WiWavelength

Based on this post and a previous one, it sounds like John intends to leave some "grey poupon" in one of Son's toilets. Just please do not "upper deck" it. AJ

I am sorry, but I have to offer a stern response to this "inane" post. First, as soon as Asian companies started naming American handsets, there have been plenty of "inane" names: LG Chocolate 2, Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch, HTC Droid Eris, etc. By comparison, HTC One is practically a paragon of straightforward sense (no pun intended) and simplicity. The "one" legitimate criticism that you can really make is that the flagship handset last year was called the HTC One X, while the flagship this year is just the HTC One. Regardless, "One" is HTC's global brand to compete with singular "iPhone" and "Galaxy" branding from Apple and Samsung, respectively. Second, are embedded SIMs "inane" if Sprint has a valid reason for going that route? FYI, Sprint has had removable SIMs on the internal Network Vision roadmap since at least early last year. Removable SIMs are coming -- just not yet. Some of us speculate that problems with iDEN SIM swapping could be the reason. There could be plenty of other reasons, namely, that Sprint's CDMA2000 network is not set up to utilize SIMs. So, how about you give Sprint the benefit of the doubt that it knows what it is doing? Or do you just have all the answers? AJ

My HTC One article is up on The Wall... http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-342-all-for-htc-one-htc-one-for-all/ AJ

by Andrew J. Shepherd Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Friday, February 22, 2013 - 2:55 PM MST Update: Many hands on reviews of the HTC One are emerging this week. Courtesy of Engadget, we can report that the Sprint variant is one of the very first Sprint LTE handsets to include a removable micro-SIM. Removable SIM cards have long been part of the Network Vision roadmap for 2013, so it looks like that time may have arrived. S4GRU welcomes you to the first major Sprint handset announcement of 2013. Earlier this week, the upcoming HTC One was revealed at an event in New York City. Not to be confused with last year's HTC One X, the HTC One is the new flagship of the line and will be offered by dozens of carriers around the world, including AT&T and T-Mobile in the US. Last year, Sprint got essentially a customized version of the HTC One X in the HTC EVO 4G LTE. This year, however, another EVO handset is not currently in the offing, and Sprint is joining its fellow carriers in standardizing around a universal HTC One platform. The only notable customization is for Sprint's specific CDMA2000 band classes and LTE band. And that Sprint variant had its authorization documents uploaded to the FCC OET (Office of Engineering and Technology) database earlier today. If you have followed our series of articles on the EVO LTE, Samsung Galaxy S3, Motorola Photon Q 4G, LG Optimus G, and Samsung Galaxy Note 2, then you know what is at hand. Here is an RF focused breakdown of the HTC One coming to Sprint: CDMA1X + EV-DO band classes 0, 1, 10 (i.e. CDMA1X + EV-DO 850/1900/800) LTE band class 25 (i.e. LTE 1900; PCS A-G blocks) LTE 5/10 MHz FDD carrier bandwidth LTE UE category 3 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi 802.11n MCS index 7, 40 MHz carrier bandwidth 802.11ac MCS index 9, 80 MHz carrier bandwidth SVLTE support, including SVLTE and simultaneous 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi tether NFC Antenna 0 max RF ERP/EIRP: 20.10 dBm (CDMA1X/EV-DO 850), 23.80 dBm (CDMA1X/EV-DO 1900), 19.23 dBm (CDMA1X/EV-DO 800), 12.30 dBm (LTE 1900) Antenna 1 max RF ERP/EIRP: 13.78 dBm (CDMA1X/EV-DO 850), 13.58 dBm (CDMA1X/EV-DO 1900), 14.27 dBm (CDMA1X/EV-DO 800), 23.63 dBm (LTE 1900) Antenna locations: (see FCC OET diagram below) Simultaneous transmission modes: (see FCC OET diagram below) As for analysis of the specs, the HTC One is the world's first handset to include the new 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard. But let us address right away another potential first that has become the so called elephant in the room. The Sprint version of the HTC One is limited to band 25 LTE 1900. It does not support either of Sprint's upcoming LTE bands -- band 26 LTE 800 and band 41 TD-LTE 2600. One or both of those bands are expected to be incorporated in new handsets sometime this year, but the HTC One will not be the first. The other notable absence is SVDO support for simultaneous CDMA1X voice + EV-DO data, though its omission is growing less and less notable as time goes on. SVDO requires separate RF paths for CDMA1X and EV-DO. The first few Sprint LTE handsets did support SVDO, utilizing separate paths for CDMA1X and EV-DO/LTE. But the last nine Sprint LTE handsets have foregone SVDO, combining CDMA1X/EV-DO on a single path, so SVDO was likely just a temporary measure or a fringe benefit of the Qualcomm MSM8960 chipset and will not be a common Sprint handset feature going forward. In its press release earlier this week, Sprint calls its HTC One an "international" smartphone, and that could be interpreted to mean world roaming capabilities. The FCC authorization documents show no evidence of this, but they are not required to do so, since the FCC is a US authority. What is lacking, though, is any GSM 850/1900 or W-CDMA 850/1900. So, if the HTC One is world roaming capable, it will most likely be limited to GSM 900/1800 and band 1 W-CDMA 2100+1900. Since the HTC One is really the de facto successor to the EVO LTE, a little bit of comparison would be in order. In our RF rundown article on the EVO LTE last spring, we stated that it "does not look to be a stellar RF performer" based on its low to moderate ERP/EIRP figures. And our prediction proved quite prescient, as the EVO LTE has not been noted for its performance with weak signals. The good news is that, on paper, the HTC One looks to be a notable improvement in this regard. First, the dual antenna system is optimized for CDMA1X/EV-DO on antenna 0 and LTE on antenna 1. But as long as only one antenna is in use (i.e. SVLTE is not active), the dual antennas can be switched at will to combat an RF fade at one antenna but not the other. Second, LTE max EIRP has been increased by 4 dB over that of the EVO LTE. Furthermore, LTE EIRP has been maximized around the 1912.5 MHz center frequency, 5 MHz FDD carrier bandwidth configuration that Sprint is currently deploying nationwide in its PCS G block spectrum. In short, the Sprint variant of the HTC One has been tweaked specifically for the Sprint LTE network. Source: FCC

