Sub-6 GHz Spectrum Screen and the Effects on the CBRS and C-band Auctions Tue, Jul 07, 2020

Recently the FCC has revised the Sub-6 GHz spectrum screen through the following rulemakings;  the CBRS report and order, the 2.5GHz spectrum transformation report and order, and the C-band report and order.*  In the chart below we reflect the spectrum allotments that are included in our Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool compared to the allotments that apply to the FCC Spectrum Screen.

The FCC divides the Spectrum Screen Total by 3 and rounds to 10 MHz.  So the Spectrum Screen seems to be set at 340 MHz for Sub-6 GHz spectrum.

Beginning with our July 2020 release of the Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool, we have updated our Spectrum Screen calculations to include the additional EBS and C-band spectrum.  

The Spectrum Screen calculations are available in the County Analysis Module, the CMA Market Analysis Module, and the PEA Market Analysis Module.

In the County Analysis Module, the Spectrum Screen values are displayed for each of 8 selected carriers for each US county. Nearly 2,000 carriers and spectrum owners can be selected for analysis.  Auto filters can be set on the 340 MHz spectrum screen value, or set lower to forecast the head room a carrier would need to acquire 100 MHz of spectrum in the C-band auction without exceeding the spectrum screen.

The analysis carries over to the PEA Market Analysis Module and the CMA Market Analysis Module where auto filters again can be set to model specific conditions to determine carriers likely thresholds by market.

* Appreciation to Fred Campbell with Wireless 20|20 for his assistance in compiling the recent rulemakings Spectrum Screen effects.

USA National Carriers TOTAL Spectrum Tue, Jun 02, 2020

Why don't we see charts that show both Sub 6GHz and Millimeter Wave Spectrum?  I created the chart below to illustrate each carriers low band, mid band, and millimeter wave (high band) spectrum ownership.  This is not a view that I favor because the spectrum that is the most important today and likely for at least the next 5 years in buried at the bottom of the chart.  The values in the chart represent the population weighted average of each carrier's spectrum.  The important features of spectrum for the next 5 years will center on upper mid-band spectrum where 5G networks can have significant speed/capacity along with reasonable coverage.   Upper mid-band spectrum will be the only spectrum where large channel sizes (greater than 20MHz) will be available, but it is clearly difficult to evaluate each carriers available spectrum when the bar graphs are dominated by millimeter wave spectrum.

Commericializing Educational Broadcast Spectrum - 2.5GHz Tue, May 26, 2020

Last week we saw the first applications filed at the FCC that transfer educational (2.5GHz) spectrum to commercial carriers.  These are the first applications received by the FCC that take advantage of the new rules that were released in the Transforming the 2.5GHz Band Report & Order.  Below are the details for the  Educational Spectrum transfers from our Spectrum Transaction Summary that was released last Friday.  Prior to this Report & Order, commercial carriers could only utilize the educational spectrum via a spectrum lease.

5G Reconfiguration in Mexico Tue, May 19, 2020

In April, El Economista highlighted a transfer of 3.5GHz spectrum in Mexico from Telmex to Telcel.  The article highlights a series of consultations between Telmex, Telcel, AT&T, and the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT).  I will use our Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool (MEX) to examine these transactions and the overall 5G spectrum plans in Mexico.

Our Spectrum Grid from December 2019, reflects the ownership of the 3.5GHz band prior to the Telcel acquisition.  At this point, Telmex, AT&T, and Axtel each owned 50MHz of spectrum (25MHz of uplink and 25MHz of downlink spectrum).  In this view we included a TDD band class 48 which is the only band class defined by 3GPP for this band.  Obviously, systems using this band configuration are not using band class 48 since they are FDD and band class 48 is TDD.

AT&T and Telmex approached the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) in December to request that they exchange AT&T's D channel for Telmex's H channel, providing each carrier with 50MHz blocks of spectrum in the 3.5GHz band.  This exchange only makes sense if IFT reconfigured the entire band to TDD spectrum. 

