AT&T and Verizon Wireless, the two largest US mobile operators, confirmed on Friday they would use the spectrum they won in a recent US government auction to build faster wireless broadband networks capable of delivering video and other advanced mobile services.

Both companies said they planned to use the spectrum in the 700MHz band to build new 4G networks based on the LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology standard, which is rapidly emerging as the favoured next generation technology for incumbent wireless operators.