Sprint not participating in the 600 MHz auction (report)

[Rawvega]

Sobering news...

 

http://recode.net/2015/09/26/sprint-wont-be-participating-in-next-years-wireless-auction-says-it-has-plenty-of-spectrum/

[kg4icg]

Sobering news...

 

http://recode.net/2015/09/26/sprint-wont-be-participating-in-next-years-wireless-auction-says-it-has-plenty-of-spectrum/

 

I think John should check himself because DT isn't exactly throwing cash his way for the 600 MHz spectrum auction. Sprint doesn't really need it, no matter how many arm chair CEO's in here we have that really wouldn't know propagation if it fell on there heads.

[derrph]

Dang...well Marcelo. It's now time to show out with all this spectrum Sprint has.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mittenmitten]

excitement for densification just went to 11.

[Ascertion]

excitement for densification just went to 11.

Well, Sprint is really banking on the densification plan, especially for the long-term now.  As they won't have any additional low band spectrum to roll out.

 

EDIT: I don't like the fact that their competition will now get more for themselves.  I personally believe it's going to hurt Sprint more than benefit them if they sit it out, similar to how T-Mobile became a force after merging with MetroPCS for their spectrum assets.

[EvanA]

It's official, Sprint will not be participating in the 600MHz auction.

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-26/sprint-won-t-join-2016-airwave-auction-saying-network-is-ample

[tybo31316]

It's official, Sprint will not be participating in the 600MHz auction.

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-26/sprint-won-t-join-2016-airwave-auction-saying-network-is-ample

I still think they are bluffing unless they have other plans with another entity that we don't know about yet.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6

[mittenmitten]

T-Mobile isn't the only carrier participating in the reserve auctions..

[sbolen]

I still think they are bluffing unless they have other plans with another entity that we don't know about yet.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6

By the time this action actually transpires, Sprint and T-Mobile may have already merged.

 

 

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[nexgencpu]

It's official, Sprint will not be participating in the 600MHz auction.http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-26/sprint-won-t-join-2016-airwave-auction-saying-network-is-ample

I know I will get a lot of flack for this, but I'm actually happy they are not. I just don't see the cost/benefit of a small 600mhz chunk that won't be usable for nearly 5 years.

 

Densify the hell out of B41 now, and concentrate on efforts to do CDMA shutdown/refarm as soon as possible.

[ericdabbs]

I hope this is a bluff because Marcelo is out of his mind if he thinks Sprint has the spectrum to compete indoors and outdoors.  Now I am feeling way less confident on his Next Generation Plan to bring the network up to par to compete with the other 3 carriers because indoor coverage will still suffer tremendously.

 

I know I will get a lot of flack for this, but I'm actually happy they are not. I just don't see the cost/benefit of a small 600mhz chunk that won't be usable for nearly 5 years.

Densify the hell out of B41 now, and concentrate on efforts to do CDMA shutdown/refarm as soon as possible.

 

How do you know the 600 MHz spectrum will just be a small chunk?  I still think its too short term thinking.  I don't see why Masa wouldn't approve of funding to get Sprint to participate in the auction.

[nexgencpu]

I hope this is a bluff because Marcelo is out of his mind if he thinks Sprint has the spectrum to compete indoors and outdoors.  Now I am feeling way less confident on his Next Generation Plan to bring the network up to par to compete with the other 3 carriers because indoor coverage will still suffer tremendously.

 

 

 

How do you know the 600 MHz spectrum will just be a small chunk?  I still think its too short term thinking.  I don't see why Masa wouldn't approve of funding to get Sprint to participate in the auction.

FCC reserved 30Mhz for the smaller carriers..

[Fraydog]

Stupid.

 

Not sure I want to say much more than that... I'm keeping my lips sealed for a while on this. [emoji35][emoji35][emoji35]

[Arysyn]

I think John should check himself because DT isn't exactly throwing cash his way for the 600 MHz spectrum auction. Sprint doesn't really need it, no matter how many arm chair CEO's in here we have that really wouldn't know propagation if it fell on there heads.

Even though there is a strong history of reporting about DT not funding T-Mobile, along with DT itself making various statements which support that, I think DT will send some funds over to T-Mobile for this auction as an addition to what T-Mobile is getting funds from lending groups.

 

Considering T-Mobile's growth, DT is enjoying reaping the benefits and knowing that they will make out very well once they do decide to sell T-Mobile. Funding T-Mobile for this auction will further help to ensure that.

