WiWavelength

When the FCC auctioned the Upper 700 MHz C block 22 MHz licenses four years ago, Google helped bid up the prices so that VZW's winning bids were above the threshold that triggered open access requirements on the C block. AJ

TouchWiz deserves to be put down just for the name alone. No, I do not want to touch your wiz. AJ

I love how wild speculators and Sprint haters point to Sprint's market cap of $13.5 billion. "If I just had $14 billion, then I could easily buy Sprint." Back to reality. Does anyone here really think that Sprint could be acquired for less than $25 billion? Heck, AT&T was going to pay a ridiculous $39 billion for T-Mobile, and Sprint is more valuable than is T-Mobile. AJ

I am no IT expert. But my perspective on hard drive reliability is about the same as it on wireless carrier superiority. Just as you can find plenty of people who will say that Sprint is "crap" everywhere, I surmise that you can find any number of people who will say similar about WD or Seagate or whichever hard drive manufacturer you want to dismiss. Anecdotal evidence is anecdotal. AJ

Again, I paid $140 for a WD MyBook Live 2 TB NAS last year. It holds my Time Machine backups and some redundant A/V files. In other words, it does not contain crucial data and does not require RAID mirroring. If it dies, I could replace it two or three times over before I hit the costs of the ~$400 multi bay, swappable, RAID capable NAS drives. As an added plus, WD offers both web and Android app remote access. AJ

In some ways, iDEN thinning is about spectrum, as iDEN thinning is essentially the reverse of cell splitting. Furthermore, since iDEN is a TDMA/FDMA based airlink, it is subject to frequency reuse constraints. Unlike CDMA2000, iDEN cannot utilize the same frequencies on adjacent cell sites. So, by taking cell sites out of service, Sprint is potentially freeing up the amount of spectrum deployed on those sites. For example, imagine that carrier X deploys iDEN and holds 20 MHz of spectrum. If carrier X has only one cell site, then it can deploy all 20 MHz on that site. If carrier X adds an adjacent cell site, then it has to split the spectrum, 10 MHz per site. If carrier X adds two more adjacent cell sites, then it has to split the spectrum yet again, 5 MHz per site. (At this point, carrier X has a cluster of four cell sites and can likely repeat this cluster configuration as it continues to add sites. This is a common configuration called N=4 frequency reuse.) Now, if carrier X takes one of the four cell sites out of service, it can redistribute the 5 MHz of spectrum to the remaining three sites. Or carrier X can utilize that 5 MHz for other purposes. AJ

All other factors equal, use these baselines: Subtract 7 dB from PCS 1900 MHz EIRP to compare it to Cellular 850 MHz ERP. Subtract 8 dB from PCS 1900 MHz EIRP to compare it to Upper 700 MHz ERP. AJ

Part 22 regulations (Cellular 850 MHz): mobile station max ERP < 7 W Part 24 regulations (PCS 1900 MHz): mobile station max EIRP < 2 W Part 90 regulations (SMR 800 MHz): mobile station max ERP < 100 W Part 27 regulations (Upper 700 MHz): mobile station max ERP < 3 W AJ

Ask and ye shall receive. I put together an ERP comparison table: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArY31Mr219-ydFA2TnFsRFFJMmlodUFodGoycE1hRXc AJ

I believe we have a picture of Scott's house. Yes, here it is... And this, of course, is Scott's lovely wife... AJ

The College World Series. But I think that is the only thing that ever happens in Omaha. AJ

There really is no single correct way. But for clarity, I would say that Clearwire will be deploying two 20 MHz TD-LTE carriers. AJ

It looks like we need to schedule Robert's intervention for the week before Sprint's Windows Phone is released. AJ

The Q78-EUFI890 aka ZTE 890L uses a good modem -- the Qualcomm MDM9600 multimode chipset. But max ERP for LTE 750 is just okay at 17.13 dBm. By comparison, max ERP for EV-DO 850 and EV-DO 1900 are 21.51 dBm and 25.53 dBm, respectively. https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/reports/ViewExhibitReport.cfm?mode=Exhibits&RequestTimeout=500&calledFromFrame=N&application_id=301190&fcc_id='Q78-EUFI890' AJ

Robert, what is the make and model of the VZW LTE hotspot? I will pull its authorization filing from the FCC OET to check out ERP, antenna gain, etc. AJ

Metal buildings are de facto Faraday cages. The frequency hardly matters -- the metal will absorb or reflect the signal. AJ

http://seekingalpha.com/article/763951-sprint-s-long-term-corporate-evolution AJ

"Cell breathing" does affect CDMA1X but not EV-DO Rev A. So, data usage is basically irrelevant. AJ

No, see above. Only LTE capable UEs can have an eHRPD connection. AJ

Signal bars are a meaningless comparison. The Tri-Fi hotspot has very high ERP and probably has more solid transception than does your iPhone -- signal bars notwithstanding. AJ

This video will explain the difference between the red and the blue... AJ

eHRPD is a core network enhancement, not an EV-DO airlink enhancement, nor a site specific enhancement. Thus, it does not require "supported towers"-- it requires backend infrastructure. And on the UE end, it requires LTE capable devices. AJ

Honestly, there is no set standard nomenclature. Unless stated otherwise, I always assume FDD paired spectrum for mobile operations. And for FDD paired spectrum, I always use the "uplink MHz x downlink MHz" format. But judging from what I have seen in FCC filings, industry professionals also refer to "uplink MHz + downlink MHz" and "uplink MHz/downlink MHz" formats. For TDD unpaired spectrum, I always try to make that distinction clear by mentioning "TDD," "unpaired," or in the case of LTE, "TD-LTE" or "LTE TDD." AJ

Testing. Apple holds its cards close to its vest, hence does most/all new device testing in house. AJ

None that I know of. Are you thinking of SDARS (e.g. Sirius XM) terrestrial repeaters? AJ