att bringing up lte cellular/pcs bands

[dedub]

http://gigaom.com/2013/11/07/att-begins-cannibalizing-its-2g-and-3g-networks-to-boost-lte-capacity/

 

 

 

 

As Milanovic’s screenshot shows, AT&T has a 5 MHz-by-5 MHz network running in the 1900 MHz PCS band — band 2 is PCS — which previously contained only HSPA and GSM signals. Commercial devices are already connecting to the network.

 

[bigsnake49]

AT&T also has some spare 700MHz spectrum they can throw at the problem. Bands A, D and E have not been touched yet. 850Mhz as well. The WCS band will not be needed for a long, long time.

[Paynefanbro]

Seems like AT&T is just adding capacity rather than boosting speeds a ton. But doesn't having this many bands become confusing for them?

[anthony.spina97]

Seems like AT&T is just adding capacity rather than boosting speeds a ton. But doesn't having this many bands become confusing for them?

I wouldn't say it would make things confusing for them, considering they have always had PCS spectrum, but it was always used for 2G/3G. So adding that extra LTE band of PCS probably doesn't affect them very much.

[WiWavelength]

AT&T also has some spare 700MHz spectrum they can throw at the problem. Bands A, D and E have not been touched yet. 850Mhz as well. The WCS band will not be needed for a long, long time.

Yes and no.  AT&T has no Lower 700 MHz A block spectrum.  Avoided it like the plague -- for technical and/or political reasons.  And the Lower 700 MHz D/E block spectrum is unpaired, so it is not really useful yet.

 

AJ

[bigsnake49]

Yes and no.  AT&T has no Lower 700 MHz A block spectrum.  Avoided it like the plague -- for technical and/or political reasons.  And the Lower 700 MHz D/E block spectrum is unpaired, so it is not really useful yet.

 

AJ

 

You're right about Block A. Verizon tried to sell it but had no takers in the urban areas so they decided to keep it. As far as D&E block can be used as a supplemental downlink for PCS.

[WiWavelength]

As far as D&E block can be used as a supplemental downlink for PCS.

 

No equipment supports that carrier aggregation.  So, as I stated, the spectrum is not really useful yet.

 

AJ

[gnoj]

Hopefully AT&T applies MFBI to this new PCS LTE network to provide roaming access to Band 25 devices.

[RichardXy]

Could Sprint customers ever roam on AT&T's 1900 LTE if there were a roaming agreement in place? This isn't a "will it ever happen" type of question. I'm just wondering if its possible. 

[digiblur]

Could Sprint customers ever roam on AT&T's 1900 LTE if there were a roaming agreement in place? This isn't a "will it ever happen" type of question. I'm just wondering if its possible.

Yes it is technically possible. I saw my phone scanning C Spire LTE in the standard PCS block, it wouldn't authenticate. C Spire roams on Sprint's LTE.