The 600MHz frequency band will be sold at the auction. Currently, AT&T and Verizon Wireless have a similar low-band 700MHz frequency, which they are currently using to build out their 4G LTE coverage. However, many smaller carriers have very little of these lower frequency bands. In fact, T-Mobile has none. These low-frequency bands are highly coveted, as they can penetrate through buildings, and travel long distances.

The DOJ told the FCC that if AT&T and Verizon Wireless were to purchase all the spectrum they want from the auction, they won’t use the spectrum efficiently. It believes that the two major wireless carriers will purchase the spectrum just to make sure the smaller carriers don’t have the chance to use them. Without the added competition, the major carriers would be able to continue to charge high fees. The DOJ stated in its filing,

“A large incumbent may benefit from acquiring spectrum even if its uses of the spectrum are not the most efficient if that acquisition helps preserve high prices.”

The DOJ also states,

“Namely, the more concentrated a wireless market is, the more likely a carrier will find it profitable to acquire spectrum with the aim of raising competitors’ costs. This could take the shape, for example, of pursuing spectrum in order to prevent its use by a competitor, independent of how efficientialy the carrier uses.”

The DOJ states that by giving smaller carriers a chance to purchase the spectrum they need, more competition would ensue, which would be the best thing for the wireless business. If smaller carriers are able to secure low-band frequencies from the auction, they will be able to improve their coverage, and in turn “make them stronger, more aggressive competitors.” It’s still undecided how the DOJ and FCC will regulate the auction, however the DOJ suggested that the larger carriers be only allowed to purchase smaller blocks of the low-frequency spectrum.

[via CNET]

The FCC’s statement also makes clear that this merger will very possibly create a “more robust, national network” and will move to make the fourth-largest carrier in the United States a service provider with “improved quality of service” from top to bottom. The FCC has concluded that, per their mission to decide,

“Any potential public interest harms would be outweighed by the resulting public interest benefits” – FCC

This decision is made with several conclusions including that Deutsche Telekom has the right to select a name other than the one listed above any time prior to the close of the deal “Deutsche Telekom AG Application, ULS File No. 0005446627, Exhibit 1, Description of Transaction and Public Interest Statement at 3 n.5″ Deutsche Telekom is the parent company of T-Mobile USA, you should know, if you did not know before right this minute.

Four FCC heads, Chairman Genachowski, Commissioner Rosenworcel, and Commissioner Pai, have released statements in support of the approval, letting the public know why they’ve supported the merger and how it’ll affect us all.

“When markets are competitive, consumers are better off when the government forbears from intervening and allows private parties to negotiate and enter into voluntary agreements. As I have said before, mutual consent implies mutual benefit, and it is accordingly in the public interest for freely-negotiated contracts to be allowed and enforced so long as third parties are not harmed. ” – Commissioner Pai

“I have expressed to the parties my concern that as they move ahead, American workers do not get left behind. Major job losses are not in the public interest. The companies have pledged to me that they have no plans to close any domestic call centers, to move them offshore, to close any retail stores, or to reduce retail positions as a result of this deal. They have also assured me that they plan to increase the overall number of workers they employ in the United States. I expect that the company will keep its word—and live up to these promises.” – Commissioner Goldman

Above you’ll see Commissioner Pai‘s statement as well as the statement of Commissioner Goldman. You’ll see that Goldman made a point to assure the public hat both T-Mobile and MetroPCS have promised to keep all of the stores and workers they’d had before this deal, and have no plans to fire any workers or close any stores as a result of the deal.

“Mobile broadband is a key engine of economic growth, with U.S. annual wireless capital investment up 40% over the last four years, the largest increase in the world, and few sectors having more potential to create jobs. In this fast-moving space, of course challenges remain, including the need to unleash even more spectrum for mobile broadband and continuing to promote competition and protect consumers. The Commission will stay focused on these vital goals.” – Chairman Genachoswki

Above you’ll also see the statement of FCC Chairman Genachoswki, who opts to address the situation from a more broad perspective. Have a peek at the timeline below to see more on the history of this deal as it began and ran through to today, where it’s closer than ever to being fully approved.

