Clear Talk latest beneficiary of Verizon’s 700Mhz spectrum fire sale

Clear Talk latest beneficiary of Verizon's 700Mhz spectrum fire sale

After horse-trading with the FCC and DOJ to gain AWS spectrum from cable venture SpectrumCo in exchange for its 700MHz A and B bands, Verizon has found another taker: Clear Talk, who just signed an agreement to purchase 10 lower B-block licenses. That follows an agreement with Nortex in Texas along with Panhandle Telecom in Oklahoma, and will cover Clear Talk's markets in Maryland, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Nevada and New Mexico. Big Red is evaluating other bids for its lower 700Mhz licenses and is also leasing upper C-block frequencies to 20 operators in order "to jumpstart the delivery of 4G LTE in rural areas." Verizon's tat for that tit will be that it can wholesale its services to cable companies like Comcast and Time Warner, making it well worth the company's while, we can imagine.

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Source: Verizon

Clear Talk latest beneficiary of Verizon’s 700MHz spectrum fire sale

Clear Talk latest beneficiary of Verizon's 700Mhz spectrum fire sale

After horse-trading with the FCC and DOJ to gain AWS spectrum from cable venture SpectrumCo in exchange for its 700MHz A and B bands, Verizon has found another taker: Clear Talk, who just signed an agreement to purchase 10 lower B-block licenses. That follows an agreement with Nortex in Texas along with Panhandle Telecom in Oklahoma, and will cover Clear Talk's markets in Maryland, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Nevada and New Mexico. Big Red is evaluating other bids for its lower 700MHz licenses and is also leasing upper C-block frequencies to 20 operators in order "to jumpstart the delivery of 4G LTE in rural areas." Verizon's tat for that tit will be that it can wholesale its services to cable companies like Comcast and Time Warner, making it well worth the company's while, we can imagine.

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Source: Verizon

Verizon signs first deal to sell lower 700MHz spectrum following the AWS handover, acts on its promise

Verizon signs first deal to sell lower 700MHz spectrum, acts on its promise

Verizon used the prospect of selling lower-block 700MHz spectrum as a carrot to lure in the US government: it would share the wireless wealth only if it was cleared to buy cable company spectrum in the AWS bands. Now that the DOJ and FCC have greenlit the cable purchase, the carrier is living up to its end of the bargain. Verizon has just signed a related deal that sells B-block 700MHz access to Nortex Communications, a rural phone company operating northwest of Dallas. While it's not Verizon first pact for the lower 700MHz space, it's the first directly resulting from the carrier's promises during the AWS frequency grab and shows the company being true to its word. We're not expecting the Texas agreement to suddenly level the balance of power when Verizon wasn't even using those airwaves for LTE; still, it's good to know that the provider isn't waiting around to give smaller competitors a break.

Continue reading Verizon signs first deal to sell lower 700MHz spectrum following the AWS handover, acts on its promise

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Verizon signs first deal to sell lower 700MHz spectrum following the AWS handover, acts on its promise originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Nov 2012 16:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Colombia to start testing 700MHz LTE, joins a Latin American trend in 4G

Colombia to start testing 700MHz LTE, joins a Latin American trend in 4G

Those in the US can brag about having the range, indoor friendliness and other advantages of 700MHz LTE, but few other countries have that edge so far: Latin Americans who have any LTE at all usually have to contend with less tolerant 2.6GHz bands. Colombia isn't happy with that state of affairs, and its National Spectrum Agency is spearheading a rapidly growing 4G movement in the region by testing 700MHz LTE between the fall and winter. Its strategy echoes proposals from Brazil and Mexico that will use the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity band plan, providing more efficient airwaves as well as wider device and network coverage. It will take beyond early 2013 before Colombia and its neighbors are actively using 700MHz bands -- the digital TV transition is one of the bigger obstacles -- but there's desires for a fast-track spectrum handout that could bring blazing speeds to Bogota before too long.

[Image credit: Kinori, Wikipedia]

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Colombia to start testing 700MHz LTE, joins a Latin American trend in 4G originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 12:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FCC approves Verizon deal to buy cable company spectrum, asks for concessions

Verizon logoVerizon received the Department of Justice's blessing for its cable company spectrum purchase last week, and now it's the FCC's turn to rubber stamp the plan. The agency has followed Chairman Julius Genachowski's recommendation and voted that Verizon can snap up the relevant AWS airspace as part of its LTE network expansion. Some riders are attached to the deal, although they're not all weighty. Verizon has to make an "unprecedented divestiture" of spectrum to T-Mobile in addition to its swap with Leap, promise certain coverage levels in the newly acquired zones at 3- and 7-year milestones, guarantee some roaming deals and provide updates on how its DSL service adoption is impacted by all that 4G. That Verizon has 45 days to finalize the T-Mobile deal gives some idea of how quickly everything has to move, although it could be a long while before we see AWS-ready Verizon devices in the shops.

