bigsnake49

Eh, I sort of wish the FCC would side with Dish but force them to guarantee a minimum build out, price points, and consumption allotments.

 

Charlie Ergen wants to be able to offer ISP solutions for rural customers. I fail to believe he is interested in competing with wired broadband pricing (think:clear) in the populous areas of the country.... No, it's a game of getting to broadband starved customers before AT&T or Verizon do.... And once they are there, offer just a little more than they do.

I think that they could offer fixed solutions to all of their customers, but one of the main things is that they can offer OTT/VOD solutions to people that are not their customers without going over their competitors wires.

How so? Dish's S-band/AWS-4 spectrum already was designated LTE band 23.

 

AJ

3GPP Approves DISH Wireless Spectrum Standards

DISH calls on FCC to resist Sprint's effort to delay wireless competition, billions in investment, tens of thousands of U.S. jobs

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Nov. 14, 2012 – The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) working group yesterday approved the technical specifications that govern 40 MHz of broadband-ready wireless spectrum controlled by DISH (called Band 23), despite the objections of Sprint Nextel Corporation over the last 12 months. DISH urges the FCC to do the same.

Without 3GPP approval, wireless companies do not have the required technical blueprints needed to design and build everything from cellphone chipsets to broadband networks.

With 3GPP's standards now approved, DISH is poised to enter the wireless business as rapidly as possible, assuming favorable FCC approval of rules that will allow DISH to use the spectrum (which is already approved for satellite and terrestrial service) more efficiently for terrestrial wireless services for smartphones, tablets and computers.

"We applaud 3GPP for rightly concluding the Band 23 question," said Jeff Blum, DISH Senior Vice-President and Deputy General Counsel. "Now we call on the FCC to reject Sprint's proposals for AWS-4 rules that would re-open Band 23 and jeopardize DISH's ability bring its spectrum to market, and provide much needed wireless competition."

Over the past several months, Sprint, which is in the process of being acquired by Japanese-controlled wireless carrier Softbank, has petitioned the FCC to drastically reduce the power levels of DISH's spectrum to further Sprint's desire to acquire the neighboring H Block spectrum, which today is essentially a vacant lot with no current licensees or users.

Sprint's request would re-open DISH's 3GPP specifications, causing further delay to a process that DISH started more than 20 months ago – and further delaying billions of dollars of investment and the creation of tens of thousands of jobs.

"Sprint's position on the H Block would render useless 25 percent of DISH's uplink spectrum -- so that Sprint is positioned to merely gain the exact same amount of spectrum," said Blum. "This is a zero-sum approach that does not result in a net spectrum gain for the American consumer and creates no new jobs.

"Worse yet, it takes 5 MHz of spectrum out of the hands of a new market entrant and puts it in the hands of an incumbent that already has more than 200 MHz of wireless spectrum," said Blum. "This makes no sense at a time when the nation is enduring a spectrum crunch and would benefit from more wireless competition.

"Our nation is in a spectrum crisis; we are running out of the very resource our wireless economy needs to sustain its incredible growth," said Blum. "Sprint's plan does not deliver new spectrum nor create U.S. jobs; it take usable spectrum from a new entrant – DISH -- and conveniently positions an entrenched incumbent, Sprint, as the beneficiary.

"Sprint, through its actions at the FCC, is delaying wireless competition, billions of dollars of investment and tens of thousands of jobs that our economy needs.

Said Blum: "DISH's position is consistent with more than 20 years of FCC precedent. The AWS-4 rulemaking should be completed with the power levels that were recommended by the FCC in the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) and supported by all commenters (other than Sprint), and which would not require DISH to effectively surrender 25 percent of its uplink capacity. The H Block should be subject to the same auction and rule making processes that have applied to other spectrum bands for decades. This approach will ultimately free up the H Block for its highest-and-best use based upon input from all interested parties, and will lead to more investment, more jobs, more competition and more spectrum for wireless consumers."

BTW, Dish's spectrum just got approved by the 3GPP.

Globalstar, a small satellite firm, wants the FCC to allow it to use its MSS spectrum for mobile broadband. Globalstar is the latest in a string of satellite companies looking to take advantage of the FCC's push to expand the amount and use of wireless spectrum.

Globalstar is licensed to provide mobile satellite service in the Big LEO band at 1610-1618.725 MHz (the "Lower Big LEO band" for uplink operations) and 2483.5-2500 MHz (the "Upper Big LEO band" for downlink operations). The company plans to partner with unnamed "terrestrial partners," or wireless carriers, to launch LTE service on its spectrum.

The macro site it is getting signal from has already been upgraded. Cool!

Well, the best play right now is to launch a counterbid to MetroPCS if only to gracefully withdraw if/when offered some PCS spectrum. The best bet for Leap is to let Sprint host their network and they become an MVNO, while Sprint gets access to Leap 1900MHz spectrum for LTE.

