The U.S. government has reached agreements with Canada and Mexico for the use of 700MHz spectrum that is being widely deployed for high-speed wireless broadband in the U.S. and will make it easier to deploy 4G services along the border.
From the perspective of TV and video distribution, the development will be important for the distribution of data services and video over the faster 4G networks to border communities. Agreements on the use of spectrum that would allow 4G services to operate at full speed would also be potentially important for broadcast stations along the border because it would allow them to use faster 4G networks for newsgathering and the delivery of video from the field to studios.
"Verizon's rollout of its 4G LTE mobile broadband network is going well, and we are pleased that officials at both the Federal Communications Commission and Department of State worked well with their counterparts in Canada and Mexico to establish and update agreements for 700 MHz spectrum-band wireless operations along our respective borders," noted Tony Melone, Verizon executive vice president and chief technology officer in a statement on the agreements.
The Canadian agreement over the spectrum is new while the Mexican agreement amends a 2006 cross-border agreement.
As a result of the agreements, Verizon is announcing that they will be able to operate 4G wireless network near U.S. borders with data speeds seen elsewhere in the U.S., which is about 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) on the downlink and 2 to 5 Mbps on the uplink.