I am not sure that T-Mobile has the physical space to host another spectrum band. My local T-Mobile site has one "modernized" panel per sector and still two legacy panels per sector. I could be wrong, but I think that the legacy panels are remaining for GSM 1900. AJ

The FCC OET authorization docs tell the tale: band 25 LTE 1900 only. AJ

The dog abides. AJ

Chromebook Pixel: http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/chromebook-pixel/ AJ

I would say that the non compete clause serves both parties. Sprint does not want to acquire a sub who is going to rack up significant roaming/affiliate charges, and nTelos does not want to lose a potential sub to Sprint. AJ

Yep, my bet is a non compete clause in the agreement with nTelos. AJ

No, it is just the idiosyncratic EVO LTE. AJ

The AT&T and T-Mobile variants of the HTC One are up on the FCC OET. Their supported LTE bands correspond exactly with the bands quoted below on the HTC web site: So, I will project now that the Sprint variant will be limited to band 25 LTE 1900. In other words, it will not likely include band 26 LTE 800 nor band 41 TD-LTE 2600, though we will have to wait for the FCC OET authorization documents for actual confirmation. AJ

From the specs that I have seen, I would say the chances are good that the Sprint variant HTC One will support at least GSM 850/900/1800/1900 and W-CDMA 2100+1900 for international roaming. AJ

jbnello, before I respond, will you confirm that I fixed your quotes above correctly? Previously, you had mixed quotes and posts. AJ

That is a good thought, but Charleston is on the opposite side of the state from the National Radio Quiet Zone. So, I doubt that is the issue. AJ

SVDO requires separate RF paths for CDMA1X and EV-DO. That is increasingly difficult to do as handsets incorporate world roaming capability, additional LTE bands, etc. AJ

Is there a voodoo doll program that I can use to paralyze Robert while he is typing away on the same topic? AJ

Hmm, that is interesting. I have only theoretical experience, no direct experience with the Airave. So, I will let others chime in, but my understanding was that the Airave could be used to create even an island of coverage well outside of Sprint macro network coverage and that GPS was used to determine the location for PCS 1900 MHz licensing concerns. Handoff to the macro network should not be a concern, as that is a hard handoff, a crapshoot, anyway. AJ

Nothing is known for sure yet. We have to wait for the FCC authorization docs for the Sprint variant of the HTC One to be uploaded to the database. But many of us think that SVDO is probably done, was just a temporary measure. AJ

Welcome to S4GRU. This is a nice, technically oriented first post. But I would appreciate some documentation before anyone takes this as gospel. Now, I am not sure if you are using the PCS G block 10 MHz licenses as just an example. But they are irrelevant to the Airave discussion because they are being utilized only for band 25 LTE. Additionally, Sprint has held nationwide spectrum in the traditional PCS A-F blocks for about 15 years. AJ

The FCC authorization documents for the AT&T and T-Mobile versions of the HTC One have been posted. Both are using a dual antenna 0, antenna 1 system -- much like that of the recent generations of the iPhone. AJ

Can you point me to some of these PCS 1900 MHz licenses? I will check them out. However, unless they were newly awarded within the last five years, their five year benchmarks should already have been met, probably long ago. AJ

Come on, digiblur, show the man some monetary appreciation. I will even spot you the dollar and change, but the tradeoff is that you have to install the app on an HTC handset. AJ

Neal, there is absolutely nothing wrong with T-Mobile doing its public duty ahead of schedule. In fact, it would be admirable. But I do not completely buy what you say. AWS 2100+1700 MHz licenses issued prior to 2010 have a 15 year license term. Thus, the "substantial service" construction requirements do not come due for most/all T-Mobile AWS licenses until 2021. And even "substantial service" is rather vague terminology that T-Mobile has, arguably, already met with its current AWS deployment. AJ

Are you still okay with that deal even though Sprint controls less than the maximum 55.5 MHz attributable BRS in many markets? AJ