MWC: Verizon CTO calls software, vision deciding factors in LTE vendor picks

Verizon has emphasized in the past that LTE won’t just be another tool for Verizon Wireless; rather it be used as a broadband access technology spanning Verizon Communications, Verizon Wireless and even Verizon Business. Verizon already plans to use LTE to link rural and other geographically challenging areas it can’t reach via DSL or fiber-to-the-home. Lynch said today that LTE would not only expand the reach of its wireline networks but its 2G and 3G networks, covering areas currently untouched by its current wireless footprint. The 700 MHz spectrum Verizon is using for 4G has enormous propagation advantages, allowing the operator to create enormous cells in rural areas and punch through walls in urban environments.

Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson will also build the next-generation evolved packet core (EPC) in their respective markets, but Verizon also unveiled a surprise in its final vendor list: Starent Networks, already a supplier to Verizon’s CDMA networks, will deploy EPC elements in the new 4G network.

VERIZON TARGETING TWO LAUNCH CITIES

Lynch said Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson would begin rollouts in two unnamed cities as soon as possible to prepare for Verizon initial pilot launch this year and broader commercial rollout in 2010. While Alcatel-Lucent built its trial network near its U.S. headquarter in northern New Jersey and Ericsson deployed its trial gear in Minneapolis, it would be a mistake to assume those two markets would host the initial deployments, Lynch said. Those trials were conducted over Verizon’s advanced wireless services (AWS) spectrum, Lynch said, not the 700 MHz spectrum Verizon has identified for LTE.

Verizon hasn’t yet finalized what the two launch cities will be, Lynch said, the final decision resting the status of its 700 MHz spectrum this summer. Due to the interference issues still lingering at 700 MHz as the government negotiates a difficult digital TV transition, Verizon opted to conduct its initial testing on the free-and-clear AWS band. Congress has set a new June 12 date for the TV broadcasters, and in the recent broadband stimulus package new funds were allocated to speed the transition along. But Verizon is concerned that the date may be extended further, Lynch said.

“The delay in the availability of spectrum has caused us some heartache,” Lynch said. “We can’t afford any more delays. Otherwise it would delay the LTE launch.”