They also need to thicken their coverage. There are places where you can get 3G but not LTE even thought they're implementing LTE on 700MHz. So I hope they put LTE wherever they have 3G. If nothing else it will give AT&T and Sprint a target to shoot for.

There is no market for Clearwire's spectrum. They have tried and failed to attract any interest. AT&T has WCS spectrum and will also benefit from 700MHz B band sales from Verizon. Verizon has scores of AWS spectrum. T-Mobile and Metro also have no need for spectrum. Sprint, through PCS spectrum purchases like the one with USCC and possibly TMobile/Metro, is trying to strengthen their PCS spectrum position, will bid for PCS H, and has SMR for propagation. Clearwire's spectrum is extremely ancillary to Sprint and might be hurting their efforts to acquire lower frequency spectrum. Clearwire's spectrum might be of interest to Dish and Direct TV for an VOD and OTT play. I have yet to see a business case for a conventional nationwide cellular network on their spectrum. I don't know what these guys are smoking, but whatever it is, it's good stuff.

One thing that most folks beating the drum for other-than-iDen push-to-talk networks repeatedly seem to miss is the last-ditch performance when the towers fail: iDen devices can be used as point-to-point walkie-talkies even without the tower. None of the other types of service offer that.

 

In any mission-critical communication system, the ability of folks at a site to maintain communication when everything external fails is very much a desired feature.

 

This is one reason why emergency services or companies that work to restore utilities prefer iDen over anything else.

 

They are walkie-talkies that can also make PSTN calls so long as the towers are working. They have their own built-in backup that NONE of the CDMA or GSM variants can match.

 

BTW: Motorola still has a viable worldwide market in iDEN for this very reason...

 

Sent from Photon Q LTE - Tapatalk

Direct Talk can be incorporated into any phone since it uses the 900MHz ISM band. The problem is that the number of people that need phones to have that functionality is pretty small, namely first responders and utility people. They already have radios that have that functionality built in.

Which means they hold majority stake in the company hence owns it

 

Sent from my White Epic 4g Touch rockin Jellybean using Tapatalk 2

It's a little more complicated than that. The partnership agreement is a little more convoluted. The company whose share they purchased seeat at the board of directors went to Clearwire instead of to Sprint. Additionally all of the directors of Clearwire, including those appointed by Sprint are supposed to be independent because of anti-trust concerns. So I don't hink that Sprint can get control of Clearwire until they buy 100% control.

Us cellular is not gonna offer coverage on these markets hence why they are giving us the customers to and let's not forget sprint did just buy clear wire and their spectrum too

 

Sent from my White Epic 4g Touch rockin Jellybean using Tapatalk 2

When did they do that? They just increased their holdings from about 48% to 50.8%, I thought.

It would be interesting to compare USCC's native coverage in the areas these customers are being acquired to Sprint's native coverage. I suspect USCC may have native coverage in some areas that sprint does not, which could create interesting churn.

Of course, Sprint could also plan on matching or improving USCC coverage maps by the time the purchased customers end up native on Sprint.

 

Or, perhaps Sprint and USCC have or will reach a network sharing agreement (similar to Alltel) where all Sprint customers will some some portions of USCC as native network and in return USCC customer get preferred roaming or usage of the forthcoming LTE network.

I think USCC will not offer service in the areas they sold to Sprint. Are you guys reading it differently?

Sprint needed more PCS spectrum in certain markets they were deficient in. This is just the first step to strengthen their PCS spectrum position. There will be others (excess spectrum from the T-Mobile/Metro merger, Leap).

So one thing I'm not clear on. Will this deal expand Sprint's footprint in the midwest or is it just increasing it's spectrum depth in places it already provides service?

It will just increase the spectrum depth. It will do nothing for coverage.

Softbank infused 3 billion in cash to Sprint through a bond sale.

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

Yeah, never mind, that was the first cash infusion. There is more coming.

Sprint could use both the customers and the spectrum. While I was hoping for a bigger buy I hope this is only the beginning. 2.5 billion is still left so whats next

What do you mean by 2.5 billion still left?

Wow! Yes, indeed this is likely the precursor to something larger. Granted USCC is getting nearly half a billion dollars, but when you're a company that small that's already been losing postpaid subscribers for a while and you decide to sell well over half a million subscribers, including those where your headquarters is, things aren't looking good for your company imho.

Don't be surprised if this is followed by a MetroPCS sale of PCS spectrum to Sprint so that Sprint does not make a competing bid to T-Mobile's.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sprint (NYSE: S) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with U.S. Cellular (NYSE: USM) to acquire PCS spectrum and customers in parts of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio including the Chicago and St. Louis markets for $480 million in cash and the assumption of certain liabilities. The additional spectrum will be used to supplement Sprint’s coverage in these areas as it continues to deploy its Network Vision upgrade and roll out 4G LTE nationally.

