Vzw & T-mobile PCS / AWS spectrum swap

[lilotimz]

 

Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) has agreed to swap AWS and PCS spectrum with T-Mobile US (NYSE:TMUS), according to an FCC document. Although neither company has made any announcement about Verizon selling its lower 700 MHz A Block spectrum T-Mobile, Verizon Communications CEO Lowell McAdam has said Verizon would be interested in a spectrum swap as part of a deal for the 700 MHz airwaves.

According to the FCC, which must clear the swap, Verizon and T-Mobile would exchange 10 to 20 MHz of AWS-1 spectrum in 285 counties across 59 Cellular Market Areas. As part of the AWS swaps, Verizon would assign 10 MHz of AWS spectrum to T-Mobile in 16 counties across four CMAs, and after the deal T-Mobile would hold 30 to 40 MHz of AWS-1 spectrum. Additionally, T-Mobile would assign 10 to 20 MHz of AWS spectrum to Verizon in 26 counties across nine CMAs, and after the deal Verizon hold 20 to 40 MHz of AWS-1 spectrum.

With regard to the PCS spectrum, the companies would exchange 5 to 20 MHz of PCS spectrum in 153 counties across 47 CMAs. In addition, in 11 counties across three CMAs in Texas, Verizon would assign 20 MHz of PCS spectrum to T-Mobile, and would receive 10 MHz of PCS spectrum in return. Finally, Verizon would assign 5 to 10 MHz of PCS spectrum to T-Mobile in an additional 34 counties across 13 CMAs.

 

The FCC said petitions to deny the swap are due Jan. 6, oppositions are due Jan. 16 and reply comments are due Jan. 24.

Verizon Wireless is nearing a deal to sell its 700 MHz A Block spectrum to T-Mobile according to a recent Bloomberg report. The report, which cited an unnamed person close to the deal, said that the deal could be announced as soon as this week.

Verizon executives in general have been open about their willingness to part with the A Block at the right price. Verizon paid $2.4 billion for its A Block licenses, and companies interested in buying the spectrum would likely need to pay that much if not more, according to analysts. The spectrum covers around 150 million POPs, according to the report.

T-Mobile raised $3.8 billion in debt and stock sales last month to increase its war chest for spectrum and is reportedly interested in Verizon's A Block spectrum holdings. In securities filings, T-Mobile has said it is interested in "opportunistically acquiring additional spectrum in private party transactions" and also that it wants low-band spectrum.

New Street Research analyst Jonathan Chaplin wrote in a recent research note that T-Mobile has excess AWS spectrum, which he valued at around $400 million. Verizon could use those airwaves to fill in gaps in its own AWS holdings, as it appears it might be doing with the proposed swap. Chaplin suggested that if T-Mobile's excess AWS spectrum was included in a deal with Verizon, the deal value would be around $2 billion to $2.5 billion. Chaplin also wrote that T-Mobile would then likely seek to score other 700 MHz A Block licenses from carriers besides Verizon, which could cost an additional $1.6 billion to $2 billion.

 

Read more: Verizon Wireless to swap AWS, PCS spectrum T-Mobile - FierceWireless http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/verizon-wireless-swap-aws-pcs-spectrum-t-mobile/2013-12-18#ixzz2nrMVJx5B 

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Interesting... 

[Nickel]

I still think AT&T buys the 700 MHz A block.

[bigsnake49]

I still think AT&T buys the 700 MHz A block.

 

Nope, it's T-Mobile's to lose. T-Mobile is making some aggressive moves.

[Keitarou]

Verizon isn't going to sell to it's main competition

[jamisonshaw125]

So when Tmobile and Sprint merge, Sprintysofttmobile will own 700....Why would Verizon sell 700. Is that not what they use to brag about having such good coverage in rural areas. 

[WiWavelength]

So when Tmobile and Sprint merge, Sprintysofttmobile will own 700....Why would Verizon sell 700. Is that not what they use to brag about having such good coverage in rural areas.

 

No. There are two types of 700 MHz: Upper 700 MHz and Lower 700 MHz.

 

AJ

[WiWavelength]

Verizon isn't going to sell to it's main competition

Uh, VZW already divested some Lower 700 MHz B block licenses to AT&T.