The new configuration is reflected in the image below with Telcel acquiring Telmex's 50MHz channel.  Now Telcel and AT&T are set up with the minimum 5G channel size in one of Mexico's two TDD bands and IFT also has 150MHz of spectrum remaining for a future auction.  It is interesting to note, that both Canada and Mexico have opted for licensing spectrum directly to carriers for their 3.5GHz bands while the USA has gone with the shared spectrum and PAL licensing approach.

TeraGo Networks | FDD then TDD: Canada's Millimeter Wave Spectrum Dilemma Tue, May 12, 2020

Last week, Lightreading published an article about TeraGo's Fixed Wireless aspirations utilizing 24GHz and 38GHz.  We have just updated our Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool (CAN) to reflect the recent (ISED) consultation outlining Canada's millimeter wave spectrum configuration and upcoming auction.  This is important because TeraGo's plans rely on the existing paired spectrum configuration of the 38GHz band plan.  This band plan was compatible with the US 39GHz plan prior to Auction 103 when the plan was changed to TDD channels. 

Canada is changing the configuration of the above 38GHz band from fixed use to flexible use along with adding the spectrum down to 37.6GHz and up to 40GHz.  This creates a 37/39GHz band that is compatible with the US spectrum plans.  

Now that ISED has chosen to reconfigure the 38GHz they needed to either cancel the existing licenses from the 38GHz Fixed Service or create a transition plan.  ISED opted for the transition plan.  The existing 38GHz licenses will transition to an equal amount of spectrum in the 37/39GHz band at the end of their existing 10 year license term.  Looking at several of TeraGo's licenses, it appears that transition will occur in 2025.

Assessing the COVID Temporary Spectrum Licenses Tue, Mar 31, 2020

Last week we began to see announcements from the FCC authorizing a series of temporary spectrum usage agreements to provide additional spectrum to several of the wireless operators to increase network capacity as workers are dispatched to their homes.

We will look at the effect of these agreements in a few markets to see how they are increasing LTE capacity.  The analysis will be supported with outputs from our Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool  specifically the Spectrum Ownership Grid.

T-Mobile 600MHz Capacity Expansion:

The first agreement provides T-Mobile with access to 600MHz spectrum from Bluewater Wireless, Channel 51 LIcense Co and LB License Co (Columbia Capital), CC Wireless Investment (Comcast), ParketB.com Wireless (Dish), New Level (Grain), and Tstar License Holdings (Tri-Star).

In the image below for the New York CMA market, T-Mobile will have access to Comcast's spectrum (XFI) and Dish's spectrum increasing their 600MHz channel size in New York from 10MHz channel to a 20MHz channel.  T-Mobile would have access to the entire 35MHz of spectrum so they could provide a 20MHz channel and a 10MHz channel for capacity.   Because T-Mobile has already deployed Band 71 equipment in New York, they can turn up the expanded spectrum without additional equipment installations.

USCellular AWS-3 Capacity Expansion:

The next agreement provides USCellular access to AWS-3 spectrum from their bidding partner Advantage Spectrum.  In the image below a few of the Washington markets where USCellular will access AWS-3 spectrum are indicated.  In most of these markets, USCellular currently operates on their cellular frequencies but doesn't have Band 66 operations.Thus,  USCellular will need to add base stations and antennas to their sites for Band 66 to utilize these new frequencies.  In five of these counties USCellular is likely operating on AWS-1 spectrum in Band 66 so the spectrum will be easier to deploy in those counties. 

Verizon AWS-3 Capacity Expansion:

In the image below we illustrate the AWS-3 spectrum that Verizon will gain temporary access from SNR License Co and Northstar Wireless (both Dish partners).  Northstar controls the AWS-3 G channel and SNR LIcense Co controls the AWS-3 H channel.  In the New York market, Northstar Wireless owns the G block spectrum and SNR Wireless owns the H block spectrum.  Accessing this spectrum will provide Verizon a second Band 66 LTE channel, increasing their LTE capacity from 20MHz to 30MHz.