The public trial brings Google one step closer to becoming a certified database administrator for white spaces. Currently the only database administrators are Spectrum Bridge, Inc. and Telcordia Technologies, Inc. Many other companies are applying to be certified, including a big dog like Microsoft. With companies like Google and Microsoft becoming certified, discovery of white spaces should increase monumentally.

Google’s trial allows all industry stakeholders, including broadcasters, cable, wireless microphone users, and licensed spectrum holders, to provide feedback to the Google Spectrum Database. It also allows anyone to track how much TV white space is available in their given area. This entire process is known as dynamic spectrum sharing.

Google’s trial, as well as the collective help of all the other spectrum data administrators, will help unlock more wireless spectrum. It’s a necessity as there is an increasing number of people who are wirelessly connecting to the internet via smartphones, laptops, tablets, and other wireless devices. This trial will open new doors to more wireless coverage (especially in dead zones), Wi-Fi hotspots, and other “wireless technologies”.

[via Google]

The spectrum — specifically in the 700 MHz B band — covers around 42 million people across 18 states, including Florida, Texas, Colorado, and Utah, some areas of which aren’t yet covered by AT&T. The deal will consist of payment in both cash and Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum, which AT&T seems to be wanting to get rid of more and more in favor of 700MHz spectrum.

The transaction would need to be approved first by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Justice, so we may not see the change until sometime during the second half of 2013. The spectrum that’s being bought is spread out over the US, and it affects larger markets as well, including Chicago, Los Angeles, and Miami.

However, while AT&T looks to be getting rid of its AWS spectrum, Verizon is giving it a second look. AWS is also a spectrum band used by T-Mobile for its 3G and LTE networks. Before today, Verizon has sold, or agreed to sell, 35 of its 77 lower B block licenses to 10 different companies, most of which are smaller regional carriers.

The FCC has set a goal of having all of this completed by June 2014. Then again, FCC officials said the auctions themselves were unlikely to take place before the 2014 deadline. The FCC and Congress have estimated that the auctions could generate around $15 billion. A portion of that would go to television broadcasters who gave up public airwaves, while $7 billion of the earnings would be used to build a nationwide emergency network for public safety officials.

The entire process will have three components. The first thing would be the reverse auction, where television broadcasters will voluntarily sell their spectrum back to the government. After that, there will be a “repacking” of broadcasters who didn’t participate in the auction. This is to make sure the spectrum is being used efficiently and there are big enough sections of spectrum to sell to wireless carriers. The final step will be a forward auction, in which the wireless providers would bid on available spectrum.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said that this will be the first-ever incentive spectrum auction. He also mentioned, that when it was originally proposed in 2009, no one thought it could work. However, the proposal passed today and Genachowski believes it offers broadcasters and wireless providers a great opportunity. Verizon has even said that it’s happy that the FCC is doing this.

However, not everything is set in stone yet. The next step in the process is that many of these items will be opened to the public for comment. Once the period for public comment passes, the FCC will evaluate the information and create another, yet formal proposal that will be voted on by the FCC.

[via The New York Times]

Image via Flickr

Naturally, Verizon plans to use this freshly-acquired spectrum to expand its 4G services, but now that it has acquired the spectrum it wanted, it will be licensing out its lower A and B block spectrum to other companies. One of the companies that will licensing spectrum from Verizon is T-Mobile, which plans a roll out of 4G LTE for early 2013. In a statement, it was pretty easy to tell that Verizon president and CEO Dan Mead was eager to begin utilizing this new spectrum. “This purchase represents a milestone in the industry and we appreciate the FCC’s diligent work to review and approve the transaction,” he said. “We will work aggressively to ensure that we put this previously unused spectrum to use quickly to benefit customers.”

We’ve known about Verizon’s plan to buy up this unused spectrum since December, when it first noted it was interested in striking the deal. Given the number of companies involved the deal and the amount of money changing hands, the FCC had to become involved to make sure everything checked out. The FCC obviously doesn’t have the problem with the deal, announcing that Verizon has the green light to go ahead with the purchase today.

So, not only does this deal help Verizon greatly, but it will also help out other carriers and their customers. Verizon’s 4G LTE network already covers 75% of the United States, but with this new sale, Verizon will be able to give that a boost. Here’s hoping that Verizon begins its roll out as quickly as Mead’s comments suggest. Stay tuned, folks.

