Verizon in talks with Rural Carriers on LTE
Posted by Jesse Ward on Thursday, May 13, 2010 · 
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Verizon dropped another bombshell in the Wall Street Journal this morning. CEO Lowell McAdam says the company is negotiating with a number of rural telephone carriers to license its 4G wireless spectrum.
Under the proposed arrangements, Verizon would license spectrum for a small fee to local carriers, which would sell the service. Either Verizon or the carrier could handle the job of installing the equipment. Verizon is also striking data roaming agreements with the rural carriers to let their customers use the rest of Verizon’s network when they’re traveling…
McAdam acknowledges that Verizon is not expecting a windfall from these deals. Instead, it will help the carrier expand the footprint of its new LTE network while also sharing the large, initial financial burden required to buildout the network with its rural carrier partners.
Verizon is just beginning to explore this idea, but this is encouraging news for rural providers. Access to scarce, 4G spectrum and a potential national roaming partner are two big wins for rural carriers.
Reuters has more.
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