Sprint to acquire Clearwire soon

[Bob Newhart]

When will AT&T buy Sprint-Clear-Bank?

http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/9b35wz/cingular---at-t-merger-explained

[bigsnake49]

If Charlie Ergen were to gain control of Clearwire, I think that he could go it alone.

 

Clearwire and its WiMAX roll out get a lot of grief around S4GRU because neither lived up to expectations -- and deployment was aborted in many markets. But in our disappointment, we oft undervalue the thousands of sites that Clearwire did deploy with leases, base stations, and backhaul fully in place.

 

So, if Dish got Clearwire, day one, it could offer a completely native double or triple play option to a sizable percentage of its subs. Give them WiMAX/LTE modems so that they are future proofed for the next few years. Even in WiMAX protection site markets, a fixed antenna -- maybe even clipped to the satellite dish -- would likely prove far more usable than WiMAX ever was for size and power constrained Sprint handsets.

 

That, I think, is what could happen, but certainly not what I want to happen...

 

AJ

 

Could it be that Sprint is buying Clearwire to sell their network and some of their spectrum to Dish, while keeping let's say about 80-100MHz that they brought in to themselves?

[xcharles718]

Could it be that Sprint is buying Clearwire to sell their network and some of their spectrum to Dish, while keeping let's say about 80-100MHz that they brought in to themselves?

You'll have to put into consideration that Clearwire doesn't "own" a lot of their spectrum. Don't remember the specifics, but I think they only own about ~45MHz. The rest is leased from College/University spectrum holders & churches.

 

Might as well just ask AJ

[irev210]

 

That, I think, is what could happen, but certainly not what I want to happen...

 

AJ

 

Given the current ownership structure of clearwire, I dont see how this could happen unless sprint said so, which seems highly unlikely.

 

I don't get it. Engadget says they are trying to get to deal done by about the same time the Softbank-Sprint deal closes, but isn't that just going to make the Softbank dealer harder to get approved? And isn't this going to make it more difficult for Sprint to be able to bid on the H-block? I can only think that maybe Dish was "making moves" on Clearwire or something, because this is just too odd a time for them to be bidding on Clearwire. It is also totally possible that there are other suspicions we don't know about, or Softbank doesn't want to wait, or who knows.

 

No, there are no regulatory issues that will prevent softbank from gaining 70% control of sprint.

 

Softbank's 20 billion helps sprint bid for the H block - it doesn't hurt them. Sprint had cash problems; sprint needs cash to bid on H block. Softbank solves sprint's cash problems.

 

AT&T may get upset that sprint is now a contender, but that doesn't mean the FCC and various federal agencies are.

[bigsnake49]

You'll have to put into consideration that Clearwire doesn't "own" a lot of their spectrum. Don't remember the specifics, but I think they only own about ~45MHz. The rest is leased from College/University spectrum holders & churches.

 

Might as well just ask AJ

 

Oh yeah they do. Sprint's portion of the spectrum, what they brought into the partnership, is owned outright. Sprint owned around 50MHz themselves and Nextel owned another 50MHz that they bought from MCI. Now I have no idea if Sprint has right of first refusal on any potential sale of that spectrum. It would be stupid if they didn't. You are right about the old Clearwire not owning a lot of spectrum and leasing it from educational institutions/churches.

[JeffDTD]

The additional attention shown the tmobile/metro merger from the DOJ and FBI ( I was hesitant to believe that) scares the crap out of me for sprint. All we need are a couple of Asian crazed congressmen to go on a witch hunt (and I know the difference between my Asian countries) but its elected officials we are talkin about here... If there's any slop thrown in the pen, they sing suuuuweeee!

 

I mean, what if they told sprint no on the SoftBank investment? It would put sprint on a bender to reorganize or find an American investor.

[Deval]

On a similar vein, since Sprint is deploying LTE using the FDD flavor, and Clearwire is looking to deploy using TDD, what would it take for them to use that vast bucket of spectrum to deploy LTE using FDD? Do they have enough contiguous spectrum that they can manage that?

[bigsnake49]

Or could it be that Sprint and Dish swap spectrum and Dish gets Clearwire's network for cash, but in order to do that Sprint has to buy Clearwire?

[bigsnake49]

On a similar vein, since Sprint is deploying LTE using the FDD flavor, and Clearwire is looking to deploy using TDD, what would it take for them to use that vast bucket of spectrum to deploy LTE using FDD? Do they have enough contiguous spectrum that they can manage that?

 

Why would they waste the spectrum for FDD? There's not a lot of uplink traffic.

[Deval]

Why would they waste the spectrum for FDD? There's not a lot of uplink traffic.

 

Because Sprint is deploying LTE using FDD natively on G-Block, and unless I'm mistaken, TDD-LTE radios do not exist.

[WiWavelength]

On a similar vein, since Sprint is deploying LTE using the FDD flavor, and Clearwire is looking to deploy using TDD, what would it take for them to use that vast bucket of spectrum to deploy LTE using FDD? Do they have enough contiguous spectrum that they can manage that?

Because Sprint is deploying LTE using FDD natively on G-Block, and unless I'm mistaken, TDD-LTE radios do not exist.

 

Availability of TD-LTE chipsets will not be a problem. In fact, the Qualcomm MDM9615 baseband in the iPhone 5, Optimus G, etc., already supports TD-LTE.

 

As for FDD rather than TDD deployment in the BRS/EBS 2600 MHz band, several of my compatriots on Twitter had the same idea yesterday. I put together a little graphical overlay on the existing BRS/EBS band plan to show the inherent issues with FDD usage. Do you see the problems?

