What is a Carrier Channel Band Map and why do you need it? August 19, 2015 12:42

The AT&T LTE Channel Band 12 Map is part of a series of 23 maps, which geographically describe the data speed capabilities of the national wireless carriers, including DISH.  LTE stands for Long Term Evolution. LTE is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals. The LTE standard covers a range of many different bands, each of which is designated by both a frequency and a band number. 

You can think of each of these bands as a highway number that a wireless carrier first needs to build into their network, and needs to enable in each of their smartphones. For example, AT&T would add radios to their cell sites for their 700MHz spectrum¹, enabling Band 12, and they would provide an iPhone 6, also supporting Band 12, to their customers. ²

 Every telecommunication company has their own information about their service areas and how why they are better than the competition.  But how can you determine each carrier’s maximum LTE capability?    This is a multi-million dollar question and the answer lies with independent and accurate analysis of each individual national carrier’s LTE coverage.  In the featured AT&T LTE Channel Band 12 Map, the channel sizes are delineated between 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 MHz.  The larger channel sizes correspond to faster data speeds. Also included with the channel maps are licensed population breakdowns indicating the licensed population in a specific channel size for the entire US and for the Top 100 CMA Markets.

 Allnet Insights & Analytics offer similar maps for each of the wireless carriers, giving you the critical information you require to manage your wireless business with confidence. 

 ¹A wireless operators’ most valuable resource is Spectrum. Spectrum is divided into non-overlapping spectrum bands, which are assigned to different cells. Knowing the ownership of the current spectrum for all the mobile carriers and satellite frequency bands would obviously be a high priority. Whereas this information is available, it can be difficult to interpret. 

 That’s why we developed the Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool .  This powerful, Excel based tool allows users to visualize and analyze the current spectrum ownership for all of the mobile carriers and satellite frequency bands down to a county level.  

²AT&T would actually deploy Band 17 which is a subset of Band 12.  We used Band 12 for all of the maps to allow easier comparison between wireless carriers using the same spectrum bands. If you were to look at the iPhone specification you would see the corresponding support of Band 17.