The Technician license has access to a wider range of frequencies than in the past.
There is almost literally no limit on distance.
The other answer link is good but this link is more direct; http://www.arrl.org/graphical-frequency-allocations
Look at the color version.
1. Technicians can use any mode of operation on VHF, UHF, and above.
They have the same privileges as any other US ham licensees.
VHF is 30-300 MHz and UHF hs 300 Mhz to 3GHz (which includes the common "wi-fi" range, where we have special privileges).
The range of VHF and up communication can be quite small or quite large.
Direct line-of-sight communcation is limited by the height of the transmit and receive antenna, but can be substantial if you're in a high location such as a hilltop. Even a rooftop antenna can get you tens of miles.
Using a repeater, which is the ham version of a cell tower (though we had them first) can get you hundreds of square miles of coverage. The repeater on the tall building or mountain receives your hand-held radio signal and retransmits it simultaneously. Most technician class operators do this and it works quite well and reliably.
Very occasionally conditions in the low atmosphere lead to "ducting" or "temperature inversions" where hand-held radios from the California coast can be heard in Hawaii, though these are rare and remarkable.
Ham satellites offer coverage out to hundreds of miles away from you, and can be done with a "dual-band" handi-talki and a hand-held (though not tiny) antenna. Ham sats pass overhead regularly, but not continuously, so conversations ("QSOs") tend to be brief.
With the tech license, you are also allowed to bounce your signals off the moon! You can't use a hand-held antenna for this, but if you have a rooftop available you can mount an antenna that's capable of tracking the moon, and you can talk to people on the other side of the earth, as long as they can see the moon. Needless to say, this isn't a trivial exercise, and it's more difficult than a satellite, but it can be quite a rewarding experience.
The 50 MHz band ("6 meters") has unusual signal propagation characteristics, and in the summer sometimes has "openings" that go up to the thousand-plus mile range across the continental US. 6m is called the "magic band" because of this enchantment, but it's not a reliable occurrence.
2. For the past several years, Technician licensees have had the privileges of the old "Novice" class on HF (3-30 Mhz).
Technicians can use digital radio modes for keyboard-to-keyboard typing ("PSK31") and similar operations in the 28 MHz ("10 meter") band. During high sunspot cycles, such as this year, this band provides world-wide communications with modest power (often 10 watts). Techs also have SSB voice privileges from 28.3-28.5 MHz on the 10-meter band.
Technicians also have CW (morse code) but not data-mode privileges on the HF bands 80 meters, 40 meters, and 15 meters. The latter two can span the globe (40m at night, 15m day), and do so more often than the 10 meter band. The 80 meter band is unlikely to provide more than a few hundred miles of CW communications, and only at night. While learning morse code will get you immediate access to this ability, it's possible to use a computer and a program such as fldigi or Ham Radio Deluxe to send and receive CW, though you may find it can only copy those with the best quality signals.