600 MHz auction results posted and transition schedule

[JeffDTD]

Claire (Claure) hinted, apparently, that Sprint may not participate. http://www.cnet.com/news/sprint-ceo-without-net-neutrality-rules-we-are-toast/

 

Is that bluff to influence FCC rules? Long term strategy to justify consolidation? Or just reality that Sprint can be competitive in 2020+ without it?

[Rawvega]

http://recode.net/2014/04/16/att-threatens-boycott-if-tv-airwaves-auction-rules-arent-changed/

 

 

AT&T launched its campaign to change the rules Wednesday, releasing a letter to the agency suggesting that if some rules restricting the company’s ability to buy licenses aren’t changed, it may not participate at all.

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/analysts-verizon-might-be-playing-coy-600-mhz-auction-participation-get-mor/2015-02-18

 

 

Verizon Wireless indicated that it thinks it has enough spectrum for the foreseeable future and is taking a "wait and see" approach to the FCC's 600 MHz incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum.

 

 

It seems hinting at or outright threatening not to bid in the 600MHz spectrum at some point in time is the vogue thing to do.

[WiWavelength]

Claire hinted, apparently, that Sprint may not participate. http://www.cnet.com/news/sprint-ceo-without-net-neutrality-rules-we-are-toast/

 

I thought that Sprint got rid of Claire about a decade ago.  And while she was a voice response system, that does not mean she was authorized to speak on Sprint's behalf about its spectrum auction plans.

 

 

AJ

[dnwk]

It seems hinting at or outright threatening not to bid in the 600MHz spectrum at some point in time is the vogue thing to do.

 

The real question if not whether they will participate, but whether they will be able to afford any.

[clbowens]

I hope they are able to get at LEAST 50Mhz of nationwide 600Mhz.  More would be great!

[lou99/maximus1987]

I hope they are able to get at LEAST 50Mhz of nationwide 600Mhz.  More would be great!

Why 50? 20x20 + 5x5? What's the point?

[lou99/maximus1987]

Claire hinted, apparently, that Sprint may not participate. http://www.cnet.com/news/sprint-ceo-without-net-neutrality-rules-we-are-toast/

 

Is that bluff to influence FCC rules? Long term strategy to justify consolidation? Or just reality that Sprint can be competitive in 2020+ without it?

 

A bluff has to be believable and have negative consequences.

Sprint needs more lowband and not participating will not cause the auction to fail.

 

It's funny cause in the recent CCA roundtable, he calls out ATT, VZW for their "we won't invest in our networks"-BS by pointing out that no one makes as high a margin as they do.

Yet, he then goes on to spew his own "we may not participate, have to wait for the rules"-BS. GAG!!

He knows Sprint will participate, everyone else knows this so . . . . wth?

[clbowens]

Why 50? 20x20 + 5x5? What's the point?

The more, the merrier.  :-)

[JeffDTD]

I thought that Sprint got rid of Claire about a decade ago. And while she was a voice response system, that does not mean she was authorized to speak on Sprint's behalf about its spectrum auction plans.

 

 

AJ

I love that you have that graphic saved.

[travismheim]

A bluff has to be believable and have negative consequences.

Sprint needs more lowband and not participating will not cause the auction to fail.

 

It's funny cause in the recent CCA roundtable, he calls out ATT, VZW for their "we won't invest in our networks"-BS by pointing out that no one makes as high a margin as they do.

Yet, he then goes on to spew his own "we may not participate, have to wait for the rules"-BS. GAG!!

He knows Sprint will participate, everyone else knows this so . . . . wth?

I think he was spot on in saying they may be priced out of the auction depending how the rules end up.

 

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[lou99/maximus1987]

I think he was spot on in saying they may be priced out of the auction depending how the rules end up.

 

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He already knows there's gonna be a reserved block.

 

 

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[ericdabbs]

Claire (Claure) hinted, apparently, that Sprint may not participate. http://www.cnet.com/news/sprint-ceo-without-net-neutrality-rules-we-are-toast/

 

Is that bluff to influence FCC rules? Long term strategy to justify consolidation? Or just reality that Sprint can be competitive in 2020+ without it?

 

If Sprint doesn't participate in the 600 MHz auction....I'll say they are toast.  They need low band spectrum so badly its not even funny.  I am sorry but Sprint's urban coverage is no where near as dense as Tmobile's urban coverage and there many places where there is still gaping holes of poor coverage for voice and data which can be relieved by low band spectrum.

 

 

I hope they are able to get at LEAST 50Mhz of nationwide 600Mhz.  More would be great!

 

 

No way Sprint gets that.  All the carriers will be lucky if they can get 84 MHz total cleared for bidding.  Sprint needs at least a 10x10 out of the auction but hell why not go for 15x15 if available.

[travismheim]

He already knows there's gonna be a reserved block.

 

 

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Yes, but how much? How will the stations be dealt with that get moved into the wireless band? I think that's more what he was getting at. They need the low band spectrum, but also need to get a return on their investment.

 

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[travismheim]

If Sprint doesn't participate in the 600 MHz auction....I'll say they are toast. They need low band spectrum so badly its not even funny. I am sorry but Sprint's urban coverage is no where near as dense as Tmobile's urban coverage and there many places where there is still gaping holes of poor coverage for voice and data which can be relieved by low band spectrum.

 

 

 

No way Sprint gets that. All the carriers will be lucky if they can get 84 MHz total cleared for bidding. Sprint needs at least a 10x10 out of the auction but hell why not go for 15x15 if available.

