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Spectrum Blog

T-Mobile | Sprint PCS Spectrum Synergies (Maximum NR/LTE Channel Size) Tue, Aug 20, 2019

Recently there was an article in Fierce Wireless discussing the ability for Sprint and T-Mobile to combine their PCS spectrum for larger LTE channels.  The article discussed a few of the largest markets, but we will use our LTE/NR Channel Analysis Module from the Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool to evaluate every US county.  We will be determining the increase in the maximum LTE/NR channel size before the merger and after the merger.

In our tools, the analysis starts with the Spectrum Grid, where the ownership of contiguous blocks of spectrum can be seen, for each county.  Prior to the merger, the spectrum held by T-Mobile and Sprint in the Houston CMA market counties appears below:

After the merger, the Spectrum Grid will look like this:

As you can see, T-Mobile increases their maximum channel size by combining the PCS-A and PCS-D channels.

This can be seen in a tabular format in the LTE/NR Channel Analysis Module before the merger:

and after the merger.  Looking in the PCS (n25) columns, 20MHz is indicated as the new maximum channel size.  For the map below, Houston will show a 5MHz channel size increase because it moved from 15MHz to 20MHz.

 

Below we have mapped the increase of PCS channel size for T-Mobile post merger.  This only indicates if the maximum channel size will increase post merger, it does not indicate if New T-Mobile will hold additional PCS channels that are not contiguous with the maximum channel.

From the map, you will note that the San Francisco area, doesn't see an increase in T-Mobile's maximum LTE channel size.  Because Sprint's spectrum is at the top and bottom of the band while T-Mobile's is in the middle.  

 

 All of the major carriers and USCellular have traded spectrum in the AWS and PCS bands to consolidate their spectrum holdings into the largest channels.  Although Verizon and T-Mobile could exchange T-Mobile's PCS-A spectrum for Verizon's PCS-C, I doubt that this exchange will be made because it only benefits T-Mobile.

 

 

 

 

 


Telus Expands Band 66 Capacity in Canada Tue, Aug 13, 2019

Last month, Telus applied and was approved to lease part of the AWS-4 spectrum band in Canada from Terrestar.  Terrestar owns both parts (uplink and downlink) of the AWS-4 band for all of Canada.  In Canada, the AWS-4 band is still configured for duplex (FDD) operation where in the US, Dish received approval to operate all of the spectrum for downlink.

Telus will be leasing the spectrum in the most urban areas of Canada, not including Toronto with typically 20MHz spectrum leases.  Telus is leasing this spectrum over a population of 13 million, roughly 38% of Canada's population. Below are geographic maps indicating each of the areas where Telus will be leasing spectrum. In Canada spectrum leases are called subordinations of licenses.  We will discuss why this spectrum is important to Telus below with outputs from our Canadian Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool.

 

From the Spectrum Grid below, Telus is acquiring the downlink AWS-4  spectrum which lies within Band 66 which is now widely deployed in the US for both the AWS-1 and AWS-3 bands.  This will provide immediate service improvements once the network is constructed because handsets have been supporting Band 66 for several years.  The remaining part of the AWS-4 spectrum (for uplink), would fall into Band 23, which has little to no handset support.

 

We can see a second reason for acquiring this spectrum by looking at the Company Analysis module, detailing Telus's spectrum holdings in each of these Tier 4 service areas.

 

In many of these Tier 4 service areas (similar to US counties), Telus has limited or no BRS (2.5GHz) spectrum.  The BRS spectrum they do control in these markets is paired (FDD) Band 7 rather than the TDD Band 41 that Sprint controls in the US.   Overall, this spectrum acquisition provides Telus with an immediate capacity improvement since they can expand their Band 66 downlink capacity by 10 or 20MHz.


2.5 GHz Auction - Great for Rural Markets, Limited for Urban Thu, Aug 01, 2019

In July, the FCC released their report and order for their plans to auction the white space 2.5 GHz spectrum.  Using our Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool we have created a couple of images to illustrated the auction of the spectrum in a rural county and the auction of spectrum in a urban county.

Our rural example focuses on Wayne County, Iowa.  Wayne County has a population of nearly 6,500.

