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FCC approves LTE deployment in 800MHz SMR band!


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May 25, 2012-11:06am ET | By Phil Goldstein

 

The FCC voted to remove technical restrictions on the 800 MHz band, allowing the deployment of 3G and LTE service on the spectrum, which should clear the way for Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) to eventually deploy LTE in the airwaves.

 

The FCC voted 5-0 Thursday on a report and order that allows the deployment of advanced services by 800 MHz Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) licensees. The action alters the FCC's rules to allow geographically-based SMR licensees to operate across contiguous channels without a rigid channel spacing requirement or bandwidth limitation. The restrictions had kept operations on 800 MHz spectrum limited to 2G services, and the technical limitations dated from an older FCC order before Sprint merged with Nextel in 2005. The FCC also took steps to continue to mitigate against interference with public-safety operations in the 800 MHz band.

 

Sprint intends to deploy LTE services on its 800 MHz spectrum sometime by 2014; the 800 MHz spectrum is where its iDEN network currently resides. Steve Elfman, president of network operations at Sprint, said in April that the company has already received 3GPP certification for Band Class 26 to use its 800 MHz spectrum for LTE.

 

"Today's unanimous vote by the FCC paves the way for Sprint and other 800 MHz licensees to deploy advanced 3G and 4G technologies in the band," said Vonya McCann, senior vice president of government affairs at Sprint.

 

 

http://www.fiercewir...rint/2012-05-25

 

http://transition.fc...FCC-12-55A1.pdf

 

I wonder how long it will be until we see LTE800 handsets.

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This is actually ahead of schedule. Sprint has marked in its 800MHz LTE schedule to have FCC approval by August. This is good news. The 800 LTE FIT's are scheduled for a Fall deployment. This will allow these to start on time. Or perhaps, maybe even sooner? :)

 

Robert via Kindle Fire using Forum Runner

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I stand vindicated in the face of 4ringsnbr's overdone pessimism:

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/742-sprint-800-mhz-lte-set-for-launch-in-2014/page__view__findpost__p__12127

 

AJ

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Yeah I am very happy that the FCC finally approved 800 MHz LTE on ESMR because Sprint really needed the extra 5x5 LTE carrier to bolster capacity as well as building penetration . To deny Sprint LTE permission at 800 MHz would have been devastating since they would leave 10 MHz of spectrum (in most parts of the country) unused which is not what the FCC wants. I know if Sprint were denied LTE at 800 MHz they could still use that 10 MHz that was set aside for LTE to bolster its CDMA/EVDO holdings but it doesn't help the wireless industry to move forward towards 4G. Im sure the FCC wants each carrier to maximize its current spectrum holdings before considering new spectrum auctions.

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I stand vindicated in the face of 4ringsnbr's overdone pessimism:

 

http://s4gru.com/ind...dpost__p__12127

 

AJ

 

4ringsnbr has moved on to Verizon and not looking back. Of course he is going to be pessimistic about Sprint doing anything right due to the way the current state of Sprint service in NO and BR are currently in. I am glad the FCC was able to recognize how important this spectrum band was to Sprint's future success and to the Network Vision project.

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Hmm, wonder when the first LTE-SMR phones will arrive...

 

Definitely not until mid 2013. Its great that they got FCC approval to deploy LTE at 800 MHz because that was the main barrier that was out of Sprint's hands which they couldn't control. The problem right now is that Sprint is trying to decommission iDEN towers nationwide and actively trying to move iDEN customers to CDMA before they can even think about doing anything LTE related with 800 MHz.

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This is actually ahead of schedule. Sprint has marked in its 800MHz LTE schedule to have FCC approval by August. This is good news. The 800 LTE FIT's are scheduled for a Fall deployment. This will allow these to start on time. Or perhaps, maybe even sooner? :)

 

Robert via Kindle Fire using Forum Runner

 

I nominate Phoenix to be the market to which the 800 LTE FIT's be deployed! ;)

 

Edit: In all seriousness... this is Great news!

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I nominate Phoenix to be the market to which the 800 LTE FIT's be deployed! ;)

 

Edit: In all seriousness... this is Great news!

 

Nice try but Sprint doesn't care about Phoenix.. . ;). I hope Sprint can start doing 800 MHz LTE FIT testing somewhere soon. It will be nice to hear info on the improvements on coverage and building penetration between 800 MHz and 1900 MHz.

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I nominate Phoenix to be the market to which the 800 LTE FIT's be deployed! ;)

 

Edit: In all seriousness... this is Great news!

 

It looks like Clearwire claimed that city first to test their LTE.

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I have a stupid question right now I do not have sprint coverage where I live but I know that there use to be nextel coverage here( haven't checked in years if it still works). . Sprints closest tower to me is like 18 miles with the new ruling will the service area increase to where nextel use to work?

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i nominate PUERTO RICO were they never uses 800mhz or iDEN and the island is small compare to other states!

 

Sprint has already selected two places for 800 LTE FIT's. However, it can't do the FIT in Puerto Rico. They don't have a 5MHz up and downlink in SMR in Puerto Rico to deploy it.

 

Robert via Kindle Fire using Forum Runner

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Isn't the new Evo supposed to have both 1900 and 800 LTE? http://www.gsmarena....4g_lte-4665.php


Nope, our article is correct. GSMArena is wrong.

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-159-htc-evo-4g-lte-tech-details-revealed-in-fcc-oet-filing/

In fact, GSMArena does not even get the CDMA1X 800/850/1900 specs correct. Then again, are you really going to trust CDMA2000 device specs from a web site called GSMArena?

AJ
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Is it due to some type of hardware limitation that the current-gen Sprint LTE phones can't support 800 LTE, or is it just that the phone wasn't tested for that by the FCC?

 

Prolly a money limitation.

 

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk 2

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So with this article in mind... will Sprint plan on deploying 3G on the 800 SMR band as well, or just keep 1x-advanced and LTE?

 

Sent from my JB iPhone 4S using Forum Runner

 

Sprint does not have plans to deploy 3G on 800 MHz. For most of the country, Sprint has about 14 MHz of 800 MHz spectrum and 10 MHz which will be used to deploy a 5x5 LTE carrier and a single 1x Advanced CDMA carrier. In certain parts of the country, Sprint will only be able to deploy a single 1x Advanced CDMA carrier and a 1.4x1.4 MHz OR 3x3 MHz LTE carrier due to potential interference issues with Mexico and Canada iDEN networks. There simply isn't enough 800 MHz spectrum to deploy 1x Advanced, 3G, and LTE.

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