Verizon plan 4G wireless for rural America

The new 4G wireless broadband network that Verizon Wireless plans to launch in 2010 could be rural America's answer to its broadband access prayers. But extending the network to every nook and cranny in the U.S. will likely take years.

If Verizon makes good on this promise, it will be helping to bridge a widening gap between broadband haves and have-nots in this country. While Verizon Wireless' parent company Verizon Communications and other broadband providers have concentrated on building wireline broadband infrastructure in densely populated areas, such as cities and sprawling suburbs, they have not done a good job of extending that infrastructure to rural America.

The problem has been that building infrastructure for land-based broadband networks is expensive. And companies, such as AT&T, Verizon and Comcast say they can't make profits by offering service in sparsely populated regions because the cost to build these networks is too high and the number of potential customers is too few. And even though the federal government has provided some $1.2 billion in loans aimed at helping operators in the private sector build broadband networks in remote areas, the money hasn't been stretched to reach every community.

The spectrum Verizon acquired in last year's Federal Communications Commission's auction is ideally suited to help solve this problem. The spectrum that is being used to build the new network is in the 700 MHz band. Up until now, it has been used to broadcast analog TV.

Because the spectrum is in a lower frequency, it can transmit signals over longer distances and penetrate through obstacles, such as mountains or trees. And because the signals travel longer distances, Verizon can deploy fewer cell towers than if it used spectrum from a higher frequency band, which means it can provide coverage at a lower cost.

Still, rural Americans may have to wait years before Verizon's 4G network comes to them. Dick Lynch, CTO for Verizon Communications, said in February during an interview that the 4G network deployment would likely follow the plan used to build Verizon's 3G network. Under that plan, Verizon started with large metropolitan areas and filled out coverage from there. Verizon has said it plans to reach 20 to 30 markets by the end of 2010. And it will continue to add more coverage steadily after that