Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Verizon Buying Air and Making Waves

In March, the FCC auctioned licenses to the 700MHz spectrum which was made available by the nation-wide mandated transition to digital TV. Who wound up owning the vast majority of those licenses? Verizon Wireless. The FCC raised $19.6 Billion but the real winner was Verizon Wireless, who now estimates they will have enough network to reach every corner of rural America with 4G fixed wireless broadband access.

Aside from the fact that infrastructure already exists all over the nation for broadcasting this spectrum; And, not to mention that receivers and devices on this spectrum have been developed and redeveloped since the dawn of television; It's the physics of the waves that makes Verizon, and all of the broadband industry, excited to see what develops. The 700MHz spectrum waves can travel long distances and propagate through walls, which makes it ideal for covering broad, geographically dispersed regions of the U.S.

As we wrote about a while back, fixed wireless broadband has always been the most feasible technology for bringing internet to rural areas. That fact has not changed. What this purchase means, however, is that one of the most technically capable spectrum in air waves is now under the control of one of the nations largest telecom companies, Verizon, with the express mission of bringing delivering broadband to more Americans than ever.

When can we expect to see the roll-out begin? Verizon plans to begin building a 4G network as early as 2010. However, reaching every household could take years. Whatever the time frame, this purchase marks an exciting new era for wireless broadband.

Labels: Broadband, Coverage, Fixed Wireless Broadband, Rural Broadband Access, Verizon