Verizon boosts bandwidth in Bend

Verizon Wireless has increased its wireless bandwidth capacity in Bend, Medford and Grants Pass, the company said Thursday.

The carrier’s latest technology, XLTE, enables faster peak speeds and download capacity on wireless devices such as smartphones and tablets on 4G LTE, said Scott Charlston. That translates to faster download and upload speeds for checking email, posting photos to Facebook or listening to music on mobile phones, for example.

Charlston described the expanded capacity as adding four more lanes to a four-lane freeway. XLTE-ready devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the iPhone 5c and 5s, will automatically seek the new spectrum when the 4G spectrum at 700 MHz is experiencing high traffic, he said.

Verizon Wireless acquired its additional spectrum, or AWS, from cable companies two years ago, Charlston said. The only added infrastructure in Bend are smaller antennas attached to existing cell towers, he said.