[LINK] wireless improvements in the US - 4G

[Jan Whitaker]

[what sort of data speeds could this provide on the lower 
frequencies? could it rectify some of the concerns re the NBN for 
rural services?]

Hugh Pickens writes "A Pew study last year found that only 38 percent 
of rural American homes have access to broadband Internet, compared 
to 57 percent in cities and 60 percent in the suburbs. All that could 
be about to change with the announcement that Verizon plans to start 
introducing a new wireless network in the 700 MHz spectrum in 2010. 
'The licenses we bought in the 700MHz auction cover the whole US,' 
says Tony Melone, a Verizon Wireless VP. 'And we plan to roll out LTE 
[high-speed mobile service] throughout the entire country, including 
places where we don't offer our [current] cell phone service today.' 
Because the [700 MHz] spectrum is in a lower frequency, it can 
transmit signals over longer distances and penetrate through 
obstacles, 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. 
President Obama's administration is well aware of the high-speed 
Internet divide that exists today, and as part of the overall 
economic stimulus package passed by Congress, the government is 
allocating $7.2 billion for projects that bring broadband Internet 
access to rural towns and communities."

http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/03/1926206&from=rss


Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

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~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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