Verizon & AT&T AWS-3 Capacity Expansion:

Verizon and AT&T have also requested access to the spectrum that Northstar Wireless and SNR Wireless returned to the FCC when their auction discounts were eliminated.  The AWS-3 spectrum depth that is "unassigned" is indicated in the map below.  In our data, we reflect these unassigned licenses with the FCC heading.

AT&T requested the I block spectrum in the New York market, so it will expand their Band 66 LTE from 10MHz to 15MHz.  The markets AT&T requested are listed here and the markets that Verizon requested are here.

AT&T AWS-4 Capacity Expansion:

AT&T has also requested access to Dish's Band 66 spectrum.  From the image above AT&T can expand their Band 66 LTE by and additional 5MHz to 20MHz by using part of Dish's AWS-4 spectrum.  AT&T will still have an additional 15MHz of Dish's spectrum that they could use as an additional LTE channel in New York.  AT&T only requested access to Dish's Band 66 spectrum, not their Band 70 AWS-4 spectrum.

AT&T 700MHz E-block Expansion:

Dish also reported that AT&T requested access the the 700MHz E-block in the markets that AT&T doesn't own.  In the image below, Dish's ownership in Chicago and Detroit will provide AT&T the capability to expand their Band 29 supplemental downlink from 5MHz to 10MHz.

Verizon Continues to Acquire AWS-3 Licenses Tue, Mar 24, 2020

Earlier this month, Verizon filed to acquire all of Orion Wireless' paired AWS-3 spectrum.   This is Verizon's third acquisition of AWS-3 spectrum in the last six months. Last year Verizon filed to acquire AWS-3 spectrum from Cypress Cellular and Blue Ridge Wireless.

Geographic Coverage: 

The map below depicts all of Orion Wireless' AWS-3 licenses.  15 of Orion Wireless' licenses are for the AWS-3 G block and one for the AWS-3 I block.  This acquisition provides Verizon an additional 10 MHz of spectrum (5x5) in the in the areas where only Orion only controlled one license and 20 MHz of spectrum in two Minnesota counties where they control both the G and I blocks.

It is also interesting to look at how this spectrum will fit with Verizon's existing Band 66 spectrum.  Below is an output from our Spectrum Grid where you can see all of Orion Wireless' spectrum (OWL).  In most counties, the spectrum is not contiguous with Verizon's existing spectrum assignments, but in 5 Iowa counties, the Orion Wireless spectrum will provide Verizon with a larger second LTE channel ranging from 10 to 15 MHz.

Auction 103 Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool Update and Release Thu, Mar 12, 2020

Spektrum Metrics Insights & Analytics is pleased to announce that our Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool has been updated with the Auction 103 results and is available for purchase.

Below is a sample of the Spectrum Grid Analysis Module, highlighting the 37/39 GHz spectrum ownership for the New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago CMA markets.

The Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool contains 20 additional analysis modules including:

• Spectrum Depth - County
• Spectrum Depth - Company Profile
• Spectrum Depth - NR Band Class
• Spectrum Depth - Frequency Band
• Spectrum Depth - Market
• Cellular Market Area (CMA)
• Partial Economic Area (PEA)
• Designated Market Area (DMA)
• Spectrum Depth - Country
• Spectrum Depth - State
• Spectrum Depth - Channel
• Licensed POPs Analysis
• By Channel
• By Frequency Band
• MHz-POPs Analysis
• By Frequency Band
• By Country
• NR Channel Analysis 
• Contiguous Spectrum Analysis
• Frequency Band Ownership Analysis

With our Web Spectrum Viewer subscription, maps for each carrier's total Millimeter Wave spectrum depth and their spectrum depth for each frequency band are available.  Below is a map for the 47GHz spectrum that Sprint won in Auction 103.

Click here to contact Spektrum Metrics Insights & Analytics.