In the image above, we indicate the primary spectrum ownership for each channel in Wayne, IA.  Sprint is the spectrum owner for all of the BRS (Broadband Radio Service) channels and the FCC is the spectrum owner for all of the EBS (Educational Broadcast Service) channels.  We have highlighted in the Bandwidth row, the different channels the FCC has defined for auction.  The red highlights are for the 49.5MHz channel, the green highlights indicate the channels included in the 50.5MHz channel and the blue highlights indicate the channels included in 17.5MHz channel.  The 17.5MHz channel consists of 3 x 5.5MHz contiguous channels and 3 x 0.33MHz guard band channels.

In the area below each channel we indicate in green, the available population that can be licensed for each channel as a percentage.  Clearly, purchasing any of the 3 channels (49.5, 50.5, 17.5) at auction would provide a carrier with the ability to service 100% of the population with each of the component 2.5GHz channels.

Our urban example focuses on McHenry County, IL.  McHenry County has a population of nearly 310,000.  McHenry County is one of the 6 counties that constitute the Chicago CMA Market.

In the urban example, the carrier that purchases the red (49.5MHz) channel would be able build a network reaching 20% of the population with the A1, A2, and A3 channels (16.5MHz), they would be able to reach 80% of the population with the B1, B2, B3, and C3 channels, and they can reach the entire population with the C1 and C2 channels.  The auction winning carrier will have to coordinate their operations for all but the C1 and C2 channels around the geographic license areas that Sprint already controls.


5G New Radio (NR) Band Analysis Tue, Jul 23, 2019

In July we expanded the analysis capabilities of our Mobile Carrier and Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tools to include 5G New Radio(NR) Band Analysis for each of the 3GPP supported bandwidths in each US NR band class.

First, in the Mobile Carrier Tool, we are supporting both the uplink and downlink NR bands separately for bands that provide Frequency Division (FDD) operation.  This analysis module outputs the largest channel size (for both uplink and downlink) that a carrier could deploy in their 5G/LTE uplink carrier aggregation scheme or their downlink carrier aggregation scheme. Below in the downlink analysis for AT&T you can see the maximum channel sizes for n12 band spectrum (700MHz A/B/C) versus their n29 band spectrum (700MHz D/E),which is downlink only, and their n14 band spectrum (FirstNet); for each county in the New York Cellular Market Area (CMA).

 

Similarly, the uplink analysis indicates the maximum uplink channel size for all of the uplink spectrum.

 

The n41 band spectrum that Sprint's controls (2.5GHz) is seen in the Time Division Duplex(TDD) section.  The analysis tool determines the largest contiguous channel that Sprint can deploy with their leases/owned spectrum including the mid-band segment guard bands.  From the results below, Sprint can configure 80MHz 5G/LTE channels in two New York counties and they can configure a 60MHz channel in one additional New York county.  The remaining counties are limited to carrier aggregation of 20MHz channels. 

 

In the Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool, all of the spectrum is configured to Time Division Duplex(TDD) operation.  Below, you can see the different bandwidths that T-Mobile can deploy using their 24GHz or 28GHz spectrum in the New York counties.   Each of the 3GPP standardized bandwidths of 400, 200, 100, and 50MHz are detailed for each spectrum band.


Millimeter Wave Auction Results and Charts Mon, Jun 03, 2019

Today, the FCC released results for Auction 101 (28 GHz) and Auction 102 (24 GHz).  These results are now posted in our Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool.  The Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool provides 19 analysis modules to analyze each carrier's ownership in each of the millimeter wave bands.  These modules include a spectrum ownership grid (below), seven different spectrum depth analysis modules, a MHz-POPs analysis module, and 3 licensed POPs analysis modules.

To summarize some of the auction results, we updated pie charts that were originally published in partnership with Fierce Wireless.  These charts represent each carrier's MHz-POPs in terms of the country total.

24GHz:

28GHz;

 

   

39GHz:

     


AT&T's Low Band 5G | 700MHz or Cellular Thu, May 09, 2019

 Late last year, AT&T began to discuss refarming their low-band spectrum for 5G, but they didn't indicate which of their low band spectrum blocks would be used.  With some spectrum acquisitions that have been filed over the last 6 months, I believe their plans are becoming more clear.  The 3 blocks of low band spectrum that AT&T controls are 700MHz (A,B, and C channels), 700MHz (FirstNet), and the Cellular (A & B channels). I am going to assume that the FirstNet spectrum is not being considered since it must support public safety networks, leaving the 700MHz and Cellular bands for refarming.  The first indicator, was AT&T's acquisition of FBS 700's spectrum in South Dakota and their acquisition of part of C Spire's 700MHz spectrum in the southeast.  

