Verizon Wireless said it plans to use the spectrum it won in the FCC’s recent 700 MHz auction to help it build out a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, and said that the spectrum was key for its Open Development Initiative.

Although the auction ended March 20, participating companies were not allowed to discuss the auction or plans for the airwaves until after April 3.

In a conference call with the investment community this morning, Verizon Wireless said it won the national C Block of spectrum as well as 102 licenses for individual markets around the country. The carrier’s new licenses, which will not be completely cleared for use until mid-February 2009, will increase the company’s average spectrum depth per market to 82 MHz, from its current 52 MHz. The company said it will pay $9.36 billion for the licenses.  

 

The company also announced plans to launch its next-generation LTE network in the 700 MHz spectrum sometime around 2010; Verizon said the C Block of licenses are “ideal for connecting a variety of consumer electronics, from wireless phones to medical devices to gaming consoles.”

 

Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell McAdam said: “We now have sufficient spectrum to continue growing our business and data revenues well into – and possibly through – the next decade, and this is the very best spectrum with excellent propagation and in-building characteristics.  We also believe that the combination of the national, contiguous, same-frequency C Block footprint and our transition to LTE will make Verizon the preferred partner for developers of a new wave of consumer electronics and applications using this next-generation technology.”