Green Bay-based regional operator Cellcom said it was on track to begin offering LTE services during the second quarter following recent testing on three sites located in Sturgeon Bay, Wis. The carrier said the testing verified that its “radios and trial devices were operating correctly,” and that it expects to leave the three sites in test mode for continued optimization.
Cellcom, which is rolling out the LTE services as part of Verizon Wireless’ LTE in Rural America program, said the next steps would include expanded testing on 25 additional sites prior to the roll out of commercial services in Green Bay, Sturgeon Bay, Appleton, Oshkosk, Wausau and parts of Oconto and Marinette counties. The carrier plans to roll out coverage to an additional 69 cell sites by the end of year.
Verizon Wireless noted late last year that it was testing its LTE operations with a pair of unnamed rural operators as part of the LTE in Rural America program. That program counts more than a dozen operators and calls for Verizon Wireless to lease all 22 megahertz of 700 MHz spectrum it controls to the rural operator until at least 2029. Those rural operators are then charged with building out the physical network that can then have back-end services run through Verizon Wireless’ switches.
In return for building out the network, Verizon Wireless has agreed to not build out its own network in those markets and will rely on the rural operator to provide roaming services for Verizon Wireless customers, and in turn to provide nationwide LTE roaming to the rural operators. Verizon Wireless noted that the program currently has operators set to cover 124 counties in 10 states and covering 2.6 million potential customers across more than 82,000 square miles.
The program has garnered strong reaction from both sides as proponents of the offering, including those carriers that have signed up for the program, claim it allows them to move quickly to market with a robust 4G offering, something that as rural carriers they have never been able to do in the past.
However, many also continue to look skeptically at the program as Verizon Wireless has also been pushing a so-called 700 MHz “band plan” that does not require device and equipment makers to supply products that include all of the different 700 MHz spectrum bands auctioned by the government, including those that were acquired by rural operators. This has left many, including RCA, arguing that equipment makers will bypass building products that support all the 700 MHz spectrum bands and this limit interoperability.
Verizon Wireless has stated that equipment makers only needed to support its band 13, while AT&T Mobility is pushing only for support of its band 17 in the 700 MHz band. These were supported by the 3GPP that did require standards for interoperability between the different bands. This issue was originally handled by the FCC in the PCS auctions with requirements that equipment and standards for the spectrum being auctioned be interoperable with all the spectrum auctioned in the 1.9 GHz band. For the 700 MHz auction, the FCC did not mandate such interoperability.
A number of rural operators have either recently or are set to launch their own LTE services. U.S. Cellular said it expects to turn on LTE services covering 25% of its customer base next month, while Leap Wireless has recently launched LTE services in Tucson, Ariz.
Bored? Why not follow me on Twitter?
