New FCC rules to count all of Sprint's Spectrum

[floorguy]

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304788404579523952115147272

 

 

so now what???

 

well crap you have to subscribe...

 

here is the phone scoop part

 

http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=13984

[supert0nes]

I would suggest a rename of this thread to something more related to the spectrum screen decision.  I agree with your sentiments, though.

[miguell2]

 

so it won't affect Sprint's ability to bid in two coming government spectrum auctions.

 

So not T-Mobile merger then?

 

 

Other rules proposed by the agency would have an impact on AT&T and Verizon. The agency said it would create a new screen for high-quality spectrum below 1 gigahertz, nearly two-thirds of which is controlled by AT&T and Verizon. Transactions that would result in control of more than one-third of such spectrum in a given market would be considered an "enhanced factor" in the agency's merger review process.

 

Its not all rosy for VZW or AT&T

Edited April 25, 2014 by miguell2

[The Dave]

Sprint had better begin its plans for world domination now before it is too late, then.

[digiblur]

Sounds like they better get to rolling out that 2.5/2.6 stuff nationwide right away.

[Paynefanbro]

At least the SNR spectrum is being taken out of the spectrum screen. But 14Mhz is like nothing in comparison to the nearly 120MHz of EBS/BRS that Sprint has in many markets.

[Rawvega]

I wonder if this will incentive them to bid in the AWS-3 auction.

[lilotimz]

I wonder if this will incentive them to bid in the AWS-3 auction.

Definitely not. They have nothing to get and a lot of money to lose if they bid on the aws auction.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

[IamMrFamous07]

Sounds like they better get to rolling out that 2.5/2.6 stuff nationwide right away.

Sadly they won't

[digiblur]

Sadly they won't

Aww come on. Have faith, it will get here one day. I still believe that band 25 will get here one day.

[xdfgf]

https://www.google.com/search?q=fcc+spectrum+screen+would+count&oq=fcc+spectrum+screen+would+count&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i61.9687j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=91&ie=UTF-8

 

 

Usually searching for the article through google will get you around the WSJ paywall

[Rawvega]

Definitely not. They have nothing to get and a lot of money to lose if they bid on the aws auction.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

How exactly would they "lose" money by bidding in the AWS auction?

[lilotimz]

How exactly would they "lose" money by bidding in the AWS auction?

 

They spend a few billion to acquire AWS. They spend a few billion to deploy AWS. Then they have to bid a few billion to acquire 600mhz and deploy that. 

 

600 mhz is the end goal of Sprint and it's CCA / Netamerica partners and the would spent on AWS would decrease how much they can bid for 600 against the duopoly. 

[Rawvega]

They spend a few billion to acquire AWS. They spend a few billion to deploy AWS. Then they have to bid a few billion to acquire 600mhz and deploy that. 

 

600 mhz is the end goal of Sprint and it's CCA / Netamerica partners. 

 

None of that sounds like a loss of money. That's acquisition and deployment of an asset.

 

I'm not necessarily advocating participation in the AWS-3 auction, however there may now be compelling reasons to do so. If Son has the funds to buy all of T-Mobile, surely he has the funds to participate in a couple of auctions. More importantly, these will apparently be the last two auctions where Sprint's prodigious 2.5GHz spectrum holdings won't be counted against the spectrum screen so why not acquire all spectrum possible until then? Sprint has indicated the eventual inclusion of Band 4 in future handsets so perhaps they should jump into the AWS ecosystem themselves.

[utiz4321]

Aws would be a wast of time. If they build a 2.5 network properly there is really no need. 600 on the other hand would give them better propogation characteristics . Sprint doesn't have unlimited capital even with SoftBank

[Destroyallcubes]

None of that sounds like a loss of money. That's acquisition and deployment of an asset.

 

I'm not necessarily advocating participation in the AWS-3 auction, however there may now be compelling reasons to do so. If Son has the funds to buy all of T-Mobile, surely he has the funds to participate in a couple of auctions. More importantly, these will apparently be the last two auctions where Sprint's prodigious 2.5GHz spectrum holdings won't be counted against the spectrum screen so why not acquire all spectrum possible until then? Sprint has indicated the eventual inclusion of Band 4 in future handsets so perhaps they should jump into the AWS ecosystem themselves.

It would be a waste because that money can go to more 600 spectrum which is more valuable. The eye of everyone is on the 600mhz spectrum. The inclusion of aws in future handsets would be for the cca/Netamerica partner situation.

[bucdenny]

They need to go all in in 600mhz. They can outbid everyone in the reserve which includes T-Mobile.  AT&T and Verizon will split on the non-reserve.   Is DT willing to outbid Softbank?

[Rawvega]

It would be a waste because that money can go to more 600 spectrum which is more valuable. The eye of everyone is on the 600mhz spectrum. The inclusion of aws in future handsets would be for the cca/Netamerica partner situation.