Millimeter Wave - Frequency Band Ownership Charts Tue, Mar 10, 2020

With the release of our March 2020 Mobile Carrier and Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tools we have included a new analysis module which details the frequency band ownership for eight user selected carriers.  With the results for Auction 103 expected later this week, we are including the charts for the Millimeter Wave frequency bands.  These charts detail each carrier's total ownership in a band, measured in terms of MHz-POPs. 

Looking at the 28GHz chart, you can see that Verizon owns 73% of the band while T-Mobile controls 14%.  The 37GHz, 39GHz, and 47GHz slides reflect the FCC controlling 100% of each spectrum band.  In the second chart, reflecting our February 2020 data, the spectrum held in the 39GHz band, pre-auction is indicated.  Verizon controlled 39% of this band prior to the auction and AT&T controlled 27%.  All of this spectrum was traded back into the FCC before Auction 103 started, so it will be interesting to see how all of the carrier's bidding activity affect these charts, once the auction results are posted.

We anticipate releasing a mid-month release of our Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool within two days of the FCC results announcement.

Millimeter Wave Frequency Band Ownership (March 2020):

 Millimeter Wave Frequency Band Ownership (February 2020):

How Much Does US Spectrum Information Charge? Tue, Mar 03, 2020

Many times customers ask how much does spectrum information change as they decide between our monthly subscriptions and one-time purchases.  Many customers consider one-time purchases either annually or following an auction completion.  

In the chart below, we have indicated the number of database record updates that we have determined for each week's FCC filed transactions.  There are three peaks from 2019.  January 2019 represents Verizon's filing to acquire Straightpath's LMDS and 39GHz spectrum.    June 2019 highlights the posting of the Auction 102 licenses and October/November 2019 includes the Auction 103 licenses.  Outside of these auction result periods, most weeks have between 100 and 400 licensing record updates.  So in a typical month there may be between 400 and 1600 licensing record updates.

A licensing record update may only update one block of spectrum for one county, or it may update multiple blocks of spectrum for an entire market (EA, BTA, PEA, or MTA)

Clearly, there are alot more changes than you would expect.

Verizon's 8th - 28 GHz Acquisition Tue, Feb 18, 2020

Last week, Verizon filed to acquire 2 Lightspeed's 28 GHz spectrum assets.  This is the 8th acquisition that Verizon has filed, targeting the 28 GHz spectrum held by companies prior to Auction 102.  The map below depicts where 2 Lightspeed owns spectrum.  Verizon is only acquiring the L1 and L2 (850 MHz) for the counties highlighted in orange, leaving 2 Lightspeed with 300 MHz of LMDS A spectrum in these counties.  In the yellow counties, 2 Lightspeed still will own the 150 MHz of the LMDS B spectrum.  These allocations are detailed below from our Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool, Company Analysis Module.

Five Important Ways to Look at Spectrum - Featuring the MVDDS (12.2 GHz) Spectrum Thu, Jan 30, 2020

What is the best report to use to understand the ownership for each block of spectrum or each carrier's spectrum portfolio?  I am going to walk through five of my favorites, using the Multichannel Video and Data Distribution Service (MVDDS) band as an example of a band where the spectrum owners and their relative ownership is not widely known.  The MVDDS 5G Coalition has been pressing the FCC since 2016 to make the 12.2-12.7 GHz band available for 5G. 

The first place to start is looking at the National Spectrum Depth averages.  This can be done with our National Weighted Average Spectrum Depth charts.    The chart below describes the average amount of spectrum that the 8 primary carriers own in the MVDDS band.  Since this band includes 500 MHz of spectrum in all markets, Dish is the majority spectrum holder, controlling 377 MHz of spectrum on average.  Because the National Weighted Average Spectrum Depth charts include of all of the millimeter wave spectrum bands, it is clear that Dish is the only MVDDS licensee that also owns traditional millimeter wave spectrum.

National Average Spectrum Depth:

The population weighted average spectrum depths are influenced significantly by the amount of spectrum held in population centers, so looking at Licensed Population values will provide insight into how much of the US population can be reached with each carrier's MVDDS licenses.  From the chart below, Dish's licenses can reach 75% of the  US population, with RS Access reaching 13%, and Go Long Wireless reaching nearly 5%.

