VTel Wireless expands LTE in rural Vermont, says VoLTE on tap

Rural telecommunications provider Vermont Telephone expanded its LTE-based wireless broadband services across portions of Vermont. The company said the expansion pushes its coverage to more than 20,000 homes and businesses across 24 rural towns.
VTel Wireless had initially launched services earlier this year, offering LTE services across a handful of markets. The launch and expansion were part of a $92 million grant VTel received in 2010 from the Rural Utilities Service to expand telecommunication services across Vermont. The company said it plans to cover 96% of the state’s population by the end of 2015. VTel currently controls 12 megahertz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band and 20 megahertz across the 1.7/2.1 GHz band.
The network was deployed with equipment partner Ericsson and taps into technology from Sprint. While the announcement only mentioned the use of LTE technology, VTel claims the service can provide download speeds in excess of 100 megabits per second. Sprint has said that its Spark initiative, which taps into its 2.5 GHz spectrum, is providing downlink speeds in excess of 50 Mbps, though customers will more likely see speeds between six and 15 Mbps.
“To the best of our knowledge, Hardwick will be the first rural community in North America to see these speeds,” said VTel spokeswoman Diane Guité. “We’re so pleased that Sprint has agreed to share this important technology with us.”
Sprint last month said it had reached LTE roaming agreements with a dozen rural operators, including VTel. The agreements were part of Sprint’s Rural Roaming Preferred Program, which was developed in connection with the Competitive Carriers Association and tied to a previously announced agreement between Sprint and CCA announced at the CCA trade show earlier this year. That deal calls for the association’s carrier members to tap into CCA’s Data Services Hub as a clearinghouse for reciprocal roaming agreements with Sprint.
VoLTE on tap
In addition to the wireless broadband services, VTel said it plans to offer voice over LTE services across its network later this year or in early 2015. Vtel said the holdup is the lack of mobile devices compatible with VoLTE, with Ericsson set to demonstrate VoLTE capabilities using a pair of “experimental Sony phones.”
Following years of delays, VoLTE has begun to launch across some of the industry’s largest carriers. AT&T has said it plans to launch VoLTE in the coming weeks across a handful of markets in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin, while Verizon Wireless is planning a nationwide VoLTE launch later this year. T-Mobile US last month said it had expanded its VoLTE service to 15 total “markets,” following up on the initial launch of services in late May in Seattle.
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