 

Regarding Sprint, I think that dropping out of the auction is a huge mistake, unless they are pretty confident they'll be able to acquire T-Mobile in the future, along with the spectrum T-Mobile now very likely will get from this. That being likely at least 15x15 nationwide 600mhz, possibly even 20x20 or more, depending on costs and competition. If T-Mobile gets that much, they could very well begin to beat Verizon.

[smooth25]

Stupid.

 

Not sure I want to say much more than that... I'm keeping my lips sealed for a while on this. [emoji35][emoji35][emoji35]

I'm not happy about this either.

 

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[ericdabbs]

FCC reserved 30Mhz for the smaller carriers..

 

I know its 30 MHz but that is still at least good enough for a 5x5 or 10x10 block.  Btw just because only 30 MHz is reserved doesn't mean Sprint/Tmobile would not be able to bid on the remaining 5x5 blocks of 600 MHz spectrum.  

 

Remember the FCC imposed rules that a carrier cannot have more than 45 MHz of <1 GHz spectrum in any particular market or something like that. In some cases if the total amount of 600 MHz available for auctions is 84 MHz, chances are Verizon/AT&T will only be able to buy a 5x5 block in that market since they own a ton of 700 MHz and 850 MHz spectrum and Sprint/Tmobile is free to bid on the remaining blocks in that region.

[joshuam]

Can't say I'm surprised by this news. Sprint needs its cash now to roll out band 41 and a more dense network. Bad timing really for Sprint. If things were different, I'd bet they would plan to participate.

[lilotimz]

More sauce:

 

http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/article36686247.html

[ericdabbs]

Can't say I'm surprised by this news. Sprint needs its cash now to roll out band 41 and a more dense network. Bad timing really for Sprint. If things were different, I'd bet they would plan to participate.

 

I would much rather delay a little part of the NGN plan to obtain the 600 MHz now than to go press full speed with the NGN plan.  Again short term thinking is what continues to plague Sprint.  Now it begs the question if future Sprint phones will be more incompatible with the rest of the other carriers just like it does with AWS with no 600 MHz LTE band support.

[nexgencpu]

I know its 30 MHz but that is still at least good enough for a 5x5 or 10x10 block.  Btw just because only 30 MHz is reserved doesn't mean Sprint/Tmobile would not be able to bid on the remaining 5x5 blocks of 600 MHz spectrum.  

 

Remember the FCC imposed rules that a carrier cannot have more than 45 MHz of <1 GHz spectrum in any particular market or something like that. In some cases if the total amount of 600 MHz available for auctions is 84 MHz, chances are Verizon/AT&T will only be able to buy a 5x5 block in that market since they own a ton of 700 MHz and 850 MHz spectrum and Sprint/Tmobile is free to bid on the remaining blocks in that region.

Again, Id rather they spend the 3 or 4 billion dollars(most likely alot more), not even including deployment cost densifying B41. I don't know if its because I live in a very dense market, but i do not see 3G (unless super deep indoors or basement, where even verizon LTE cannot get through) is the reason I have this mindset.

 

Densifying B41 is a thousand times more forward thinking than a limited 600Mhz spectrum, that will require years and years to deploy and receive device support. If deployment of 600Mhz were doable within a year or maybe 2 it would be an ok stop gap. But even the most rural areas will continue to grow its data needs and I just don't see 10x10 (forget about 5x5) being a good long term solution for data needs especially in exchange for Band 41 deployment. 

 

If Sprint had Verizon money, id do it just to screw the competition, but I think its safe to say they do not. Being on B41 90% of time here says alot, but I think Sprint should shoot to achieve this and more in most markets to quell any need for other spectrum for a long time.

[Fraydog]

I would have liked Sprint bidding, if for no other reason than to drive the prices up for the others. It is going to be interesting to see if Verizon is out as well, they've also made rumblings about not participating. VZ might be better served with Dish spectrum. They have ample low band but need to supplement their middle band holdings.

 

I get the counter arguments that Sprint needs to fund NGN but low band is such a finite resource. It's nice Sprint has a national band for low band LTE with band 26 but it would have been nice to supplement that in certain markets that are strong for Sprint.

[ericdabbs]

Again, Id rather they spend the 3 or 4 billion dollars(most likely more), not even including deployment cost  densifying B41. I don't know if its because I live in a very dense market, but i do not see 3G (unless super deep indoors or basement, where even verizon LTE cannot get through) is the reason I have this mindset.