Licensed Populations:

The next view, is to looking at the Top 25 or Top 50 population centers.  Using the CMA Market Analysis Module, in our Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool, it is easily seen that Dish controls the MVDDS spectrum in all of the Top 25 CMA markets except for Baltimore MD, where the spectrum is owned by Go Long Wireless.

Top 25 CMA Markets:

Next, to look at this spectrum band from a valuation perspective, it makes sense to detail the MHz-POPs that each carrier controls.  MHz-POPs is calculated by multiplying the size of the spectrum (500 MHz) times the population of each county where it is controlled.  Totaling these values for all counties provides the national band ownership quantity.

MHz-POPs:

Geographic Maps are fairly self explanatory.  Maps highlight areas not served, overserved, and highlight geographically adjacent markets that would be difficult to identify in the tabular results we have discussed above. Included in the maps below is a map detailing the licenses that the FCC now controls.  These typically include cancelled and terminated licenses.

Geographic Maps:

Dish Licenses:

Cass Cable Licenses:

FCC Licenses:

RSA Access:

Historical Spectrum Data - A Look Back to 2012...MetroPCS, SpectrumCo, Clearwire, and Leap Wireless Mon, Jan 20, 2020

One of the benefits of Allnet Insights' Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tools, is the repository of monthly releases that we have accumulated. With the USA Mobile Carrier Tool we have monthly versions going back to July 2012.  Each of our historical tools details spectrum ownership and the variety of spectrum depth analysis modules that were supported at that time.  

I thought it would be interesting to look back at the spectrum ownership landscape from July 2012.  Looking first at our Spectrum Grid for low band spectrum, you can see that Verizon still holds the 700MHz B block licenses that were sold later to AT&T.  In addition, Verizon also holds the 700MHz A block licenses that were sold to T-Mobile.  

Looking next at the lower mid band spectrum, former licensees like SpectrumCo, Leap Wireless, and MetroPCS still control blocks of AWS-1 and PCS spectrum.  This view of spectrum ownership also allows you to see how Verizon consolidated their AWS-1 spectrum holdings with SpectrumCo's holdings into a 20 MHz block through spectrum license trades with T-Mobile and their MetroPCS licenses.  Today Verizon controls the lower 20 MHz of the AWS-1 band and T-Mobile controls the upper 25 MHz in the New York / New Jersey counties.

Looking at the upper mid band spectrum we first see all of the original WCS spectrum licensees:  Horizon Wi-Com, Nextwave, Sprint, Comcast, and San Diego Gas & Electric.  Clearwire also appears in the upper mid band Spectrum Grid with their 2.5GHz spectrum holdings.

It is interesting then to look at our County Analysis module to see the detail on each carrier's spectrum depth.  It is noteworthy to mention that Verizon has 119 MHz of spectrum in most of the New York / New Jersey counties with AT&T trailing with 91 MHz of spectrum.  Verizon still sits with rough the same amount of spectrum although they replaced all of the 700MHz spectrum they sold to AT&T and T-Mobile with SpectrumCo spectrum and AWS-3 spectrum while AT&T has growth while AT&T has grown their spectrum depth in the same counties to 161 MHz.

Rogers (CAN) 5G Spectrum and Roll out Thu, Jan 16, 2020

Today, Fierce Wireless had an article examining Rogers 5G roll out announcement.  The article states that Rogers will initially deploy using 2.5 GHz spectrum followed by 600 MHz and 3.5 GHz.  Although we are familiar with these bands from a US spectrum allocation, it is important to understand several of the differences between the Canadian allocations and the US allocations.  

First, we are going to look at the 2.5 GHz band using the Spectrum Grid from our Canadian Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool.  Canada's 2.5 GHz spectrum is configured to the international standard with paired (FDD) LTE Band 7 and TDD band 38/41.  In each of the 4 deployment cities, Rogers controls FDD and TDD spectrum.  I believe that Rogers will be deploying the TDD/Band 41 spectrum blocks due to its compatibility with Sprint's 5G deployment and the Band 41 ecosystem.  Rogers has 20 MHz of spectrum available in each of their roll out markets which should deliver about 30% of the speed performance that Sprint is achieving on their 5G launches.

