Verizon partnership will help Bluegrass Cellular get to market sooner

Bluegrass Cellular’s plan to build a 4G LTE wireless network in Kentucky using spectrum leased from Verizon Wireless, announced yesterday, should enable Bluegrass to offer 4G service more quickly than if it had waited to build out its own 700 MHz spectrum holdings.

“This is the quickest way we will be able to provide these services to our customers,” Bluegrass Vice President of Sales and Marketing Barry Nothstine told Connected Planet.

The Verizon Wireless 700 MHz spectrum that Bluegrass will lease is in the C-block, where equipment developers initially will focus their efforts. Bluegrass Cellular’s own 700 MHz spectrum partially overlaps the Verizon coverage area but is in a different block, and the carrier would have to wait longer before equipment operating in that block would be available. Nothstine said.

LTE in Rural America

Bluegrass Cellular’s agreement with Verizon Wireless is the first announced in Verizon’s LTE in Rural America programAmerica program launched earlier this —and the parameters of that agreement largely match what Verizon outlined at that time.

- Verizon said it would target areas where it had not yet built out its 3G network. Check.

- The plan also called for the rural carrier to market service under its own name. Check.

- Verizon also said participating carriers would be able to roam on its network. Check. In addition, the rural carriers will be able to roam onto one another’s networks, Nothstine said.

Moving forward

Nothstine said he could not yet provide a date when the Bluegrass 4G network would be operational. But the company should be able to get to market relatively quickly, as it may be able to leverage some of its existing EV-DO infrastructure.

The Bluegrass 4G network will be a mobile one, but Nothstine did not rule out the possibility that some customers might use it as a fixed offering, providing an alternative to DSL and fiber-based broadband in areas where those technologies are not available. “We have a healthy 3G residential broadband product,” Nothstine said. “We’re open to anything that makes sense.”

When it announced the rural LTE program, Verizon said rural wireless carriers would have the opportunity to build their own networks or lease a network built by Verizon. The company also said those wireless carriers focused on getting to market quickly would be best able to do so by building their own networks.

Bluegrass Cellular’s experience illustrates that Verizon’s program could have strong appeal to rural wireless carriers looking for a time-to-market advantage, as whatever 700 MHz holdings those companies may have are not likely to be in the C-block.