WiWavelength

One thing the Viper appears to have going for it is relative RF performance. It absolutely smokes the EVO 4G LTE in ERP. AJ

Mario, I apologize if I have you confused with someone else, but have you not already been warned once about posting full text articles (especially WSJ articles)? http://s4gru.com/index.php?/page/index.html/_/site-guidelines-rules/guidelines-about-posting-articles-from-outside-websites-r26 AJ

Good point, Eric. I had forgotten that the Lower 700 MHz A/B license four year construction requirement deadlines generally come up next year. And, unlike PCS 1900 MHz and AWS 2100+1700 MHz, which have population based construction requirements, Lower 700 MHz, like Cellular 850 MHz, has geographic area based construction requirements: 35 percent within four years (typically, 2013) and 70 percent by the end of the license term (typically, 2019). AT&T claims that FCC rules "prohibit" Lower 700 MHz A block uplink operation inside DT channel 51 broadcast contours. http://attpublicpolicy.com/wireless/no-mhz-left-behind/ AJ

And none of that applies to the wireless industry, which has become a de facto public utility and is an inherently closed market with huge barriers to entry. Oh, not to mention, carriers are using our public spectrum. AJ

Toledo is in the Detroit MTA, so Toledo is under Detroit SID 04126. Travel ~40 miles to your east, and you hit the Cleveland MTA, which uses SID 04396. AJ

I have compiled a spreadsheet of the Lower 700 MHz A/B block licenses that VZW may open up for sale. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArY31Mr219-ydEc3RXozR3VzbTkyamdUZV9QX3RvdlE AJ

...but not everywhere that Sprint had native + roaming coverage, as none of PowerSource handsets ever supported CDMA1X 850 roaming. I believe the reason for the omission was concern over intermodulation between iDEN 800 and CDMA1X 850 transmitters. Furthermore, the ic902 was the only PowerSource handset to support EV-DO; the others were all limited to 1X. AJ

VZW's former PrimeCo PCS 1900 MHz only markets are Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Miami, Milwaukee, and Jacksonville. Tampa, Orlando, and New Orleans were also PrimeCo PCS only markets, but the Alltel acquisition brought Cellular 850 MHz licenses into the fold in those markets. Several other markets -- Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Little Rock -- were not PrimeCo markets but were actual VZW PCS construction -- some of the very little new footprint buildout that VZW itself has ever accomplished. But, of those markets, only Tulsa remains PCS only, as the Alltel acquisition rounded up Cellular spectrum in those markets, too. VZW is great at buying out competitors, but not so hot at building up competition. AJ

The emissions mask filter is irrelevant if the IPhone 4S does not have a power amp module that covers 817-824 MHz. Software defined radio gets way too much play as some sort of panacea. Ubiquitous airlink compatibility requires far more than software modems that can adapt to any number of modulation schemes. As mentioned, it requires compatible power amps and antennas. Not to mention, MIMO requirements make multi band antenna arrays much more impractical. AJ

You could replace "bugs" in your statement with any number of different races, ethnic groups, or religious groups and have hate speech indistinguishable from the real thing. But I have already drawn this out too long. I am just giving you a hard time, Josh, trying to get you to think critically about your own belief system. You are an "animal racist," but so are most people. You have highly inconsistent values when it comes to animals, but so do most people. That should not absolve us, however, from examining our own internal contradictions. AJ

Yes, you will see that I have long proposed just such a carrier aggregation supplemental downlink strategy for Sprint and Clearwire. But Clearwire seems to prefer TD-LTE, as it is a simpler transition from WiMAX, and Clearwire can sell TD-LTE offload capacity to other carriers but could likely sell supplemental downlink to Sprint only. AJ

In my opinion, T-Mobile is a bit too optimistic. The PCS 1900 MHz from GSM to W-CDMA will not come easily nor quickly, especially in 20 MHz PCS markets, such as New York, Los Angeles, Boston, etc. And T-Mobile still has numerous top 50 markets where it has no spectrum in which to deploy LTE. In short, T-Mobile still needs many years and more spectrum -- particularly AWS 2100+1700 MHz spectrum, as the T-Mobile-Leap transaction is just a band aid -- to pull this off. See my established work on T-Mobile top 100 market spectrum holdings: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArY31Mr219-ydG15eGR2aTR3ZDJ4ZW5GSGhza0FUQnc https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArY31Mr219-ydDQwQjNrR0R5eGlYV1FRQzhMd1gzMmc https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArY31Mr219-ydE92UVdnR3JGTlpPZWtYdk9pcGFYb1E AJ

The Lower 700 MHz D/E block 6 MHz unpaired licenses cannot be used for uplink, only downlink. And Cellular 850 MHz spectrum is inherently paired -- it already has both uplink and downlink that cannot be changed. So, carrier aggregation supplemental downlink could, for example, bond Lower 700 MHz unpaired spectrum to Cellular 850 MHz downlink spectrum to form an asymmetric uplink x downlink pair (e.g. 12.5 MHz x 18.5 MHz). AJ

No, LTE Advanced carrier aggregation supplemental downlink should not be confused with TD-LTE; it is still entirely LTE FDD. AJ

Try this parallel, Josh... "I hate Eskimos and love people. Eskimos are gross. I'm not a racist." Really? AJ

It is not so much inaccurate as it is ambiguous. For many years, Cellular 800 MHz, CDMA 800, TDMA 800, etc., were all accepted nomenclature. But the ascendance of iDEN 800 and the creation of the GSM 850 standard about a decade ago led to a clarification in terminology from Cellular 800 MHz to Cellular 850 MHz. That said, many do still reference Cellular 800 MHz in some way, shape, or form. While that is not entirely wrong, as there is established precedent to deem it 800 MHz, it certainly does lack absolute clarity. AJ

I would not worry about that -84 dBm RSSI. But look at that -3.0 dB Ec/Io. That is stellar -- no doubt, a completely unloaded carrier. Even with a strong signal, typical Ec/Io in a moderately loaded cell is roughly -7 dB. AJ

Hey, alright, you get to keep all two of your Best Buy stores. AJ

Let me reenact someone talking on the phone and surfing at the same time: ". . . . . . . . . . . uh huh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . uh huh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . uh huh . . . . . . . . . . uh yeah, I'm listening." AJ

Are you an animal racist, Josh? AJ

Your ants would love a Cinnabon. AJ

Phil Goldstein at Fierce Wireless is a little bit behind the times: "Presumably, this cell site will receive the hardware and software cards necessary for LTE, since Kansas City has been named as one of Sprint's first LTE markets." http://www.fiercewireless.com/slideshow/touring-sprint-network-vision-cell-site?img=2 AJ

I am shocked that Sprint did not show off Network Vision in Olathe by taking reporters to see the completed site "down by the tracks." AJ

In our forum, the problem with discussing modems and radio transceivers separately (if applicable) is that many of our lay readers already have a difficult time understanding that chipsets, power amps, and antennas must all work in concert for devices to contain certain RF capabilities. So, we try to find a balance between technical correctness and reasonable comprehension. AJ

Also, I would not rule out the possibility that "she" might actually be Gary Busey. AJ