 

AJ

[Nickel]

Nope, it's T-Mobile's to lose. T-Mobile is making some aggressive moves.

I think the "leaks" we've seen is VZW trying to bait AT&T to up its bid.

[bigsnake49]

I think the "leaks" we've seen is VZW trying to bait AT&T to up its bid.

 

Yep, VZW knows how to play this game.

[jamisonshaw125]

No. There are two types of 700 MHz: Upper 700 MHz and Lower 700 MHz.

 

AJ

Thank you. Excuse my ignorance on the subject.

[mozamcrew]

I think the "leaks" we've seen is VZW trying to bait AT&T to up its bid.

Verizon overpaid for the lower 700 Mhz spectrum that it owns. The licenses it ha  were the ones were it outbid ATT in the original auction. Verizon already has the upper C block nationwide, which was relatively cheep due to the open access requirements. Verizon would love to sell this spectrum that it overpaid for at the auction with a nice markup.

 

I think TMUS decided they didn't want to pay that much so they just agreed to AWS/PCS spectrum swaps. They give up spectrum in markets where they have more than 30-40Mhz of AWS, and they gain some in markets where they are short. Good deal for both sides since the markets one is short in is probably where the other one has excess.

[Nickel]

Verizon overpaid for the lower 700 Mhz spectrum that it owns. The licenses it ha  were the ones were it outbid ATT in the original auction. Verizon already has the upper C block nationwide, which was relatively cheep due to the open access requirements. Verizon would love to sell this spectrum that it overpaid for at the auction with a nice markup.

 

I think TMUS decided they didn't want to pay that much so they just agreed to AWS/PCS spectrum swaps. They give up spectrum in markets where they have more than 30-40Mhz of AWS, and they gain some in markets where they are short. Good deal for both sides since the markets one is short in is probably where the other one has excess.

I think the big thing is that it would mean that in some big markets (NYC, LA etc) AT&T would have a 15x15 of 700 MHz if they get Verizon's A block.

[Conan Kudo]

The swaps were agreed upon last month. The filings for the swap were submitted several weeks ago. The FCC is just backlogged as all hell because of... well, everything!

 

This swap is completely independent of any acquisition of Lower 700MHz A block spectrum.

[mozamcrew]

I think the big thing is that it would mean that in some big markets (NYC, LA etc) AT&T would have a 15x15 of 700 MHz if they get Verizon's A block.

 More likely a 10x10 and a 5x5, at least initially. ATT has lots of band 17 devices that only support the lower B & C blocks. They only recently agreed to move to using band 12 instead (which adds A block support). I was actually hoping that TMUS bought the 700Mhz A block. That would mean less chance of a bidding war between them in the 600 Mhz auction.

[WiWavelength]

I think the big thing is that it would mean that in some big markets (NYC, LA etc) AT&T would have a 15x15 of 700 MHz if they get Verizon's A block.

 

Not exactly.  Lower 700 MHz A/B/C blocks would be 18 MHz FDD.

 

AJ

[Nickel]

 More likely a 10x10 and a 5x5, at least initially. ATT has lots of band 17 devices that only support the lower B & C blocks. They only recently agreed to move to using band 12 instead (which adds A block support). I was actually hoping that TMUS bought the 700Mhz A block. That would mean less chance of a bidding war between them in the 600 Mhz auction.

Right, I know that. I meant when they finally use Band 12 in devices.

 

Not exactly.  Lower 700 MHz A/B/C blocks would be 18 MHz FDD.

 

AJ

Would the other 3 MHz per division actually be usable though?

[mozamcrew]

Right, I know that. I meant when they finally use Band 12 in devices.

 

Would the other 3 MHz per division actually be usable though?

 

Since ATT's band 17 devices won't be able to use any LTE carriers that include block A spectrum, I assume they won't co-mingle the A band for a number of years, until almost everyone moves to a band 12 device.

[WiWavelength]

Right, I know that. I meant when they finally use Band 12 in devices.

For AT&T, 15 MHz FDD incorporating the Lower 700 MHz B/C blocks is no more possible than 10 MHz FDD incorporating the PCS G block is for Sprint. Too many incompatible UEs in the field already.

 

Would the other 3 MHz per division actually be usable though?