To see AT&T's total 700MHz spectrum, we used Allnet Insights' Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool to total AT&T's ownership of the 700MHz A, B, and C channels in each US county.  In the counties where they own all three channels, they could deploy a 15MHz 5G channel.  From the map below, it appears that AT&T would cover most of the US with a 10MHz 5G channel.   

 

 The next map highlights the counties where AT&T controls both cellular channels (A & B).  In the limited markets where they control both channels (Texas and Florida), they could have a 5G channel size of 20MHz, but for most of the country that would be limited to a 10MHz 5G channel size.  It is important to remember that the areas where AT&T doesn't control any cellular spectrum the bands are controlled by USCellular and/or Verizon, making cellular spectrum acquisitions unlikely.

 Another important way to evaluate the usefulness of each band is to measure the amount of population that can be reach with the licenses in each band.  To evaluate this we used the Licensed POPs Analysis Module from the Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool.  Since AT&T's 700MHz spectrum covers 44 million addition people compared to AT&T's Cellular spectrum, I believe that AT&T is planning to utilize their 700MHz spectrum for their upcoming Low Band 5G deployments.  This appears to be confirmed by AT&T's recent acquisitions.


Where are AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint adding or losing spectrum? Tue, Apr 30, 2019

One of the unique features of Allnet Insight's spectrum database and tools is the ability to evaluate the effect of pending applications on each carriers spectrum holdings.  We have typically displayed the changes in spectrum depth in a tabular format in our National Carriers Spectrum Holdings Reports. The map below illustrates the increase or decrease in held spectrum for each of the national carriers based on the FCC transactions that are pending in April 2019 report. These changes are aggregated to the affected CMA Markets with green ranges indicating increases in held spectrum and red ranges indicating decreases in held spectrum.

With this view you can broadly see Verizon's pending acquisition of Cable & Cellular Communications' spectrum in Montana, along with AT&T's acquisition of FBS 700 LLC's spectrum in South Dakota, and AT&T's acquisition of part of C Spire's spectrum in the southeast.  These maps only show the net effect on each carrier's total spectrum but the National Carriers Spectrum Holdings Report reveals not only the changes in total spectrum depth, but also the changes in spectrum depth for each band category and each frequency band.

Verizon's Pending Transaction Detail:

The last five rows represent the CMA markets in Montana affected by the Cable & Cellular Communications transaction.  The first column represents the total positive or negative spectrum contribution.  The light blue columns highlight the effect to low band, mid band, or high band spectrum and the grey columns reflect individual frequency band components.  Looking at these columns it is easy to see that Verizon is predominantly gaining mid band spectrum, including AWS-1, AWS-3, and PCS.

Monthly National Carriers Spectrum Holdings Reports are available going back to December 2013. 

 


Canadian 600MHz Spectrum Auction Results and Analysis Mon, Apr 22, 2019

The map below shows the amount of 600MHz spectrum that Rogers added as a result of the auction which closed on 4/4.  Twelve companies competed in the auction which ran from March 12, 2019 to April 4, 2019.  The auction raised $3.47 billion.  We have reflected the results from this auction in our May 2019 - Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool (CAN).

The Low Band Population Weighted Average spectrum depth chart below illustrates the average amount of 600MHz, 700MHz, and Cellular spectrum controlled by the major Canadian carriers.  Rogers is clearly outpacing the other carriers in low band spectrum, providing them a path to 5G similar to T-Mobile's US strategy; broad coverage and better capacity than LTE.

The licensed POPs chart illustrates how much of the Canadian population, Roger's can reach with each of their available low band frequencies.  They have near nationwide (35M POPs) reach with both 600MHz and Cellular frequencies, but they can only reach about 22M POPs with their 700MHz spectrum.  Roger's can use the 700MHz A and B channels to potentially reach 62% of the Canadian Population and they can use the 700MHz C channel to reach an additional 9% of the Canadian population.  In the US, 700MHz A is predominantly used by T-Mobile reaching up to 85% of the US population, while AT&T primarily uses the 700MHz B and C channels reaching up to 90% and 95% of the US population respectively. 


Spectrum Analysis Tools - NR Band Enhancements (Input Requested) Mon, Apr 15, 2019

We recent made a couple of updates to our Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool to highlight NR Band configurations.  First, we added a Spectrum Depth by NR Band which shows a carrier's spectrum depth for each county along with their max spectrum depth and a population weighted average.  The next image below is where we would like to have your input.  Several of our customer have requested the ability to see the different channels sizes that a carrier can form in each NR Band.