Second, Rogers will roll out 5G using their 600 MHz low band spectrum.  This spectrum is configured identically to the US allocation with 7 x 10 MHz FDD channels in LTE Band 71.  Rogers has 10 MHz channels available in all of their roll out markets except Toronto where they have a 20 MHz channel available.

Third, Rogers will roll out 5G in Canada's 3.5 GHz band.  In the US, this spectrum is primarily allocated as CBRS spectrum requiring the use of a Spectrum Access System (SAS) with multiple users.  The entire CBRS band is 150 MHz while the Canadian 3.5 GHz band is 200 MHz broken up into 20 - 10 MHz (TDD) channels.  Canada will be licensing all of this spectrum to carriers, while the US model is shared spectrum.  Since the 3.5 GHz auction has not occurred, Rogers spectrum ownership in these markets is unknown.  The 3.5 GHz auction will occur sometime in 2020.

Another Verizon AWS-3 Acquisition - Blue Ridge Wireless Thu, Nov 28, 2019

Yesterday, Verizon filed to acquire all of Blue Ridge Wireless' paired AWS-3 spectrum.   This is Verizon's second acquisition of AWS-3 spectrum in the last two months. Last month Verizon filed to acquire AWS-3 spectrum from Cypress Cellular.  Let's look at the details for the Blue Ridge Wireless purchase with Allnet's Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tools.  We will look at the geographic coverage in our Web Spectrum Viewer - Mapping Module, MHz-POPs and Licensed POPs in our Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool.

Geographic Coverage: 

The map below depicts all of Blue Ridge Wireless' AWS-3 licenses.  Verizon is only purchasing Blue Ridge's paired spectrum licenses, leaving the uplink only spectrum (A1 and B1) with Blue Ridge.

Licensed Population:

In the graphic below, we show the amount of the US population, that each channel of Blue Ridge's AWS-3 spectrum licenses can reach.  Clearly, the A1/B1 uplink channels represent the majority of the licensed population Blue Ridge controls.  The collection of G channel licenses reach 2.6 million people.

MHz-POPs:

From our MHz-POPs summary below, Blue Ridge Wireless licenses represent 108 million MHz-POPs.  This includes their paired and unpaired spectrum.  The Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool also includes a detailed MHz-POPs module highlighting the MHz-POPs controlled in each county by frequency band.

Verizon Sweeps up Two Additional 28GHz Acquistions Tue, Nov 26, 2019

Last week, Verizon filed applications to acquire the 28GHz (LMDS) spectrum held by two additional companies; Sunshine LMDS and Virginia Tech Foundation.  We are using our recently released, Web Spectrum Viewer - Mapping Module to illustrate the spectrum owned by each of these companies.  As with Verizon's other recent 28GHz acquisitions these transactions involve the Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS) spectrum that was owned prior to Auction 101.    The first map below illustrates the license area for Sunshine LMDS.  Verizon is only acquiring the L1 and L2 channel spectrum from Sunshine LMDS.  The spectrum depths on the map indicate that Sunshine controls the L1/L2 channels (850MHz) and the remaining A block LMDS channels (300MHz).  The county detail for Sunshine's spectrum is indicated in the second map.

Sunshine LMDS:

Sunshine LMDS - County Detail:

The second transaction involves Virginia Tech Foundation.  In this transaction, Verizon is acquiring rights to both the L1/L2 channels as well as the remaining A block LMDS spectrum.  In the county detail map, the counties where Virginia Tech only controls the L1/L2 channels are visible in light tan color, while the markets where they also control the remaining A block LMDS channels are in a dark tan.  The FCC controls the remaining A block LMDS channels in the counties where Virginia Tech Foundation only controls the L1/L2 channels.