It can also be relieved by finishing deployment of the low band spectrum they already have and densifying the network, both of which they are actively working on. Both which will likely be finished before 600mhz can even be used.

 

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[ericdabbs]

It can also be relieved by finishing deployment of the low band spectrum they already have and densifying the network, both of which they are actively working on. Both which will likely be finished before 600mhz can even be used.

 

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That is very true but 800 MHz LTE deployment in the western part of the US has become slow to a crawl.  Hopefully this picks up in the latter half of 2015.  Looking at the maps, the east coast for 800 MHz LTE looks pretty good so far but boy is there still a ton of work that needs to be done on that front.  Eventually Sprint will need to deploy 800 MHz in Canada and Mexico IBEZ areas once they are given the OK to do.

[WiWavelength]

If Sprint doesn't participate in the 600 MHz auction....I'll say they are toast.  They need low band spectrum so badly its not even funny.  I am sorry but Sprint's urban coverage is no where near as dense as Tmobile's urban coverage and there many places where there is still gaping holes of poor coverage for voice and data which can be relieved by low band spectrum.

 

More and more, ericdabbs, you are becoming a Sprint detractor.

 

T-Mobile does not have generally more dense urban coverage.  You are reflecting on just your own market, Southern California, which T-Mobile did not build.  Cingular nee PacBell built it, and T-Mobile bought it in divestment.

 

Cingular was focused solely on California and a sliver of Nevada -- it was just a regional operator in the West.  Regional operators often do have more dense coverage because they can concentrate on just their limited areas.  Plus, Cingular had no GSM roaming partners anywhere nearby to fill in gaps.  So, Cingular had to build a dense network.

 

In the end, get outside of Southern California.  Travel the country.  In many other major markets, T-Mobile has equal to or worse urban coverage compared to that of Sprint.  Otherwise, T-Mobile would not have its bad reputation for in building signal.  Sprint beats T-Mobile in that regard -- even before SMR 800 MHz.

 

AJ

[travismheim]

That is very true but 800 MHz LTE deployment in the western part of the US has become slow to a crawl. Hopefully this picks up in the latter half of 2015. Looking at the maps, the east coast for 800 MHz LTE looks pretty good so far but boy is there still a ton of work that needs to be done on that front. Eventually Sprint will need to deploy 800 MHz in Canada and Mexico IBEZ areas once they are given the OK to do.

If there are no more delays, 600mhz should be usable around 2020. If Sprint can't finish their 800 deployment by then barring some random ibez issues they deserve to fail and having participated in the auction likely won't have made a difference at that point.

 

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[lou99/maximus1987]

More and more, ericdabbs, you are becoming a Sprint detractor.

 

T-Mobile does not have generally more dense urban coverage. You are reflecting on just your own market, Southern California, which T-Mobile did not build. Cingular nee PacBell built it, and T-Mobile bought it in divestment.

 

Cingular was focused solely on California and a sliver of Nevada -- it was just a regional operator in the West. Regional operators often do have more dense coverage because they can concentrate on just their limited areas. Plus, Cingular had no GSM roaming partners anywhere nearby to fill in gaps. So, Cingular had to build a dense network.

 

In the end, get outside of Southern California. Travel the country. In many other major markets, T-Mobile has equal to or worse urban coverage compared to that of Sprint. Otherwise, T-Mobile would not have its bad reputation for in building signal. Sprint beats T-Mobile in that regard -- even before SMR 800 MHz.

 

AJ

No doubt that TMO

Has inbuilding problems but they have more active lte towers than sprint.

 

Currently, Carter said, T-Mobile has fiber backhaul connections to 50,000 of its sites, out of 60,000 total sites.

 

 

Those 50k sites have to be somewhere.

 

 

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[ericdabbs]

If there are no more delays, 600mhz should be usable around 2020. If Sprint can't finish their 800 deployment by then barring some random ibez issues they deserve to fail and having participated in the auction likely won't have made a difference at that point.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

I totally agree with you on that.

 

 

No doubt that TMO

Has inbuilding problems but they have more active lte towers than sprint.

 

Currently, Carter said, T-Mobile has fiber backhaul connections to 50,000 of its sites, out of 60,000 total sites.

 

 

Those 50k sites have to be somewhere.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

Well to be fair to Sprint, Tmobile/AT&T needed fiber backhaul much earlier than Sprint did because HSPA required sufficient backhaul to run properly so they had a huge head start in upgrading its towers to fiber.  Verizon and Sprint did not need to rush to upgrade its backhaul as soon because EVDO Rev A maxes out a 3.1 Mbps.  Had EVDO Rev B been available way earlier like 2003-2004, then perhaps Sprint and Verizon would have considered upgrading to EVDO Rev B which requires fiber backhaul since it could support up to 14.7 Mbps.

[dnwk]

I hope they are able to get at LEAST 50Mhz of nationwide 600Mhz.  More would be great!

5x5 national wide is a more realistic target.

[dnwk]

That doesn't prevent Dish to price them out?

[Rawvega]

5x5 national wide is a more realistic target.

Based upon what exactly?

[WiWavelength]

I love that you have that graphic saved.

 

Actually, it came from a decade old post at the anti S4GRU:  SprintUsers.

 

AJ

[JeffDTD]

Actually, it came from a decade old post at the anti S4GRU: SprintUsers.

 

AJ

A gross trip, sir.

[Ascertion]

If these maps are correct, why is AT&T/Verizon even allowed to participate in the auction? Looks like they still have a ton of 700mhz in reserve...I guess to starve the competition?