We have done this before for the Mobile Carrier bands (600-4.2GHz) in our LTE Channel Analysis Module.  In our Mobile Carrier Tool we utilize 5MHz, 10MHz, 15Mhz, and 20 MHz as the standard channel sizes for LTE and we display them in the layout below.  What are the channel sizes that we should include for the NR bands in the Millimeter Wave frequencies?  The initial input we received included (400MHz, 300MHz, 200MHz, 100MHz, and 50MHz) channels.

 

 

Which format would be the most useful?  The above image groups the frequency band within each channel size, while the image below has channel sizes grouped by NR band.

The previous formats indicate the configurations that a carrier can achieve at a county-level.  To generalize a carrier's available channel size, I developed a histogram which indicates the number of occurrences for each channel size within a NR band.  The chart indicates that the dominant channel configuration for T-Mobile's 600MHz spectrum is 15MHz.  The image below only includes the counties associated with the Top 100 CMA markets which provide a more capacity/traffic related view.  Please provide input if you feel the histogram would be useful along with any other feedback.


Background on Unavailable Spectrum - 24GHz (Auction 102) Tue, Apr 09, 2019

As Auction 102 completes its 64th round today, I thought it would be a good time to share a map indicating the markets (PEA) where existing licensees already control spectrum prior to the start of the Auction 102.  As you can see below, the FCC doesn't control 100MHz of the 24GHz spectrum in Reno (PEA076), Las Vegas (PEA026), and Phoenix (PEA015).  The FCC also doesn't control 25MHz of spectrum in Albuquerque (PEA075).  All of these licenses originally were controlled by M&M Brothers LLC and they track back to the original 40x40MHz channelization of the 24GHz band.  M&M Brothers agreed to trade in their Casa Grande (PEA126), Saint George (PEA229), Gallup (PEA285), Socorro (PEA323), and Deming (PEA375) licenses for 100MHz licenses in the 3 yellow PEAs and a 25MHz license in the blue.  Skyriver Spectrum & Technology now controls M&M Brothers licenses.

While the national map indicates the available spectrum depth on a PEA basis, our Spectrum Grid Analysis Module details the specific channels and counties that make up each of the PEA license assignments.  In the Spectrum Grid, you can see complete ownership of channel 7 for all of the counties in PEA 15, 26, and 76; with on 25MHz in the two New Mexico counties.


Are AT&T and Verizon Leveraging Temporary Licenses for Millimeter 5G? Tue, Apr 02, 2019

Recently in our spectrum transaction tracking we discovered some Millimeter Wave Special Temporary Authority (STA) licenses that AT&T and Verizon have filed in the 39GHz band to conduct wideband testing and for AT&T it appears the spectrum will be used for a market launch later this year.  

To see what is going on, let's look at Verizon and AT&T's ownership of the 39GHz band in the Chicago PEA market (PEA003) with our Spectrum Grid module.  The Spectrum Grid modules is one of nineteen analysis modules in our Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool.  Below you can see the specific channels that AT&T and Verizon control.  This spectrum is still paired, meaning the lower channels are for uplink and the upper channels are for downlink.  It is apparent that Verizon and AT&T's channels are commingled and that neither carrier can utilize a channel larger than 150MHz (AT&T is limited to 50MHz).  You can see 4 channels that the FCC does control in the lower band, but these are not the channels that AT&T or Verizon requested in their STA.

They each requested channels in the new 37GHz band which will be auctioned later this year.  This spectrum is adjacent to the existing 39GHz licensed bands

The spectrum allocations that Verizon and AT&T have requested in Chicago are indicated below.

This allocation provides both AT&T and Verizon with 400MHz for wideband 5G.  For AT&T, this is likely the spectrum they will utilize for the Chicago market launch announced for later this year.  Verizon likely launched their 5G UWB network using the 28GHz L1 and L2 spectrum seen below, so this 37GHz allotment is likely for network testing.

We have highlighted the effect of the temporary licenses in the Chicago (PEA003).  We noted that AT&T has also requested STA licenses in Raleigh (PEA045), Oklahoma City (PEA039), Charlotte (PEA043) and Philadelphia (PEA006).  Verizon requested STA licenses in New York (PEA001), Cleveland (PEA014), Cincinnati (PEA025), and Tallahassee (PEA072)

 


39GHz - Auction 103 Reconfiguration Analysis - Number Blocks Tue, Mar 26, 2019

On March 21st, the FCC released a Notice of Procedures describing how existing 39GHz spectrum ownership below will be remapped to the new 39GHz configuration.  We thought it would be beneficial to see how the FCC arrived at their results.

