AT&T bolsters 4G network plans with $1.9B spectrum purchase
AT&T has agreed to purchase spectrum licenses from Qualcomm in the lower 700 MHz frequency band. The $1.925 acquisition is said to bolster AT&T's ability to provide an advanced 4G mobile broadband service "in the years ahead," the company said in a press release.
The spectrum being sold to AT&T is currently licensed to FLO TV, but that agreement with Qualcomm is expected to be shut down in March 2011.
The available spectrum acquired by AT&T covers more than 300 million people total nationwide. 12 MHz of lower 700 MHz D and E block spectrum is accessible by more than 70 million people in five of the top 15 metropolitan areas, including New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The remaining 6 Mhz of lower 700 MHz D block spectrum covers more than 230 million people.
AT&T said it intends to deploy the spectrum as "supplemental downlink" once compatible handsets and network equipment are developed. AT&T and Qualcomm anticipate they will close on the sale in the second half of 2011.
While AT&T is still building its own 4G network, expected to launch in mid-2011, the company was recently beaten to the punch by its chief rival. Verizon's 4G long-term evolution network debuted earlier this month, offering 10 times faster download speeds in 38 metropolitan areas and more than 60 commercial airports across the U.S.
AT&T will partner with Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson to build out its LTE network, which will deliver higher broadband throughput and lower latency than the company's existing 3G network. But even before AT&T's 4G launches, the company has touted that its existing 3G network is 20 to 60 percent faster than its competitors.
In August, AppleInsider revealed that Qualcomm was looking to hire an "iPhone Developer Guru" for a "secret" project. The company is also rumored to be the supplier of CDMA chips for a rumored impending Verizon iPhone launch.
40 Comments
Verizon's way ahead of the game! If AT&T were smart they would have leveraged $1.5 billion in tax payer money to build out a 4G network like Verizon did. See guys, Verizon not only gets your monthly payments, but also your tax dollars... By far the best value! http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...ut-2010-12.DTL
Verizon's way ahead of the game! If AT&T were smart they would have leveraged $1.5 billion in tax payer money to build out a 4G network like Verizon did. See guys, Verizon not only gets your monthly payments, but also your tax dollars... By far the best value! http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...ut-2010-12.DTL
Welcome to the forum, Jallen.
Verizon is only "ahead of the game” if you define it as implementing the latest marketing buzzwords, but right now LTE isn’t optimal for cell phones.
I don’t think any carrier in the world is selling an LTE-capable cellphone at this point; I think they are all cellular modems, and even those are few and far between. That should tell you a lot about the tech.
The bottom line is that HSPA+ is more tried and true with smaller, more power-efficient chips with top theoretical speeds that aren’t even possible because the technology for it also hasn’t been invented yet to make it feasible, which is the underlying problem with LTE for least this next year.
Check out the cutting edge 4G phones on Sprint. WiMAX may barely beat out AT&T and T-Mobile’s 3G download speeds (not upload speeds) but it tears right through the the battery to do it. So far, I’ve seen no LTE chips that are small enough or efficient enough to be in a modern smartphone, much less the iPhone, which could easily get a 14.4Mbps/5.78Mbps ‘3G’ chip in the next revision. I’ll take that over some spotty and power hungry ‘4G’ buzzword any day.
Note, Verizon and Sprint had to jump to the new tech because EV-DO was so far behind HS*PA. GSM-based carriers have the luxury of a smoother, more efficient transition into LTE, which is just the next step for 3GPP.
this seems like a good plan to me. the network already exists, right? All at&t needs to do is fold it into their network and sell some 700 MHz phones....
Considering that the US Census Bureau estimated the US population at 307 million last year, that's good coverage (or an inaccurate number).
Considering that the US Census Bureau estimated the US population at 307 million last year, that's good coverage (or an inaccurate number).
It?s not saying that AT&T has 300M subscribers, but that the spectrum covers that number of people, as you pointed out is correct per last year?s census.