Tag Archives: 700Mhz

Wind Mobile to participate in Canada’s 700MHz wireless auction (update: more providers)

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Wind Mobile store

Wind Mobile apparently isn't worried that it has to fend without Verizon's help: the carrier has confirmed to MobileSyrup that it will participate in Canada's 700MHz wireless auction. While the provider doesn't have much more to share at this stage, it sees the LTE-friendly spectrum bid as proof of a "long-term commitment" to the country. The company will still have to win spectrum to better compete with Bell, Rogers and Telus, but its entry should assuage Canucks worried that only the incumbents can afford to buy more bandwidth.

Update: EastLink and Public Mobile are also committed to the auction. Mobilicity, however, has yet to reveal its plans; if it doesn't announce its participation in the auction before noon today, it's out of the running.

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Source: MobileSyrup

AT&T finalizes $1.9 billion spectrum purchase from Verizon, deal will improve LTE service in 18 states

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It's taken almost eight months, but AT&T has at last finalized its deal to purchase $1.9 billion worth of spectrum from Verizon. The agreement, first announced back in January, allows Verizon to unload a good chunk of its 700MHz spectrum, which AT&T will in turn use to improve its LTE service for 42 million customers across 18 different states. And that's all she wrote, folks. If you're curious to see whether your state is covered, all 18 of them are listed in the press release below. Be warned, though: you'll also need to watch AT&T do a victory lap over how fast its network is.

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Verizon shelves Wind and Mobilicity acquisitions, ponders Canada’s 700MHz auction

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Verizon shelves Wind and Mobilicity acquisitions, ponders Canada's 700MHz auction

Verizon's insatiable appetite for spectrum is legendary. The company's most recently been eyeing Canada's valuable 700MHz airwaves and even shown interest in acquiring troubled carriers Wind Mobile and Mobilicity. (Especially after the CRTC rejected Telus's attempt to purchase the latter.) The Globe and Mail now reports that VZW's chosen to delay its potential acquisitions of the two carriers until after next year's 700MHz auction and that the US company is considering a bid for the spectrum directly. It's unclear if Verizon is attempting to buy time, trying to push the price of the struggling operators down or simply losing interest in the Canadian market. One thing's for sure -- if the company bids in the auction it won't be able to negotiate any deals with other applicants until next year.

[Image credit: Andrew Currie, Flickr]

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Via: Reuters

Source: The Globe and Mail

Verizon reportedly offers more than $600 million to buy Wind Mobile

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Wind Mobile store

Verizon's curiosity about entering the Canadian market could represent more than just a brief fascination: Reuters claims that Big Red has made a "tentative" bid for Wind Mobile. While the exact price would depend on what Verizon finds in Wind's accounting books, the estimated value ranges from $600 million to $800 million. Neither party is commenting on the rumor, although Verizon may still be open to alternative deals -- it supposedly approached Mobilicity about a potential acquisition. Verizon will likely need permission from both the Canadian government and Vodafone to make any takeover attempt official, but the reported bidding suggests that the company is willing to brave the gauntlet for some 700MHz spectrum and a presence up North.

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Via: Phone Arena

Source: Reuters

Verizon reportedly considers purchasing Canada’s Wind Mobile

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Competition in the Canadian cellphone space is on shaky ground when Wind Mobile faces an uncertain future. If The Globe and Mail's sources are accurate, however, Wind may get a lifeline from an unexpected source: Verizon. The US carrier has reportedly held "exploratory" talks for a possible takeover of Wind that would help the Canadian firm bid in the upcoming 700MHz auction, improving its chances against local giants Bell, Rogers and Telus. Mobilicity is also a potential acquisition target following Telus' failed buyout, according to the tipsters. None of the involved parties are commenting at this stage, although Verizon couldn't just walk into the Canadian market. The provider would have to deal with foreign ownership rules as well as the investment limits of its Vodafone partnership -- and neither obstacle is likely to disappear overnight.

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Via: MobileSyrup

Source: The Globe and Mail

Canada’s 700MHz auction pushed to January 2014, Telus denied Mobilicity spectrum transfer

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Oh, Canada. Just one day after we received word of the CRTC's new wireless code, Industry Canada -- its government's equivalent of the FCC -- announced further postponements of the country's pending 700MHz spectrum auction. Already delayed from the first half of this year to November, IC is pushing the auction back yet another two months to January 14th, 2014, while the application deadline has been reset for September 17th of this year. The main reason for the setback? This morning, the government denied Telus' request to transfer AWS spectrum from Mobilicity -- one of the most important factors in the potential merger of the two networks. As a result, IC decided to allow more time for the affected companies to figure out what to do next; more than likely, Telus will need the extra two months to pull an AT&T and rethink its acquisition strategy. Read the release below for a few more details behind the rationale.