Current Configuration:

Future Configuration:

The procedures the FCC announced will provide a route for the existing 39GHz owners to essentially trade-in their spectrum for vouchers that can be used in Auction 103.  The FCC published a summary of the aggregated holdings data for each of the 39GHz licensees so we decided to use the data from our Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool to show the underlying calculations.

We are able to use the data from our Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool to determine the aggregate MHz-POPs value for PEA003 (Chicago).  To find the aggregate MHz-POPs we must first find the MHz-POPs contribution for each of AT&T's licenses (call signs) in the Chicago market.  Below are each of the county MHz-POPs components for each call sign.  We have indicated whether the license covers the entire county or whether it is a partial license in the Full/Partial County column.  The county MHz-POPs component is found by multiplying the bandwidth for each call sign by the county population.  The total aggregate MHz-POPs is the sum of the county MHz-POPs for all of AT&T's licenses.  Using this process, we have found AT&T's aggregate MHz-POPs to by 2,817,188,800 compared to the FCC's results of 2,815,434,000.

Market CallSign Channel Block Full/Partial County State County Bandwidth County Population MHz-POPs
PEA003 WRBI252 1A Full IL Cook County 50 5,194,675 259,733,750
Chicago DuPage County 50 916,924 45,846,200
Grundy County 50 50,063 2,503,150
Kane County 50 515,269 25,763,450
Kankakee County 50 113,449 5,672,450
Kendall County 50 114,736 5,736,800
Lake County 50 703,462 35,173,100
McHenry County 50 308,760 15,438,000
Will County 50 677,560 33,878,000
IN Lake County 50 496,005 24,800,250
LaPorte County 50 111,467 5,573,350
Porter County 50 164,343 8,217,150
WRBI253 1B Full IL Cook County 50 5,194,675 259,733,750
DuPage County 50 916,924 45,846,200
Grundy County 50 50,063 2,503,150
Kane County 50 515,269 25,763,450
Kankakee County 50 113,449 5,672,450
Kendall County 50 114,736 5,736,800
Lake County 50 703,462 35,173,100
McHenry County 50 308,760 15,438,000
Will County 50 677,560 33,878,000
IN Lake County 50 496,005 24,800,250
LaPorte County 50 111,467 5,573,350
Porter County 50 164,343 8,217,150
WRBI590 4A Full IL Cook County 50 5,194,675 259,733,750
DuPage County 50 916,924 45,846,200
Grundy County 50 50,063 2,503,150
Kane County 50 515,269 25,763,450
Kankakee County 50 113,449 5,672,450
Kendall County 50 114,736 5,736,800
Lake County 50 703,462 35,173,100
McHenry County 50 308,760 15,438,000
Will County 50 677,560 33,878,000
IN Lake County 50 496,005 24,800,250
LaPorte County 50 111,467 5,573,350
Porter County 50 164,343 8,217,150
WRBI591 4B Full IL Cook County 50 5,194,675 259,733,750
DuPage County 50 916,924 45,846,200
Grundy County 50 50,063 2,503,150
Kane County 50 515,269 25,763,450
Kankakee County 50 113,449 5,672,450
Kendall County 50 114,736 5,736,800
Lake County 50 703,462 35,173,100
McHenry County 50 308,760 15,438,000
Will County 50 677,560 33,878,000
IN Lake County 50 496,005 24,800,250
LaPorte County 50 111,467 5,573,350
Porter County 50 164,343 8,217,150
WRBJ298 8A Full IL Cook County 50 5,194,675 259,733,750
DuPage County 50 916,924 45,846,200
Grundy County 50 50,063 2,503,150
Kane County 50 515,269 25,763,450
Kankakee County 50 113,449 5,672,450
Kendall County 50 114,736 5,736,800
Lake County 50 703,462 35,173,100
McHenry County 50 308,760 15,438,000
Will County 50 677,560 33,878,000
IN Lake County 50 496,005 24,800,250
LaPorte County 50 111,467 5,573,350
Porter County 50 164,343 8,217,150
WRBJ299 8B Full IL Cook County 50 5,194,675 259,733,750
DuPage County 50 916,924 45,846,200
Grundy County 50 50,063 2,503,150
Kane County 50 515,269 25,763,450
Kankakee County 50 113,449 5,672,450
Kendall County 50 114,736 5,736,800
Lake County 50 703,462 35,173,100
McHenry County 50 308,760 15,438,000
Will County 50 677,560 33,878,000
IN Lake County 50 496,005 24,800,250
LaPorte County 50 111,467 5,573,350
Porter County 50 164,343 8,217,150
WRBK275 13A Partial IL Kane County 50 21,235 1,061,750
Kendall County 50 13,076 653,800
McHenry County 50 37,438 1,871,900
13B Partial IL Kane County 50 21,235 1,061,750
Kendall County 50 13,076 653,800
McHenry County 50 37,438 1,871,900
2,817,188,800