Virginia Tech Foundation:

Virginia Tech Foundation - County Detail:

Sub 6GHz and Millimeter Wave Spectrum Ownership Mapping Tue, Nov 05, 2019

Allnet Insights & Analytics is pleased to announce the availability of our Mobile Carrier and Millimeter Wave Spectrum Mapping Modules.  The Mapping Modules operates within our Web Spectrum Viewer to provide National maps, including all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands; along with county-level details.  The maps provide insights into each carrier and licensee's total spectrum, and spectrum in each frequency band.  For the mobile carrier bands (sub 6GHz), the low band, lower-mid band, and upper-mid band spectrum depths are also provided.  Below are maps that show various aspects of AT&T's Sub 6GHz and Millimeter Wave Spectrum.  The final map zooms in on AT&T's 24GHz spectrum in Colorado to show the county detail.  Selecting an individual county (Garfield in our example) displays the actual spectrum depth in the legend box.

AT&T Total Sub 6GHz Spectrum Depth:

AT&T Low Band Spectrum Depth:

AT&T Cellular Spectrum Depth:

AT&T Total Millimeter Wave Spectrum Depth:

AT&T 24GHz Spectrum Depth:

AT&T 24GHz Spectrum Depth (County Detail):

Verizon AWS-3 Spectrum Acquistion Fri, Oct 11, 2019

This week Verizon filed to acquire 40 AWS-3 licenses from Cypress Cellular.  I thought this would give us a good opportunity to gain strategic insights into how this acquisition fits with Verizon's existing spectrum portfolio.

First up, a national map of Cypress Cellular's AWS-3 spectrum.  Most counties have 10MHz of paired spectrum (5x5) while 3 counties have 20MHz of paired spectrum (10x10).

To see how Cypress Cellular's channels fit with Verizon's existing AWS-1 and AWS-3 spectrum, we use the Spectrum Grid modules from the Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool.  To find all of the counties where Cypress control AWS-3 spectrum, we auto filter on Cypress's 3 character code (CYC).  This allows us to see that on the counties displayed, Cypress owns the G block channels. It also allows us to determine if the spectrum is contiguous with any other Verizon spectrum and whether Verizon has any other AWS-3 in that county.  In the Florida counties shown, Verizon will increase the LTE channel size in the AWS-3 band from 10MHz to 15MHz with this acquisition.

Another way we can evaluate this acquisition is to look at the county spectrum depths in the County Analysis Module.  From this data, we can see that Verizon lacks AWS-3 spectrum in most of the counties shown in this view.  In some counties Verizon will have a total of 30MHz of spectrum after the transaction closes.  All of this analysis focuses on 36 of the 191 counties involved in this transaction.

Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool Release for MEXICO Mon, Sep 30, 2019

Allnet Insights & Analytics is excited to announce an expansion of our industry leading spectrum ownership analysis products to cover the Mobile Carrier (600MHz to 3.7GHz) frequency bands for Mexico. We are releasing not only a October 2019 new release, but historical monthly releases going back to June 2016.  The Mobile Carrier Tool not only provides the spectrum allocation details for all of the Mexican Mobile Carrier spectrum but it provides 21 different analysis modules and charts to analyze and compare each wireless carrier's spectrum assets by channel, market, frequency band, band classification, and LTE band class.  Each carrier's licensed population and MHz-POPs values are included as well.

The Mexican Spectrum Grid details the current and future spectrum ownership for each municipio (county).  The municipio areas can be seen on the map below which indicates Ultravision's Broadband Radio (2.5GHz) holdings. 

Below is the Mexican Spectrum Grid for the Mobile Carrier low band spectrum.  All of the 600MHz spectrum is currently controlled by the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IPF) leading up to an early 2020 auction.

28GHz Acquistions | Verizon and USCellular Tue, Sep 24, 2019

This month, millimeter wave spectrum licenses have begun to trade again.  Both USCellular and Verizon have filed to acquire multiple licenses from several carriers as depicted on the maps below:

Note:  All of these licenses were held prior to Auction 101.