 

Densifying B41 is a thousand times more forward thinking than a limited 600Mhz spectrum, that will require years and years to deploy and receive device support. If deployment of 600Mhz were doable within a year or maybe 2 it would be an ok stop gap. But even the most rural areas will continue to grow its data needs and I just don't see 10x10 (forget about 5x5) being a good long term solution for data needs especially in exchange for Band 41 deployment. 

 

Unless you think Sprint is hanging by a limb on cash, why can't have separate buckets for financing on spectrum auction bidding and they already have separate financing from the OEMs for the NGN network?  While the OEMs, TV stations do its thing after the 600 MHz auction, focus funds back on the NGN.  We have always said on this site that Sprint can do and have done things in parallel (LTE 800, LTE 1900 and LTE 2500 at the same time) and not serially so why not now?  BTW NYC is going to be a hell of a lot harder to cover even if you rely on 2.5 GHz small cells because that is going to take years and years to develop.  Right now Sprint is still focusing on deploying NV on all of its macro cells so you are going to be waiting on those small cells for a long time.  

 

Actually according to Ericcson the bottleneck for 600 MHz deployment will not be on the equipment manufacturers to produce equipment since they can do it quickly but rather the TV stations vacating the spectrum.  Actual deployment of 600 MHz will be rather quick once TV stations vacate the spectrum and will be slowly rolled out as soon as the TV network clears it which can vary.  It doesn't have to be an all or nothing deployment nationwide.

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/tech/special-reports/ericsson-cto-laxdal-dishes-virtualization-network-slicing-and-600-mhz

 

 FWT: How quickly could you provide the equipment?

Laxdal: We'll have equipment for 600 very quickly. It's very easy for us today. We've got a 700 MHz radio, so introducing it in a 600 MHz radio is going to be very straightforward. The challenge is going to be clearing the spectrum. 600 MHz spectrum with broadcasters in it today will have to go through a clearing process, which typically could take a year and a half to two years for an operator to fully clear it. In the meantime, that doesn't mean they can't be deploying networks but they would need a clear network to be able to launch the network. So I'd say the long pole in 600 MHz will be clearing the 600 MHz spectrum and then getting the device on 600, and we will make sure the radios are available in good time.

[nexgencpu]

Unless you think Sprint is hanging by a limb on cash, why can't have separate buckets for financing on spectrum auction bidding and they already have separate financing from the OEMs for the NGN network?  While the OEMs, TV stations do its thing after the 600 MHz auction, focus funds back on the NGN.  We have always said on this site that Sprint can do things in parallel (LTE 800, LTE 1900 and LTE 2500 at the same time) and not serially so why not now?  BTW NYC is going to be a hell of a lot harder to cover even if you rely on 2.5 GHz small cells because that

 

Actually according to Ericcson the bottleneck for 600 MHz deployment will not be on the equipment manufacturers to produce equipment since they can do it quickly but rather the TV stations vacating the spectrum.  Actual deployment of 600 MHz will be rather quick once TV stations vacate the spectrum and will be slowly rolled out as soon as the network clears it.  It doesn't have to be an all or nothing deployment nationwide.

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/tech/special-reports/ericsson-cto-laxdal-dishes-virtualization-network-slicing-and-600-mhz

That was my point, NYC is already covered super well with B41, all we need is more capacity. B41 in its current form already gets indoors pretty well without beamforming or even higher order MIMO. Also, as has been stated multiple times, 600Mhz best case scenario, the user will not experience any of it until nearly 2020 at best.

 

Don't get me started on Ericsson/Sprint deployment track record...

[Yuhfhrh]

This is sad news.

[ericdabbs]

That was my point, NYC is already covered super well with B41, all we need is more capacity. B41 in its current form already gets indoors pretty well without beamforming or even higher order MIMO. Also, as has been stated multiple times, 600Mhz best case scenario, the user will not experience any 600Mhz until nearly 2020 at best.

 

Try coming out to Los Angeles and then say the same thing.  Its easy to say that when a market is urban and things are very well tight together.  But in LA the market is so spread out that low band spectrum makes a huge difference.  

 

I just don't understand the thinking that if Sprint participated in 600 MHz auction that NGN efforts would go to a complete halt.  Its like the same mindset thinking back when NV was beginning to deploy that people were clamoring...just throw money at it and then NV deployment progress would suddenly rise 1000%.  That is not how it works. There are only a finite amount of network deployment staff out there that are pretty much shared between all the major carriers so throwing a ton of money isn't going to be much help and not to mention the red tape especially when all the other carriers are currently going full speed on their own LTE network deployments.