Bluegrass Cellular and Verizon Wireless customers are expected to benefit from a partnership between the two companies.

Both will participate in the Long Term Evolution in Rural America, allowing Bluegrass to build out Verizon’s 4G spectrum in this area, according to Barry Nothstine, vice president of sales and marketing at Bluegrass.

“We are really just in the early stages of this,” Nothstine said, so when it will begin and how much the build out will cost is not known.

Nothstine said Bluegrass covers four areas of Kentucky totaling 38 counties, including southcentral Kentucky.

As for what the agreement means, Nothstine said it will improve service for phone customers who use various data products.

“There are a lot of applications that work pretty good on 3G networks that will work excellently on 4G,” he said. “Right now we really can’t imagine what 4G is going to bring (in terms of new technologies) but we do know that it will mean speed. It will be … on steroids.”

For instance, people who watch video streaming on their phones might now see a picture that sometimes looks a little pixilated. With 4G it won’t be.

“Because we are talking about wireless with DSL-type speeds,” he said. “If someone wants to watch a show or Netflix, they can have a really quality experience.”

And while the improvements will be for those customers who receive and send data on their phones, Nothstine said they still want to make sure the company cares for its customers who use phones just to make calls.

But he can’t help but be excited about the potential uses for 4G networks.

“People can do microblogging on their phones and stream videos of their life as they are happening,” he said.

For the project to occur, Bluegrass is leasing spectrum from Verizon in this area. When Verizon customers venture into Bluegrass territory, they will then be using Bluegrass’ network as would any other rural provider that is a part of the LTE program, Nothstine said.

While he doesn’t have a timeline yet, Nothstine said it would take “many years.”

Why tell people about it now?

“We are the first carrier that has made this announcement,” he said. “We wanted to let the country and our customers know we are not going to fall behind because we are a rural carrier. We want them to know we can keep up with the technology.”

Even before the build out occurs, Bluegrass customers will be able to roam on Verizon networks as soon as it produces compatible handsets.

Earlier this week Verizon announced that it was near completion of its 3G network in the state. The company said it added 3G capacity on 94 percent more cell towers in the state compared with 2009.

For now the 3G service will be among the fastest that phone customers can experience.

“With so many of our customers relying on their devices for much more than just making phone calls, it’s imperative that we stay ahead of their usage habits,” John Granby, president for the Kentucky/Indiana/Michigan region of Verizon Wireless, said in a news release from the company. “It doesn’t matter how many bells and whistles your smart phone offers if you cannot depend on it to keep you connected wherever you go. Verizon Wireless is committed to making sure our network has enough capacity to handle the increasing data traffic from our customers’ Internet browsing, tweeting and mobile gaming.”

The company said it has invested $335 million in its Kentucky network.