[via Android Community]

The Chairman of the FCC, Julius Genachowski, detailed how Verizon’s acquisition of the wireless spectrum wouldn’t be anti-competitive as a result. He went on to say, “Approval of the substantially modified transaction will promote the public interest and benefit consumers in several ways. By advancing U.S. leadership in 4G LTE deployment, the transaction marks another step in our effort to promote the U.S. innovation economy and make state-of-the-art broadband available to more people in more places.”

Verizon paid a total of $3.9 billion for the spectrum access, with $2.3 billion going to Comcast, $1.1 billion  to Time Warner, and $189 million to Bright House Networks. All the companies involved have agreed to license spectrum to each other as part of the sale, and the cable companies will also gain the right to resell some of Verizon’s wireless services in the future.

There is a catch, however: all four companies have agreed to restrict cross-marketing agreements until December 2016. That gives the FCC some peace of mind, and means that all four will still compete against each other in the meantime. Verizon still needs to divvy up some of its own spectrum as part of the agreement.

[via The Next Web]

Although the FCC is the regulating body that approves or rejects the deal, recommendations such as the one from Kohl often have a significant influence on that decision. Verizon has already offered to sell off its 700MHz blocks A and B, but Kohl is suggesting that Verizon would need to also divest some of the AWS spectrum that it acquires from the cable deal.

The cable companies Cox Communications along with Spectrum Co., which includes Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks want to sell about 20MHz of AWS spectrum to Verizon in an agreement that would allow the companies to market each others services. Competitors such as T-Mobile are concerned that the deal would allow Verizon to corner the AWS spectrum, which the carriers are vying for to build out their 4G LTE networks.

[via CNET]

The executive told investors and reporters on a conference call that the 7000MHz block C spectrum that Verizon proposes to sell just isn’t good enough for T-Mobile to expand its business. He noted that incorporating the 700MHz bands into T-Mobile’s business and hardware would take three to six years. The smaller company is hoping to begin rolling out LTE services next year, as Verizon and AT&T have already done. One of its primary complaints is that Verizon still isn’t using all of the spectrum that it owns to capacity, making an acquisition from cable companies unjustified (their implication) at present.

The Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice both need to approve the sale of more AWS spectrum to Verizon, since digital airwaves are considered a quasi-public resource. Verizon intends to bundle its own 4G LTE cellular service with more cable companies’ TV service, as it already does with Comcast in some areas. Smaller carriers with LTE aspirations bitterly oppose the sale. Thew two loudest objectors, T-Mobile and MetroPCS, were recently rumored to be in merger talks.

[via Reuters]

Genachowski spoke this week on the future of the mobile working with his four tenants of power for its success: innovation, investment, competition, and consumers. To get the most out of our current toolkit, noted Genachowski, we would have to work with “the next generation of wireless policy.” Genachowski made sure to let the world know that “reports of spectrum’s demise have been greatly exaggerated” and that the FCC is moving ahead with actions that will make expansion of spectrum across the United States a reality in more ways than one.

As he spoke on all of this, he let it be known on a mobile data-connected iPad – either 2nd or 3rd generation, he spoke on how the mobile industry needed to work in an environment where wireless carriers all had access to spectrum in ways that were equitable and fair. “Small cells are a big deal” he noted, as the “small cell revolution” will drive band expansion and power through the future.

We’ll be here the rest of the event and through the rest of the week here on SlashGear via our CTIA 2012 portal – check out the full week of CTIA!

“We applaud the FCC for acting swiftly to approve the transfer of these spectrum licenses,” said T-Mobile’s chief technology officer Neville Ray. “Securing this additional spectrum was a key catalyst for our plans to launch LTE in 2013 and is therefore good news for our customers.”

The $1 billion worth of AWS spectrum to be transferred will give T-Mobile 128 Cellular Market Areas, including 12 of the top 20 markets. It will be part of T-Mobile’s $4 billion investment plan to improve existing voice and data coverage and to deploy LTE in 2013.

[via T-Mobile]

T-Mobile urged the FCC to block the deal, saying that Verizon has not been using its existing AWS spectrum, which it has been sitting on for the past six years. To transfer more AWS spectrum to Verizon would not make sense or be in the public’s best interest.

