It's a classic technology prize fight. In one corner, you've got Kirkland-based Clearwire -- backed by Intel, Google, Comcast and others -- touting the broadband wireless technology known as WiMax. In the other corner, it's wireless giant Verizon and its Long Term Evolution network.

The rhetoric heated up a bit today, as Verizon announced partners and plans for its LTE deployments in the U.S. next year. LTE trials have been going on in Columbus, Ohio, Minneapolis and Northern New Jersey, with Verizon saying that its experiencing download speeds of 50 to 60 Mbps. The company plans to offer LTE broadband service in two cities this year, with as many as 30 next year.

“Verizon Wireless’ LTE network deployment will be driven by our vision of providing ubiquitous global wireless broadband connectivity and mobility.  LTE enables us to continue to meet business customer demands for a higher bandwidth, low latency service that works broadly in the United States and globally, while helping us to meet consumer demand for mobilizing the many applications they frequently use when tethered to high bandwidth wired networks,” said Verizon chief technology officer Dick Lynch in unveiling the plans today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Gizmodo's Wilson Rothman thinks that LTE will be the 4G technology of choice in the U.S. Obviously, Clearwire has something else to say on the matter. 

In response to Verizon's news, Clearwire put out a lengthy statement in which they said that not all "4G networks are created equal."

"Differences in spectrum holdings and underlying network architecture will deliver different user experiences," the statement said. "Today, Clearwire customers experience better speeds and bandwidth than what is being described as next year's LTE networks."

In December, Clearwire CEO Ben Wolff noted that WiMax and LTE could coexist. "In reality, this isn't the technology war that some have some made it out to be," he said at the time. Clearwire unveiled its first west coast WiMax network in Portland last month, touting download speeds of 6 Mbps.