Verizon: When we say we want to cover America with LTE, we mean it, even Alaska

Verizon Wireless, due to roll out America’s first LTE network some time in November after winning a giant chunk (22 MHz total) from the 700 MHz spectrum auction that took place in 2008, is trying to get the FCC to allow them to buy more spectrum so that they can cover the state of Alaska. The current owner of the airwaves that cover the giant chunk of ice from where the gorgeous, yet extremely dangerous, Sarah Palin hails from, is a company called Triad. They paid $1.8 billion for that empty space and it’s not certain whether or not they want to give it up.

If Verizon is successful at petitioning the FCC to grant them this request, then America’s largest operator can honestly claim that their network covers the entire United States. If they roll out LTE then they can also say that the whole nation is blanketed in “4G” high speed mobile broadband goodness. AT&T has yet to even cover the continental US with 3G coverage, let alone discuss their future 4G plans with more detail than “it’s coming some time next year”. Then there’s T-Mobile, who was the last of America’s operators to roll out 3G since they purchased rights to the extremely odd 1700 MHz band, but is now in a great position since they’re deploying 21 Mbps HSPA+ and are said to be doubling that by the end of 2011. It’s not LTE, but so what? People want LTE for the increased download speed, but they also want to use their phone as a phone. Handset manufactures, and network operators, need to plan out their future carefully since LTE doesn’t support voice. It’s a data only protocol and while many of the world’s operators agreed that they’ll comply with the “One Voice Initiative” to make voice and SMS work, there has yet to be a single operator deploy a network supporting that technology.

[Via: Phone Scoop]