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Via: MobileSyrup (1), (2)

Source: Marketwire

US and Canada reach border spectrum sharing deals for broadband

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US and Canada reach border spectrum sharing deal for broadband and safety networks

Wireless use along the US-Canada border can be problematic: when there isn't direct interference, there's sometimes a fight over which devices get dibs on given frequencies. Don't worry that the countries will rekindle their old disputes, though -- instead, they've just struck interim deals to share more of their spectrum. Along with harmonizing 700MHz public safety networks, the pacts address AWS (1,700MHz and 2,100MHz), PCS (1,900MHz), 3.7GHz wireless broadband, mesh networks and even WiFi hotspots. When possible, both sides will use contention protocols to automatically resolve any conflicts. While the deals aren't yet final, they should be strong enough to maintain some semblance of peace on the northern airwaves.

[Image credit: National Film Board of Canada. Photothèque / Library and Archives Canada]

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Source: FCC

Canadian government sets November 19th as date for 700MHz auction

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Well, it's not the first half of 2013 as originally promised, but the Canadian government has now set a specific date for the country's first 700MHz spectrum auction: November 19th of this year. Alongside that bit of news, Industry Minister Christian Paradis also detailed a set of rules that he says will help provide consumers with "more choices and more access at better prices." That includes what the government describes as extended and expanded requirements for carriers to allow roaming on their networks, as well as a more general goal to have at least four competitors in each region of the country. Paradis also says the government is tightening its rules to increase cellphone tower sharing, a move aimed to both increase wireless coverage and "reduce cell tower proliferation." You can find his full statement after the break.

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Via: MobileSyrup

Source: Government of Canada

Verizon wraps up 700MHz spectrum sales to three rural telecom firms

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Verizon wraps up 700MHz spectrum sales to three rural telecom firms

While Verizon wasn't quick to start selling 700MHz blocks to live up to the terms of its AWS purchase, it's clearly willing to up the tempo. The carrier says it just finished deals this week to sell lower B-block 700MHz airwaves in Texas to already announced customer Nortex Communications as well as Oklahoma's Panhandle Telecommunication Systems. We're also learning that Verizon quietly signed off on a deal in mid-January that transfers A-block spectrum in Houston to Colorado Valley Communications. The agreements might not provide the interoperability with Verizon's C-block that some crave, but they could still help level the playing field for smaller telecom outlets.

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AT&T to buy $1.9 billion worth of 700MHz spectrum from Verizon

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Verizon has made a number of deals with smaller carriers lately to unload its 700MHz spectrum, and it's now struck a deal with a big one. AT&T announced today that it's buying a large swath of spectrum in the 700 MHz B band from Verizon for $1.9 billion in cash and AWS spectrum licenses. That spectrum covers some 42 million people across 18 states, including some areas that aren't currently covered by AT&T. Expectedly, the switchover won't happen overnight -- AT&T expects the deal to close sometime in the second half of 2013, assuming it gains the necessary regulatory approval. You can find the full list of states covered by the spectrum in the press release after the break.

Show full PR text

AT&T Agrees to Acquire 700 MHz Spectrum from Verizon Wireless

Dallas, Texas, January 25, 2013

AT&T* announced in an 8-K filing today that it has agreed to acquire spectrum in the 700 MHz B band from Verizon Wireless for $1.9 billion in cash and Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum licenses in several markets, including Phoenix, Ariz., Los Angeles and Fresno, Calif. and Portland, Ore.

The 700 MHz licenses to be acquired by AT&T cover 42 million people in 18 states - California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.

This acquisition complements AT&T's existing holdings in the 700 MHz B band and will allow AT&T to continue to quickly deploy 4G LTE services to meet demand for mobile Internet services on a wide array of smartphones, tablets and other devices. The company announced in November 2012 that it plans to reach 300 million people in the U.S. with its 4G LTE network by the end of 2014.

In conjunction with this transaction, AT&T will sell to Grain Management a single AWS license and will lease 700 MHz spectrum from Grain Management in three markets.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval. AT&T anticipates closing the transaction in the second half of 2013.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

About AT&T

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Source: AT&T