To no one's surprise, advocacy groups are still upset: the Alliance for Broadband Competition believes the FCC decision "does not go far enough" to keep a level playing field, for example, and wants to voice its problems to the FCC. Anxiety still exists that just about any deal concentrates too much spectrum in the hands of Big Red. Still, there's a sense among groups like these that Verizon has had to at least partially address worries over unfair competition.

Continue reading FCC approves Verizon deal to buy cable company spectrum, asks for concessions

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FCC approves Verizon deal to buy cable company spectrum, asks for concessions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Aug 2012 18:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UK pins the slow move to LTE on carriers, Australia targets auctions for April 2013

Everything Everywhere

Aussies and Brits have been waiting awhile for either a truly broad LTE launch or to get any LTE at all. That wait is coming to an end, but not without some grousing. UK Minister for Culture Ed Vaizey has alleged that any slow movement stemmed from carriers that have "threatened to sue" regulator Ofcom if it's too hasty and does something they frown upon. Needless to say, that remark has ruffled a few feathers: one of the earliest expected British LTE providers, Everything Everywhere, tells Pocket-lint it has "no appetite" to take Ofcom to court and drag 4G deployments through the mud. Things are going a little more smoothly in Australia, if on a later timetable. The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, now expects Australia to auction off 700MHz and 2.5GHz wireless frequencies in April 2013. That could lead to a very long wait for wider 4G service in the country, but at least the 700MHz support will be good news for device makers that don't want to be mired in disputes over LTE devices they've brought over from the US.

UK pins the slow move to LTE on carriers, Australia targets auctions for April 2013 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jun 2012 03:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mobile Miscellany: week of June 11th, 2012

Mobile Miscellany week of June 11th, 2012

Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you're like us and really want to know what's going on, then you've come to the right place. This past week, Cricket found a new retail channel at Kmart and we received news that the HTC One S will soon arrive at Cincinnati Bell. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of June 11th, 2012.

Continue reading Mobile Miscellany: week of June 11th, 2012

Mobile Miscellany: week of June 11th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS Transformer Pad TF300TL hits the FCC with AT&T-friendly LTE

ImageASUS isn't known for offering its tablets to North American carriers with 3G or 4G; an FCC filing for a cellular-capable Transformer Pad TF300 could be a clue at a break in the WiFi-only trend. Along with the usual wireless, a TF300TL variant of the Android 4.0 slate has stopped by the agency with the 850MHz and 1,900MHz frequencies needed for HSPA 3G as well as, best of all, 700MHz and 1,700MHz support for LTE-based 4G. All four are what we'd look for in an AT&T-oriented tablet, so don't be surprised if Ma Bell carries a 4G Transformer Pad before long. All but the 700MHz band would be handy for Canadian networks as well. There's no surefire evidence of when the tablet might make a more formal appearance, nor hints of whether or not it will keep the quad-core Tegra 3, although the slight spin on the regular TF300 formula could keep the wait short.

ASUS Transformer Pad TF300TL hits the FCC with AT&T-friendly LTE originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 May 2012 20:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NTT DoCoMo bids for 700MHz spectrum, will drop two big-ones if it succeeds

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NTT DoCoMo is applying to extend its network to the 700MHz spectrum after losing out the coveted 900MHz band to smaller rival Softbank. If successful, the communications giant will have to fork out 150 billion yen ($1.9 billion) to make the necessary infrastructure changes to allow 3.9G devices to work on its network. While it can't be too happy at having to make do with the weaker frequencies, it does expect to pocket nearly $5 billion in profit this year, which ought to cushion the blow.

NTT DoCoMo bids for 700MHz spectrum, will drop two big-ones if it succeeds originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 May 2012 09:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pantech P8010 meets FCC, brings AT&T LTE along to say hello

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Though it hasn't been officially announced, AT&T's likely has a new Pantech LTE phone in its reasonable future. The P8010 just got approved by the FCC, and its next-gen radio offers support for no less than four LTE bands: the 700 / 1700 frequencies used by AT&T, as well as 850 / 1900. What's curious about the latter pair of bands is that they're the same ones used by the largest GSM carrier for its HSPA+ / WCDMA needs, suggesting that AT&T's planning ahead for possible refarming of its spectrum. Aside from this hefty nugget of info, the federal docs don't give much else away, aside from a well-detailed diagram showing the back of the phone -- complete with its microSD and micro-SIM slots -- and the usual smattering of compatible GSM / EDGE and 3G radios. According to preliminary benchmark results, however, the P8010 will likely be a step up from the Burst, sporting a 1.5GHz dual-core Krait processor, qHD display and Ice Cream Sandwich. To sneak a peek at the docs yourself, head to the source.

Pantech P8010 meets FCC, brings AT&T LTE along to say hello originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 May 2012 16:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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