verizon Wireless Confirms 4G LTE Mobile Services

By: Kristin Turner
Staff Writer
Published: Apr 4, 2008

Verizon Wireless will use its preferred 4G long-term evolution (LTE) technology over the 700 MHz spectrum.

Verizon Wireless paid nearly $10 billion in total for bandwidth and won the prized C-Band 700 MHz spectrum. The wireless carrier had to wait to reveal its plans with the spectrum until Thursday night, under FCC anti-collusion rules.

Verizon can now confirm what many had suspected, since the deadline has passed, that it will use its preferred 4G long-term evolution (LTE) technology over the 700 MHz spectrum. The mobile services should be cleared of analog TV broadcasters by the end of February 2009.

"We will run LTE over 700 MHz," Verizon CTO Tony Melone confirmed. Melone says the operator is already in "lab trials" with early LTE technology.

Sprint Nextel Corp is currently ahead of its bigger rivals in deploying proto-4G mobile WiMax networks in the United States.

AT&T, the number US cellular carrier, hasn't announced any 4G plans yet. However, AT&T operator has bought in its own nationwide 700 MHz footprint through auction and acquisition. The operator spent $6.6 billion on 12 Mhz of B-Block spectrum at the recent auction and has spent nearly $10 billion all-told on filling in 700 MHz coverage across the nation.

Google Inc confirmed on Thursday it had been an active bidder in recent U.S. auctions for licenses to create a national wireless network and that it will weigh in as regulators set new rules.

The search engine giant also said it will weigh in on new rules the FCC may set as it re-auctions airwaves that are to be shared between public safety agencies and commercial service providers -- the "D Block" in the auctions.