Five years after the initiation of its LTE in Rural America Program (LRA), Verizon has announced that all 21 program partners have completed their network deployments.

According to Verizon, the LRA program provides program participants with access to its 700 MHz spectrum in 169 rural counties from coast to coast, covering 225,000 square miles in 15 states. As part of the effort, Verizon has activated more than 1,000 4G LTE cell sites to distribute signal to more than 50 certified wireless devices, including smartphones and tablets.

“The LRA program has positively impacted the lives of Americans from Maine to Alaska, and we’re very proud to be a part of that,” said Verizon’s executive director of strategic alliances and LRA program leader Philip Junker. “Verizon has always been a responsible steward of spectrum resources. We had a vision of partnering with the rural carrier community, we put our resources behind that vision and we delivered what we promised for our customers.”

Verizon said program participants are helping those in the covered areas optimize their lives and businesses through the implementation of new technology facilitated by LTE access. Notable undertakings include the introduction of the Heartland Mobile Health unit at Montgomery County Memorial Hospital to reach remote residents in Iowa, offering live streaming of high school sports for relatives who can’t make the game and providing access to KMA Broadcasting’s weather reports in Iowa to help farmers during growing season.

The 21 LRA participants currently include Bluegrass Cellular, Cross Telephone, Pioneer Cellular, Cellcom, Thumb Cellular, Strata Networks, S and R Communications, Carolina West, Custer Telephone Cooperative, KPU Telecommunications, Chariton Valley Communication Corporation, Appalachian Wireless, Northwest Missouri Cellular, Chat Mobility, Matanuska Telephone Association, Wireless Partners, Triangle Communications, Nemont, Mid-Rivers Communications and Copper Valley Telecom.