Tag Archives: Spectrum

Millimeter Wave Has Failed. Or Has It Really?

Proponents of millimeter wave (mmWave) access technology loud its success by citing the number of completed auctions. Looking at the quality of these auctions reveals a contrasting conclusion: mmWave is struggling to gain the interest of mobile network operators. Except the United States and Australia, the demand for mmWave licenses is low; and operators are not willing to… Read More »

5G Deployment Trends and Prospects

Research from Xona Partners on 5G deployment trends and prospects reveals that operators will focus on mid-band spectrum. The millimeter wave technology will remain a niche play in the short and medium terms. 5G is a Mid-Band Play Operators around the world have spent over $16.2 Billion acquiring 3.5 GHz spectrum (C-band) in the 18 months between January… Read More »

5G mmWave Spectrum: Was Straight Path Worth the Price?

This past week saw Verizon overtaking AT&T in bidding for Straight Path Communications, owner of 28 and 39 GHz ‘5G’ spectrum, closing the contest at $3.1 Billion, more than double AT&T’s initial bid of $1.25 Billion ($1.6 B transaction value). The acquisition is framed within the context of spectrum for 5G services. What makes this an interesting case… Read More »

Will Operators Deploy Phase 1 5G?

Standardization of 5G is split into two phases. The first phase, which is scheduled for 2H2018, will focus on a subset of use cases and features. The second phase which is scheduled for December 2019, will meet ITU2020 requirements for 5G technology. Phase 1 will also focus on sub 6 GHz bands although carriers in Asia are pushing… Read More »

5 Things You Need To Know About 5G.

The 5G picture is getting clearer by the day. While there is still a lot of fuzziness that will take take time to crystallize the broad outline for 5G is now more clear. Below, is a summary of some of our findings on 5G. Needless to say, 5G developments will have significant ramifications especially as the capital expenses… Read More »

How Much is 700 MHz Spectrum Worth?

The 700 MHz auction in France closed last week raising a total of €2.8 billion ($3.17 billion). Orange and Free Mobile secured 2 block of 5 MHz duplex spectrum, while Bouygues and SFR secured one 5 MHz block each. The operators will have now to bid for the position of the allocation in the band: they got four choices,… Read More »

Time for a Comprehensive Strategy for License-Exempt Spectrum

Calls for regulators to release more unlicensed spectrum for Wi-Fi are getting louder: the 2.4 GHz band is heavily used and the 5 GHz band suffers from many restrictions that limit its applicability. LTE’s entry into unlicensed spectrum is further amplifying these calls and adding an acute sense of urgency. But what is required is more than additional… Read More »

AWS-3 Auction Closes on $44 Billion: Did They Cross The Bounds of The Rational?

It seems US wireless operators have crossed the bounds to the irrational in bidding on the AWS-3 spectrum. As I write this article, round 91 closed at over $43.74 billion for the 65 MHz of spectrum. That’s a gross average of $2.3/MHz PoP. To put this into perspective, the 90 MHz of AWS-1 spectrum in 2006 netted $13.7… Read More »

Defining the Innovation Band and Shared Spectrum Access

Spectrum sharing rules for the 3.5 GHz band in the US are beginning to take shape. While there are still some important aspects to define, the broad lines have been drawn for the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS). The process of fine-tuning the rules will continue following the April Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) (comments are due… Read More »

Canada 700 MHz Spectrum Auction Concludes Raising C$ 5.27 Billion

Results of the auction for 700 MHz spectrum in Canada were announced today:  CAD 5.27 billion (USD 4.73 billion) was raised. This is more than what operators had hoped to fork out for this auction, especially considering the wireless market structure in Canada which does not foster competitive behavior. The average price for the 68 MHz auctioned is… Read More »

LTE-Advanced, 3.5 GHz, Small Cells and Neutral Host Services: A Powerful Mix to Abundantly Increase Network Capacity

At a recent GTI event in Japan, Huawei demonstrated 770 Mbps peak throughput in a market trial of LTE-Advanced in 3.5 GHz spectrum. This was achieved with TD-LTE access mode with carrier aggregation. The trial showed 500 Mbps average throughput over multiple sites. Furthermore, Softbank demonstrated the ability to provide 1.2 Gbps peak throughput using 5-carrier aggregation in… Read More »

When Will Small Cells Be Deployed? A Case Study of Critical Strategic Planning Options for Mobile Network Operators

This case study was designed to help answer important questions related to small cell deployments. It is based on a traffic forecast and capacity planning tool developed to aid operator strategic planning activities. The tool can also be used by vendors and other ecosystem players to map their product offering and plan for small cell deployments. Demand for… Read More »

Australian Digital Dividend Spectrum Auction Concludes by Raising $2 Billion.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) announced last Tuesday the results of the 700 MHz & 2500 MHz spectrum auction. A total of AU$ 1.96 billion (US$ 2.02 billion) was raised by licensing a combined 200 MHz in these two bands. Telstra & Optus won 2×20 and 2×10 MHz, respectively, in the 700 MHz Band. Yet, 30… Read More »