supert0nes

You are the only person outside of my parents that I've ever heard call something cool 'trick'. I'm guessing it comes from the ZZ Top / hot rod days. It's a phrase that actually sounds pretty cool and I wish more people would say.

Haha I'm just tossing in a little extra cash since I've been a member for a while and I read these forums/maps close to daily. I would have donated before the Minneapolis / Madison information started coming as well. It just seemed like a fun time to bump up my contribution. Thanks for the info though!

Hey this site provides straight gold for information and a little entertainment here and there! Keep up the good work!

Thanks for explaining the full situation. It's always more complex than I like to think it is. I was hoping to see them out of the AWS game and proffit from it, but, unfortunately, it's their only option for LTE in those markets. Thanks also for the link to the Barat Wireless news. I was looking at the USCC Galaxy S3 FCC filing and it doesn't look like antennas need to be spread all over the phone for the added frequencies. Maybe this will keep costs down and they can continue to host such a heterogeneus network. Maybe the support of 1700 will even allow them to do some sort of LTE roaming partnerships. I think the one thing I did get right, is that they have to get the Chicago 700 A block, and they also hold spectrum in so many places they don't serve yet, that maybe it would be beneficial to use as trade bait. That price of information might have two more 0's than I can afford though.

Seems like an inaccuracy in the article. More efficient use of spectrum, yes, more coverage, no. Seems like they are confusing coverage and capacity, which seems to happen a lot.

Verizon might need to hand over another market or two, or cash to make this fair, but I'm calling this as a real possibility.

Maybe US Cellular can trade their (IMO useless to them) AWS-1 E block spectrum in the south for Verizon 700 A block in Chicago. The Government probably wont like Verizon gaining more spectrum, but it's in the best interest of both parties.

http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=10986 -Verizon Says Scores Of Companies Want Its Spectrum My main takeaway point, US Cellular needs that 700 A block spectrum around Chicago. It is vital to their LTE plans, and longevity.

Build-out timelines gave us Wimax. Do you guys think that Verizon and AT&T are going to leave their AWS / WCS spectrum unused? The clock just started on both of these, and my guess is that they start building antennas and capable phones in the next 6-12 months. People love to include AT&T as sitting on unused spectrum, but to me, they are as in need of spectrum as anyone. Their 700 build-outs will also definitely increase if they buy from Verizon.

My favorite quote on this

Regional carriers are another story, but they are just fighting for table scraps.

I don't really like any of those options. 5x5 seems like it's going to work well as a nationwide part of Sprint's spectrum. People are getting up to 20-30mbps download. Verizon will build out their AWS holdings pretty soon. They just have to make it work as they already built a LTE release 8 network on 700, but will want LTE-Advanced for their AWS spectrum. ATT will be building out WCS/700 in the same manner, except ATT is less ambitious about nationwide LTE and has crappier spectrum. Carriers need to have guaranteed spectrum for a long period of time. They can't afford to have to upgrade everyone on their networks' phones every couple of years to use new radios, or climb up all their towers to add additional radios. Other than spectrum being really expensive, I think competition has still won out and you get optimized spectrum. T-Mobile/Verizon/CableCo deal is an example of that. ATT WCS is as well. I don't think I would change much right now in this regard.

That's just one more antenna in already crowded phones with all the new LTE bands and carrier aggregation/MIMO.

Sprint roadmap says all phones that came out this year had to have CDMA-800, if that's any consolation, although Sprint gets pushed around by Apple pretty hard. The roadmap does say that starting next year all phones have to support 800/2500 LTE. I also think that there wont be any LTE-800/2500 in this version, or ATT WCS-LTE, or Verizon AWS-LTE. Maybe, just maybe, a T-Mobile version will come out with AWS-LTE, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Hijacking this thread for a question. Could the Kyocera Rise usher in an Android App for SDC? They are touting it as not launching with SDC, but gaining the capability. Seems like that could mean an app released.

Keep in mind that a lot has changed since this article was written in May. LTE-800 was approved. SDC runs on 1x, etc.

These guys are on a Sprint role! I'm wondering why S4GRU didn't get the exclusive invite to tour Overland Park?!? http://www.phonescoo...cle.php?a=10935 Lot's to pull from this article, especially speculation about phablets etc. I think the biggest standout to me was that I interpreted as all smartphones starting January 2013 will have to have LTE-800. Please don't let me be wrong!

Sprint should have no interest in getting in to AWS. In my USCC thread, I realized they eat up a ton of useful spectrum for other companies. I wish they would focus on their 700, 850 coverage, with supplemental 1900 in areas they actually serve, and sell/trade the rest, especially that 1700. Try to get their network to line up more and do it with less antennas.

https://pay.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/xvuwn/iama_rf_engineer_ama/ Honestly, I haven't read much of the responses yet, but seems like he or she is pretty knowledgeable.

Not sure if anyone wants to discuss this, but looking at the omega map of USCellular: http://specmap.sequence-omega.net/ They have to support 700, 850, 1700(ABC) and 1900 in their phones, and their coverage does not seem to line up very well. It looks like 1900(as long as they support all bands) is the only block that they really support across their network. I think they should sell the spectrum where they can't offer much/any native service, like in Minnesota (1900 F,C) however, preferably to Sprint. 850 is not supported in the southeast, but is their main cdma support for the northern markets. They should look to gain wherever they can, but they probably will never get the opportunity. 700(ABC) LTE are not supported in Chicago and only A is supported in Milwaukee, Madison. They should work to acquire the Verizon 700 Licenses where they offer service to bolster their LTE network. Their AWS holdings are scattered all over the map. I think they should completely divest in this and consumers best interest would be if they were to sell it to T-Mobile. This isn't any real analysis, but just observations that as a regional carrier, they hold some odd licenses, especially in areas they can't really service because the amount of spectrum they have is so small.

Is 1x better than EVDO coverage or is that just more towers out there serving 1x?

Seems very closely related to http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/1715-700-mhz-lte-on-verizon/ I think you would find good information from AJ in that thread about signal strength on 700. AJ, Robert, and others have also discussed LTE vs EVDO signal strength extensively.

Original Reuters link with more backstory http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/08/02/idINL2E8J2EE420120802

http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=10900 The DOJ specified that a lot of the cross marketing stuff would not be allowed or limited. The cable companies made it pretty clear the cross marketing stuff had to stay. It will be interesting to see if this deal still goes through.

It's got to be hard for ATT to part with any of their PCS spectrum. I don't know how much they are utilizing what they own, but the omega map tells me they own quite a bit in all of their PCS bands. Edit: Maybe they'll just buy the WCS spectrum from Sprint, which wouldn't be bad either.