bigsnake49

What is AT&T going to do with it? Their 700Mhz block D sits there unused.

Neither does it benefit T-Mobile to host Dish's spectrum in return for capacity. At least Sprint can extend band 25 to include Dish's near -PCS holdings. The only standard band in Dish's spectrum holdings is the AWS-3 G block. The uplink AWS-3 does not count. If I am Dish I will reconfigure my midband spectrum as follows: 1. 2000-2020MHz+ PCS-H for a 25x5 block 2. 1695-1710Mhz uplink paired with 2180-2020 downlink for a 20x15 FDD block 3. AWS-3 Block G 4. I have no idea how they can utilize their 700 E block spectrum. Maybe T-Mobile can aggregate block E with their A band spectrum, obviating the need for 600 MHz spectrum

Where did you get that Dish has band 41? As far as I know, they have the following spectrum: 1. 700MHz block E (downlink only) 2. 2000-2020 MHz and 2180-2200. Both can be configured as downlinks. 3. PCS block H (5x5) adjacent to Sprint's block G 4. AWS-3 (Block G, 15MHz unpaired uplink) The trade with Sprint would be EBS spectrum for the 2000-2020MHz+PCS-H. Along with Sprint's PCS-G it can be configured for a nice 30x10 block.

If TDD is already used I don't see how that is any different than FDD. You need new hardware in both cases.

Well, this is getting embarrassing. T-Mobile is begging to partner with Dish: http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/t-mobiles-carter-wed-be-very-interesting-partner-dish/2015-03-05 Sprint does not really need Dish's spectrum although as I have said many times before they could horse trade some spectrum. If they do sign up with a partner, I wonder what form that will take: 1. Merger - DT would probably prefer this one 2. Hosting the spectrum in exchange for money - Dish is probably not interested in this. Large initial outlay and sizable opex, then Dish would become a wireless carrier and they don't seem to want that. 3. Hosting in exchange for capacity - Dish uses part of the capacity and T-Mobile does use part. The split up to negotiation. The initial deployment of Dish's spectrum other than the AWS-3 G block will require a sizable capex. Who pays for it? It's not like T-Mobile is cash rich. Even AWS-3 would require some new network hardware. Any other ideas?

I think we have discussed here before but this is the first time that the vendor has demonstrated a commercially viable system. The multiplier effect won't be as big as the pCell's but it will definitely help the FDD rich carriers. Now it will require new hardware at both the base station and the user terminal so maybe leaving it for 5G is appropriate. pCell does not require new user hardware so it could definitely be used right away at places like stadiums or other places where a lot of people congregate.

AWS-3 was a total abberation. Look at how much Verizon paid the cable cos or how much Tmobile paid for both their 700Mhz spectrum and hell even what they paid for MetroPCS, AT&T paid for Leap or how much Sprint paid for Clearwire. AWS-3 was driven by Dish and their DE trying to pump up the valuation of their own spectrum. A classic pump and dump scheme. Except that Dish might be caught with their pants down if none of the 4 carriers wants to play ball. Maybe Google can step in and finance Dish's network but where is Dish going to find the money to deploy their network and then find the customers to support a 5th carrier? AWS-3 might be a colossal failure for Dish. We just have to wait and see!

Believe it or not I think that the 600MHz auction will be cheaper than the AWS-3. For one thing the DE rules will be changed so that the DE for a single carrier cannot bid against each other. Second major carriers or holders of spectrum cannot have designated entities.

AT&T/T-Mobile spat over the auction. It seems that Dish and their designated entities were T-Mobile's opponents for the G block of AWS-3. AT&T is also telling T-Mobile that in the upcoming 600MHz auction they will have to compete against Sprint and Dish for the set-aside. I had a chuckle at all the T_Mobile Trolls that already started...trolling! http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/att-tussles-t-mobile-over-aws-3-spectrum-auction-results/2015-03-05

Thank you for your very thorough explanation.

Now that is interesting, but it is total speculation! Imagine if the cable cos got into this. Fronthaul problem solved, mounting on poles problem solved.

It does not matter anymore. Let's see if they acquire/merge with anyone in the future!

Good luck with that the 900ISM band is the most congested band in the world in the bay area.

I have a follow up question to PCS/band 41 aggregation. Can the dowload:upload ratio change to 8:1 if used in CA to minimize the empty slots? Why not use B41 in a supplemental downlink type of scenario instead with no uplink of its own?

USCC and C Spire would be at the top of my list. USCC, Alltel and RCC (?) were good targets in the mid 2000's.

Having worked on a few projects with PS, I can tell you the original schedule was wildly optimistic by far. It did not help that Sprint was financially tapped and could not subsidize the whole relocation thing without having to wait for the relocation to be finance by PS and then reimbursing them for it. If they could have cleared couple of CDMA channels nationwide early in the rebinding process one for 1x and the other for EVDO they would have been golden. AS AJ mentioned above, 800SMR is truly nationwide. Acquiring Alltel and other rural companies would not have given Sprint 850MHz spectrum in Manhattan to help with building penetration or in suburbia to help with propagation. It would have given them coverage credibility. They could have densified they urban/suburban network organically.

Why not both? Verizon was born out of the merger of three companies. I believe so was T-Mobile.

Don't even start me up on Alltel. Here was a company with very low debt and well build rural network, good brand name pleading with Sprint to merge. Would have been a great company to have merged with before the Nextel merger. They better merge with USCC if they ever come on the market. We cannot blame the FCC or the big Two. Sprint had its chance to become bigger and gain coverage credibility in the process if they ever went away from the urban/suburban mentality.

Why only in the Samsung markets? Why is it stronger by 4-5db?

While they were at it they could have rolled up Leap as well. Then trade AWS to AT&T for additional PCS capacity. Sprint's board has been totally stupid.

I believe in suburban and rural areas one channel is more than enough. 1xAdvanced is configurable for either wider coverage or more capacity. Since Sprint has added 1x800 voice to pretty much every site they can configure 1x800 voice for capacity. Now NYC and San Fran and most downtowns will always through those calculations out of whack!

Guys, stop reading all the hyperbole on both sides. All net neutrality rules are doing is to make sure that everybody plays by the same rules. We have seen the same situation play out in the the old PSTN when AT&T did not want to allow telephones it did not manufacture to be installed on its network. Did the network collapse? No of course not. Same thing happened in the power generation field when the incumbent utilities fought against merchant plants. It's the same with networks in our current situation. Everybody plays by the same rules which are published so you know how the game is played. Unfortunately, in our current situation we have cable cos dominating the fixed broadband world and they are the gatekeepers. We just want to make sure that they play fair with everybody, not deciding winners and losers. Making sure that OTT services have the same priority so that Apple TV or Google TV do not have an unfair advantage over Netflix or Amazon Prime Video because they paid more for access.

Sprint can have 3 5x5 channels in b25 in some markets (including PCS G). In some markets where they have 15x15MHz channels they could probably do a 10x10 + a 5x5 (PCS G). It might not have the same peak speed as a 10x10 or a 15x15 channel but who cares. Now I have long advocated that Sprint trade some of their BRS to Dish for their 2000-2020MHz+PCS H allocation. Along with PCS G it will make for a nice 30x10 MHz chunk of spectrum. It kind of makes the rest of their PCS holdings kind of irrelevant.

Suburban can get by on voice on 800Mhz. Urban maybe not. On the other hand if Sprint perfects WiFi calling, between 1xAdvanced on 800Mhz and WiFi calling, they might not need voice on 1900Mhz. EVDO will depend on M2M customers moving to LTE.

It depends on whether you move all the intelligence in the cloud or not.