T-Mobile also has plans to build out its own LTE network next year on AWS spectrum. Handing such a large chunk of AWS spectrum from the cable companies to Verizon would harm competitors also wanting to deploy LTE.

Furthermore, the block A and B 700MHz specturm that Verizon is ready to dump has certain issues. For instance, it still lacks a national footprint and faces interference from adjacent high-powered broadcasters and also lacks equipment and interoperability with the rest of the 700MHz band.

[via FierceWireless]

Successor to the ZX81, the ZX Spectrum introduced a new name and a rainbow stripe to indicate its color abilities over its monochrome predecessor. In the process, it took on the Commodore 64 and the BBC Micro, undercutting them significantly but, as the company took pains to highlight, capable of faster crunching than either rival.

As with other computers of the time, users programming their own applications was considered just as important as playing pre-created titles. The ZX Spectrum used a version of the same BASIC language on the ZX81, with software saved to and loaded from cassette tape initially and then, in 1987, via a floppy disc drive in the updated ZX Spectrum +3.

St. George, meanwhile, didn’t know much about computing but did, according to legend, manage to slay a fearsome dragon just before it could eat a princess. According to the tale, the dragon had demanded a tithe of either sheep or children; the knight subdued it with a lance and then killed it in front of the villagers. It’s unclear whether Sir Clive Sinclair, creator of the ZX Spectrum, is related to any of the descendants of those villagers, which would certainly be a neat way of tying up the doodle.

More on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum at Wikipedia.

This is great news for LightSquared as they gather their things and begin anew thinking of ways that they might save their business now that the FCC has essentially given them the big hand in the face. The rental fee LightSquared is asked to pay quarterly is $29.6 million USD, difficult for a company that’s not currently allowed to function or offer up data connectivity for sale. LightSquared has said they will use the extra time to once again focus on obtaining regulatory approval for its project as soon as possible.

Inmarsat had previously said they’d shut down LightSquared if they did not cooperate under their agreed terms, noting their payment being late under the first phase of their written agreement. LightSquared responded by noting that Inmarsat, in turn, did not fulfill all it’s agreements either. Inmarsat spokesman Chris McLaughlin noted the following on the subject:

“We complied with everything they asked us to do [including] alternating stripes of L-band spectrum.” – McLaughlin for Inmarsat

Since this disagreement, LightSquared did make an outstanding payment of $56.25 million. LightSquared now seeks to continue their deal hinging on their ability to get in good with the FCC or substantially change the way they run their connections to data. Have a peek at the timeline below to follow this story back to the beginning!

[via ComputerWorld]

Verizon is seeking to add AWS spectrum to their 700MHz block C spectrum for the expansion of its 4G LTE network. The carrier agreed to pay $3.6 billion for AWS spectrum licenses held by SpectrumCo, a consortium of cable companies Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks. It later agreed to another $315 million when Cox Communications jumped in with its 20MHz of AWS.

As part of the AWS deal, Verizon would allow the cable companies to become MVNOs of Verizon, bundling its 4G LTE service with their own cable offerings, while Verizon would also be able to resell cable services. Smaller carriers T-Mobile and MetroPCS are asking the FCC to block the transaction for antitrust reasons and have requested to see the full unredacted documentation behind the deal.

Hence, to help smooth things over, Verizon is offering to sell its 700MHz block A and B licenses in exchange for the AWS spectrum from the cable companies. It will also begin soliciting interest from potential buyers right away so that the process can move forward quickly once its AWS deal is approved.

The deal ensures that both carriers will be able to provide additional coverage of 4G connectivity, and hopefully better service, although it also highlights the need for more spectrum in the wireless industry. Carriers may be OK with temporarily signing agreements with each other, but spectrum is a finite resource.

Financial terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed, although it does also involve subsidiaries Savary Island Wireless and Cook Inlet. The deal also sees intra-market exchanges in Philadelphia, Wilmington, Atlantic City, as well as some markets in Texas and New Mexico. The agreement isn’t expected to be completed until it receives regulatory approval.

President and CEO of Leap, Doug Hutcheson, says that “These transactions will enhance our spectrum depth in these markets and provide us longer term flexibility to offer a larger LTE channel.” Leap plans to cover around two thirds of its network with LTE in the next two to three years.