Sure. Band 12 LTE supports 1.4/3/5/10 MHz FDD. You do the math.

 

AJ

[Nickel]

For AT&T, 15 MHz FDD incorporating the Lower 700 MHz B/C blocks is no more possible than 10 MHz FDD incorporating the PCS G block is for Sprint. Too many incompatible UEs in the field already.

So even though it would be band 12 using 15 MHz and band 17 using 10 MHz, that's still a no no?

 

Sure. Band 12 LTE supports 1.4/3/5/10 MHz FDD. You do the math.

So then it would support all 18 by using 3+3+3+3+3+3, right? Interesting, I knew that you use 3 MHz chunks, but I never thought of it like that before, thanks.

[WiWavelength]

So even though it would be band 12 using 15 MHz and band 17 using 10 MHz, that's still a no no?

I do not follow. It is not possible to have both a band 12 15 MHz FDD carrier and a band 17 10 MHz FDD carrier. Are you talking 5 MHz FDD + 10 MHz FDD carrier aggregation? That is a different animal.

 

So then it would support all 18 by using 3+3+3+3+3+3, right? Interesting, I knew that you use 3 MHz chunks, but I never thought of it like that before, thanks.

That is just one possible combination. If band 12, the maximal combination is 10 MHz FDD, 5 MHz FDD, and 3 MHz FDD.

 

AJ

[mozamcrew]

I do not follow. It is not possible to have both a band 12 15 MHz FDD carrier and a band 17 10 MHz FDD carrier. Are you talking 5 MHz FDD + 10 MHz FDD carrier aggregation? That is a different animal.

 

That is just one possible combination. If band 12, the maximal combination is 10 MHz FDD, 5 MHz FDD, and 3 MHz FDD.

 

AJ

Im assuming in that case that the 10Mhz FDD falls entirely within band 17, and thus would be accessible to band 17 & band 12 devices, whereas the 5 and 3 Mhz FDD carriers would only be usable by band 12 devices.

[WiWavelength]

Im assuming in that case that the 10Mhz FDD falls entirely within band 17, and thus would be accessible to band 17 & band 12 devices, whereas the 5 and 3 Mhz FDD carriers would only be usable by band 12 devices.

 

Yes, that would be the arrangement that maximizes the largest possible LTE carrier.  It would probably require AT&T to slightly shift up the EARFCN of its existing band 17 10 MHz FDD carrier, but I would have to go back and look at my spectrum analyzer sweeps or others' posted engineering screenshots to confirm.  Out of principle, I refuse to pay AT&T any subscription fees to do the engineering screen observations myself.

 

AJ

[Nickel]

I do not follow. It is not possible to have both a band 12 15 MHz FDD carrier and a band 17 10 MHz FDD carrier. Are you talking 5 MHz FDD + 10 MHz FDD carrier aggregation? That is a different animal.

Nevermind, I was all mixed up.

 

That is just one possible combination. If band 12, the maximal combination is 10 MHz FDD, 5 MHz FDD, and 3 MHz FDD.

Ah, I didn't realize you could mix and match to get the combination.

[ericdabbs]

So even though it would be band 12 using 15 MHz and band 17 using 10 MHz, that's still a no no?

 

 

Lets just get some things straight first.  B12 is 699-716 MHz and B17 is 704-716 MHz.  So if you have a 15 MHz FDD carrier at B12, how the heck can you have a B17 10 MHz FDD carrier running concurrently at the same time?

 

All the spectrum in the B12 15 MHz carrier is being occupied.  Get it?  Not sure if you meant to say a B12 5 MHz FDD carrier and a B17 10 MHz FDD carrier.  That can be possible but this is certainly not what you said though.

[Nickel]

Lets just get some things straight first.  B12 is 699-716 MHz and B17 is 704-716 MHz.  So if you have a 15 MHz FDD carrier at B12, how the heck can you have a B17 10 MHz FDD carrier running concurrently at the same time?

 

All the spectrum in the B12 15 MHz carrier is being occupied.  Get it?  Not sure if you meant to say a B12 5 MHz FDD carrier and a B17 10 MHz FDD carrier.  That can be possible but this is certainly not what you said though.

Did you not see where AJ and I settled this? I was mixed up.