 

 

AJ

[bigsnake49]

Availability of TD-LTE chipsets will not be a problem. In fact, the Qualcomm MDM9615 baseband in the iPhone 5, Optimus G, etc., already supports TD-LTE.

 

As for FDD rather than TDD deployment in the BRS/EBS 2600 MHz band, several of my compatriots on Twitter had the same idea yesterday. I put together a little graphical overlay on the existing BRS/EBS band plan to show the inherent issues with FDD usage. Do you see the problems?

 

 

AJ

 

Well there is a block between 2572 and 2618 that sits unused. Also the uplink would be mostly wasted.

[WiWavelength]

Well there is a block between 2572 and 2618 that sits unused. Also the uplink would be mostly wasted.

 

I do not have the stats to debate uplink utilization, but I certainly have heard claims that it has grown dramatically because of the explosion of social networking. So, saying that the FDD uplink would be "mostly wasted" might be going too far.

 

And the offset in between the band 7 uplink and downlink segments is allocated TDD band 38. So, proponents of FDD claim that TD-LTE could also be deployed. Now, why any carrier would want to complicate matters with that combo of FDD and TDD in effectively the same band is beyond me.

 

But the real problem would be the mix of BRS and EBS licenses. The band 7 uplink is entirely dependent upon EBS spectrum, while the downlink is mostly located within BRS spectrum. Clearwire controls a lot of BRS/EBS spectrum but not the entire band in every market. And EBS spectrum is only leased. So, any missing or expired lease in the uplink, for example, would wipe out use of its paired spectrum in the downlink, even if Clearwire controlled that spectrum in the downlink.

 

In other words, FDD would be a risky mess. Not to mention, WiMAX operations, which are TDD, also must continue in BRS/EBS for at least the next two years.

 

AJ

[bigsnake49]

I do not have the stats to debate uplink utilization, but I certainly have heard claims that it has grown dramatically because of the explosion of social networking. So, saying that the FDD uplink would be "mostly wasted" might be going too far.

 

And the offset in between the band 7 uplink and downlink segments is allocated TDD band 38. So, proponents of FDD claim that TD-LTE could also be deployed. Now, why any carrier would want to complicate matters with that combo of FDD and TDD in effectively the same band is beyond me.

 

But the real problem would be the mix of BRS and EBS licenses. The band 7 uplink is entirely dependent upon EBS spectrum, while the downlink is mostly located within BRS spectrum. Clearwire controls a lot of BRS/EBS spectrum but not the entire band in every market. And EBS spectrum is only leased. So, any missing or expired lease in the uplink, for example, would wipe out use of its paired spectrum in the downlink, even if Clearwire controlled that spectrum in the downlink.

 

In other words, FDD would be a risky mess. Not to mention, WiMAX operations, which are TDD, also must continue in BRS/EBS for at least the next two years.

 

AJ

 

Thanks for that analysis. I think that social networking might have increased the utilization somewhat, but smartphones and tablets are still media consumption devices. I think I have linked an article in another thread about using spectrum in full duplex without the need for FDD or guard slots in TDD, that will allow full utilization of a channel no matter the type of traffic and will allow for full dynamic utilization.

[Deval]

Ahhhh!!! Thank you AJ, makes perfect sense now. I didn't realize it was that fragmented.

[bigsnake49]

Talking abt Dish, I wonder how long before they get acquired by somebody like Apple or Google or Microsoft, if only for the rights to content. Or why not have all three companies get together and build out a fiber to the home network. I think that between the three of them they have a few billion dollars. They need to do something to put the fear of god in either the content companies or the ISPs

[WiWavelength]

Talking abt Dish, I wonder how long before they get acquired by somebody like Apple or Google or Microsoft, if only for the rights to content. Or why not have all three companies get together and build out a fiber to the home network. I think that between the three of them they have a few billion dollars. They need to do something to put the fear of god in either the content companies or the ISPs

 

I am not sure which frightens me more: that we will never get widespread FTTH in my lifetime, or that a disruptor/consortium (e.g. Apple, Google, Microsoft) might actually do it -- but then we will be beholden and pay egregious rent in perpetuity.

 

Politicians need to wake up and see that FTTH is public works, plain and simple. Broadband Internet access is not a fad, is not just the province of the young. It is currently the single most important economic conduit of the future.

 

Maybe as old guard politicians retire or die off, Internet generation politicians will take over and see the light. But that is the optimist in me speaking...

 

AJ

[bigsnake49]

I am not sure which frightens me more: that we will never get widespread FTTH in my lifetime, or that a disruptor/consortium (e.g. Apple, Google, Microsoft) might actually do it -- but then we will be beholden and pay egregious rent in perpetuity.

 

Politicians need to wake up and see that FTTH is public works, plain and simple. Broadband Internet access is not a fad, is not just the province of the young. It is currently the single most important economic conduit of the future.

 

Maybe as old guard politicians retire or die off, Internet generation politicians will take over and see the light. But that is the optimist in me speaking...

 

AJ

 

I don't think a consortium like that will be that bad. They're really not going to be ISPs to make money from the connectivity. They are there to make money from content or advertising or selling devices. And they might be the only ones that would embrace video on demand, ala carte pricing.

Edited December 13, 2012 by bigsnake49

[marioc21]

Sprint has officially made an offer.

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/2810-sprint-makes-official-offer-to-acquire-clearwire/

[JeffDTD]

I would be shocked if they accepted that