Yes, I know the reasoning behind Band 4 inclusion. However, I don't see why it it has to be an either/or scenario. Once again, if Son has the financial wherewithal to buy all of TMUS, it seems feasible that he could bid on AWS-3 and still make a splash at the 600MHz auction as well. Not saying that he will or even should, but the 600MHz auction should not be the reason for passing on the AWS-3 auction especially when it's still up in the air what the broadcasters are going to do.

 

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

[Destroyallcubes]

Yes, I know the reasoning behind Band 4 inclusion. However, I don't see why it it has to be an either/or scenario. Once again, if Son has the financial wherewithal to buy all of TMUS, it seems feasible that he could bid on AWS-3 and still make a splash at the 600MHz auction as well. Not saying that he will or even should, but the 600MHz auction should not be the reason for passing on the AWS-3 auction especially when it's still up in the air what the broadcasters are going to do.

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

The would be able to have the money to buy Tmobile because they retuen on it would be higher. AWS spectrum wouldnt have as high of a return. Buying TMO would be able to return the money quicker based on a larger customer base.

[Rawvega]

The would be able to have the money to buy Tmobile because they retuen on it would be higher. AWS spectrum wouldnt have as high of a return. Buying TMO would be able to return the money quicker based on a larger customer base.

Perhaps not as high of a return, but a much lower price tag.

 

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

[Destroyallcubes]

Perhaps not as high of a return, but a much lower price tag.

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

Yeah but the return on 600Mhz spectrum is greater because it expands coverage, and allows more people that normally would not have coverage , to have coverage. Not a huge number of people, but it would add to the customer base some. I think it would be smarter spending that money on low band spectrum. They have enough high band spectrum. With 8t8r b41, it should perform similar to b25. So no point in adding another capacity band in the upper range when it would not really be as beneficial as low band, range extending spectrum

[Rawvega]

Yeah but the return on 600Mhz spectrum is greater because it expands coverage, and allows more people that normally would not have coverage , to have coverage. Not a huge number of people, but it would add to the customer base some. I think it would be smarter spending that money on low band spectrum. They have enough high band spectrum. With 8t8r b41, it should perform similar to b25. So no point in adding another capacity band in the upper range when it would not really be as beneficial as low band, range extending spectrum

 

There's that either/or line of thinking again. I don't really get that. The possibility of bidding on AWS-3 should not preclude being a serious player on 600MHz. I think it would be smarter to try to acquire as much usable spectrum as possible before the bulk of the 2.5GHz starts being counted against the spectrum screen. Plus, as I mentioned before, there are still question marks regarding what the broadcasters are going to do WRT to the reverse spectrum auction.

[anthony.spina97]

There's that either/or line of thinking again. I don't really get that. The possibility of bidding on AWS-3 should not preclude being a serious player on 600MHz. I think it would be smarter to try to acquire as much usable spectrum as possible before the bulk of the 2.5GHz starts being counted against the spectrum screen. Plus, as I mentioned before, there are still question marks regarding what the broadcasters are going to do WRT to the reverse spectrum auction.

I think what everyone is trying to say about bidding on AWS is: what's the point? Sprint already has 120 MHz or more of 2500/2600 MHz in most markets in the U.S., so we know there won't be any kind of capacity problems in the future.

 

All the equipment is already being deployed for band 41 by Sprint, and they already have devices that support it. Why go through the effort of spending billions on (basically) redundant spectrum, when you can just save all of your billions for the 600 MHz auction, which is spectrum that Sprint very badly needs, and use some more of your millions/billions you saved to build that out?

 

Every cent that Sprint would use to bid for AWS is one cent less than what they would have available for bidding on 600.

 

Moral of the story? AWS to Sprint, in my mind, is redundant and not needed if you consider their BRS/EBS holdings, and 600 is damn near a necessity.

 

-Anthony

[Rawvega]

I do understand what the other posters are trying to say. I'm just choosing to look at the possibilities from a different angle. Every mobile operator will tell you that spectrum is their lifeblood. I'm not really sure that a resource that's considered that important to your business can ever be considered redundant. Sure the 600 MHz auction is a higher priority, but as I've mentioned, I don't necessarily view it as an either/or proposition. Now, who knows how Son and Sprint see it at this point. At one juncture, the majority of people viewed Sprint as a lock for the H-block right up until they threw a curveball and announced for one reason or another that they weren't going to bid. They could have another surprise in store....or not. Either way, I'm comfortable agreeing to disagree.

[MacinJosh]

Frankly, I can't understand why many people seem to think Sprint shouldn't spend money on AWS 3. The feds already said they are leery of a T-Mobile buyout by Sprint/Softbank, and that all future transactions will include the BRS/EBS in the spectrum screen. Since the next 2 auctions aren't subject to said screen, I think that Sprint should participate in the AWS 3 auction, and build out an LTE network on AWS 3 as well for capacity purposes. If they can get another 10 MHz nationwide or more, then that's just icing on the cake. Remember, Sprint is doing CA on the Clearwire Spectrum, so that doesn't stop them from doing CA on the FDD/LTE spectrum they own as well. CA with 800SMR, AWS 3, & PCS would yield up to 15 x 15 in many markets. That would yield some pretty decent data speeds.