“This transaction will enable us to strengthen our business and become a more robust competitor,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint’s CEO. “Acquiring this spectrum will significantly increase Sprint’s network capacity and improve the customer experience in several important Midwest markets including Chicago and St. Louis. We welcome the new customers in these markets and look forward to providing them with Sprint’s unique combination of unlimited plans, an iconic device portfolio and unmatched customer service.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Sprint will acquire 20 MHz of PCS spectrum in the 1900 MHz band in various Midwest markets including Chicago, South Bend, Ind. and Champaign, Ill. and 10 MHz of PCS spectrum in the St. Louis market. In addition, the transaction involves approximately 585,000 U.S. Cellular customers. U.S Cellular will continue its business operations outside of these markets following the closing.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20121107005545/en/Sprint-Acquire-Spectrum-Customers-Midwest-U.S.-Cellular

It's beginning boys and girls.

So, after thinking about it, I am switching to T-Mobile... for six months.

 

Currently, Sprint is in the middle of upgrading Boston to 4G LTE and the service is all over the place. To make matters worse, I just moved and my new location has absolutely terrible Sprint service (which is odd, because it's the second largest town in New England).

 

While I wait for network vision to finish up (and get some ESMR love), I decided to give T-Mobile a whirl.

 

I am going to hit up the 30/month prepaid plan and just swap over my google voice number to the new Nexus 4. I am going to put my Sprint 50/month SERO plan into Seasonal Standby for 8.99/month and see how T-Mobile's DC-HSPA+ does.

 

 

Anyone that wants more info on T-Mobile's 30/month plan:

http://prepaid-phone...onthly-4g-plans

 

Sprint's seasonal standby plan:

http://community.spr...e/478517#478517

 

 

 

I just need to wait until the nexus 4 is released (two weeks!)

 

I'll keep everyone posted (for those that are curious).

If you're moving to Springfield, be very careful. The T-Mobile network leaves a lot to be desired. I would recomend Straight Talk with a AT&T sime card and the $45 unlimited plan.

"Come pay us 3 billion for our spectrum and let us keep our customers"?

 

Nah.

Yeah, particularly since you can acquire the whole company for its debt, pretty much. Although if you buy the company then you assume all the site leases. Are those counted in the debt?

FierceWireless: Can you talk about any specific discussions Leap has had about network or spectrum sharing?

Hutcheson: The European model on that is something I think has merit to be thought about here in the U.S. as well, particularly when you look at that spectrum asset that we have. It really is a circumstance for collaboration that could make a lot of sense. With that said I don't have any specific comments about any one conversation.

FierceWireless: What about an outright sale of Leap's excess spectrum?

Hutcheson: That's not what I'm talking about here, but the concept on that is to focus on benefitting the shareholder appropriately.

FierceWireless: Do you have a value assigned to your spectrum?

Hutcheson: Our spectrum portfolio [both used and unused spectrum] is worth about $3 billion.

FierceWireless: Some analysts have suggested that Leap could potentially sell all its spectrum and its network and become an MVNO.

Okay, call Mount Kellett's bluff. Put up excess BRS/EBS 2600 MHz spectrum for sale. Now, who is buying?

 

AT&T? Not likely. AT&T has hitched its LTE future to renovating the WCS 2300 MHz band.

 

VZW? Not likely. VZW has acquired oodles of AWS 2100+1700 MHz from SpectrumCo-Cox and still needs to sell off its Lower 700 MHz A/B block holdings.

 

T-Mobile? Maybe. But T-Mobile has its hands full dealing with MetroPCS integration over the next several years.

 

DISH? Maybe. But Charlie Ergen has his own S-band/AWS-4 spectrum issues and cannot decide whether he is a spectrum buyer or seller. If he straddles the fence any further, Ergen is going to have barbed wire permanently embedded in his butt crack.

 

So, really, who are the buyers out there that actually want BRS/EBS 2600 MHz spectrum? I can name one: Sprint.

 

AJ

I fully agree with you. Clearwire has been trying to sell their excess spectrum for couple of years now. Nobody is biting. I'm not privy to the partnership agreement but I'm pretty sure that Sprint has a right of first refusal to the spectrum they brought in to Clearwire (they would be total fools if they did not). Which leaves only the spectrum that old Clear brought in which is basically leased spectrum from educational institutions and the Catholic Church. Since it's leased spectrum, it does not have as much value.

That why I do not like small slices of spectrum like this in different band classes. It was a recipe for failure. AT&T and Verizon, through their participation in standard bodies, got their band classes approved. They can still just license Sprint's SMR spectrum and get devices, no problem. I think the FCC needs to do something because it will leave a bad taste in their mouth and they will not bid on the next auction.

Why would the billing become problematic? You're dealing with Apple or Samsung.

Both the call and the data session can be continued on another carrier. The technology exists. It just has not been implemented.

Yes, I think that Sprint and Softbank can now be very aggressive and think strategically, not just tactically, quarter to quarter. I would like for them to acquire more PCS spectrum so that they can offer more services. For example internet radio. I would gladly pay an extra $10/mo if it did not count against my data plan. That way I could move away from unlimited and to a usage based pricing scenario.