With the gag off, Darth V has chimed in on plans for the newly licensed C block. It comes as no surprise that the technology of choice will be LTE.

The new spectrum will not be clear for use until mid-February 2009, when the companies using it for analog television broadcasts are required to stop and switch to digital broadcasting.

The company plans to launch a new wireless network in 2010 in the 700-MHz spectrum, which is considered especially valuable because it can transmit through walls and help meet the growing demand for faster wireless downloads.

“We now have sufficient spectrum to continue growing our business and data revenues well into — and possibly through — the next decade,” Lowell McAdam, the company’s president and chief executive, said in a statement. (Yahoo)

I’m predicting service will be rolled out slowly, underpowered, overpriced and open in name only. Please Darth, prove me wrong!

It’s now pretty much a certainty that there will be a all out war between the Wimax and LTE camps for dominance in the 700MHz band. Not only is the US at stake, the UHF band is emerging as the defacto next gen mobile services band worldwide.

The WiMAX Forum today said it would include 700 MHz in its future certification profiles, creating a new opening for WiMAX vendors to sell their gear. With the forum officially pursuing 700 MHz, the stage may be set for a showdown between WiMAX and Long Term Evolution as both technologies are now targeted squarely at the spectrum. (from Telephony Online)