The AWS-3 auction in Canada has wrapped up raising a total of C$2.11 billion (US$ 1.68b) in a sealed-bid second-price format that was completed in a day. Of the 50 MHz auctioned, 30 MHz was set aside for challengers like Wind Mobile, Videotron and Eastlink who paid just over C$98 m in total, or on… Read More »
Now that the AWS-3 auction has concluded, not without controversy which will continue to reverberate for some time, attention will shift to the incentive auction planned by the FCC for next year. Being the first of its kind anywhere in the world, I thought it would be a good idea to summarize some of the… Read More »
Auction 97 for the AWS-3 band made headline news as operators spent $44.9 billion on 65 MHz of spectrum – a huge sum of money. But what’s behind the headline story; what do the numbers tell? Here are some of observations:
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… Read More »
A mix of connectivity technologies combines to enable the Internet of Things. These technologies can be complementary or competitive in nature. Determining which fits and which does not starts with the application use case and the user requirement. For most IoT applications there is no need for broadband connectivity. Rather, what is required is a… Read More »
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)… Read More »
The 3 GHz frequency bands stands at the upper limit of what is considered today as viable spectrum for mobile communications. But bands 42 (3400 – 3600 MHz) and 43 (3600 – 3800 MHz) are not only the ‘last frontier’, but more importantly, they provide the widest spectrum of any other band (200 MHz). Additionally,… Read More »
The proposal by Qualcomm to enable LTE operation in unlicensed band (LTE-U) received a warm response from some (e.g. Ericsson, Verizon) and not so warm from others especially incumbents with strong legacy in Wi-Fi in both the vendor and operator communities. The contentious issue center on co-existence of LTE and Wi-Fi in the same band… Read More »
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… Read More »
The latest round of spectrum auctions in Korea concluded with KT acquiring precious 15 MHz of 1.8 GHz spectrum adjacent to its existing band. The country’s largest operator, SK Telecom acquired 35 MHz in the 1.8 GHz band but has to give up some other spectrum in return. In the meantime, the smallest operator, LG… Read More »
The FCC enacted changes to Part 15 rules for the 60 GHz band (57 – 64 GHz) that will give a boost to different types of data backhaul applications. In a very significant move, the FCC increased the allowed transmitted power for 60 GHz systems deployed in point-to-point configuration outdoors. This will improve the competitiveness… Read More »
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… Read More »
Small cells raise a number of practical implementation questions which are yet to be resolved. One such question is whether small cells should operate in the same frequency band as the macrocell layer (co-channel deployment), or on a different frequency band. The question has profound implications to operators, vendors, and to regulators alike. To clarify,… Read More »
The long-awaited 800 MHz and 2600 MHz UK auction concluded today with a total of £2.34 billion, or $3.63 billion (Ofcom set reserve price at £1.3 billion). The winners of 60 MHz of digital dividend spectrum in 800 MHz band include EE, 3G, O2 and Vodafone. In the 2.6 GHz band, Vodafone, EE and BT… Read More »
Momentum for spectrum sharing is gathering strength, particularly for the 3.5 GHz band which is slated for small cell deployments. The NTIA has done detailed studies and prioritized this band ahead of other candidates such as 1700 MHz and 4 GHz bands for fast track evaluation. The FCC followed by issuing a Notice of Proposed… Read More »