 

The Market MHz-POPs value is found by multiplying the new 39GHz channel size (100MHz) by the total population of the Chicago PEA.  

Market Bandwidth PEA Population Market MHz-POPs
PEA003 (Chicago) 100 9,366,713 936,671,300

 

The next calculation provides the number of blocks that AT&T is authorized to receive in the 39GHz auction by relinquishing their current licenses.  Our analysis indicates that AT&T will start with slightly more than 3 - 100MHz channel blocks in Chicago before the auction starts.

Market Aggregate MHz-POPs Market MHz-POPs Channel Blocks
PEA003 (Chicago) 2,817,188,800 936,671,300 3.00766

 

 


T-Mobile's 28GHz Plan and a little on Verizon's Wed, Mar 06, 2019

Several articles have come out since Mobile World Congress (MWC) where T-Mobile has discussed their 5G millimeter wave plans.  Below is a map that shows the amount 28GHz (L1 channel)  currently controlled by T-Mobile.  This is one of the two 28GHz channels licensed for mobile use.  County-level spectrum depth outputs for this map were taken from our Company Analysis Module which is part of the Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool.

It is important to note that the L1 maximum channel size is 425MHz and wherever T-Mobile owns 28GHz spectrum, the remainder of the L1 and L2 channels are owned by Verizon.  The only exception to this is Ohio, where the spectrum not controlled by T-Mobile is leased to First Communications.

Another way to look at T-Mobile's 28GHz deployment plan is comparing their available spectrum depth in each of the Top 10 Cellular Market Areas (CMA).  This is seen below from our CMA Market Analysis module, which is part of the Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool.

The New York CMA provides an interesting example where T-Mobile's spectrum ownership in the most populated New York counties has significantly decreased the available channel size for Verizon.  This data is taken from our Spectrum Grid module, which is part of the Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool.

As you can see above, T-Mobile's spectrum ownership in the Bronx, King, New York, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, and Westchester counties sits in the middle of the 425MHz channel reducing Verizon's maximum channel size to 260MHz.


An Evaluation of AT&T Millimeter Wave Markets Tue, Mar 05, 2019

This morning, Light Reading published an article on AT&T and Verizon's 5G mmWave deployments.  In the article AT&T's SVP of wireless technology, Igal Elbaz, indicated that AT&T is initially deploying 100 MHz channels from their 39 GHz spectrum.  I decided to look at their initial deployment markets to see how this was accomplished.  One of the challenges that AT&T faces, is the fact that the 39 GHz band is in a bit of transition.  It currently consists of 14 (50 MHz each) paired channels, but after the 37 and 39 GHz auctions, it will be reconfigured into 14 TDD channels (100 MHz each).  For AT&T to be able to launch a 100 MHz channel in the 39 GHz band, they would need to control 3 contiguous channels so they can create a guard band on each side of their commercial channel.  This is necessary because they are operating a Timing Division Duplex (TDD) channel likely in the 39 GHz downlink band.  TDD means that the channel transmits and receives in the same band or channel.  Without the guard bands AT&T 5G channel would be subject to interference especially when the channel is receiving data from mobiles.

So now let's take a look at AT&T's spectrum ownership using Allnet Insights' Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool (Spectrum Grid).

Louisville, KY:

In Louisville, AT&T controls 4 contiguous channels in the downlink band (5-B, 6-B, 7-B, and 8-B)  They can use 6-B and 7-B for their 5G channel and 5-B and 8-B for the guard bands.  In the article Igal indicated that AT&T would expand to 4 - 100 MHz channels in the future.  That will not be during 2019 and likely not during the first half of 2020.

In Louisville, AT&T already controls the necessary 400 MHz of spectrum but AT&T will need to wait until the 37 and 39 GHz auction are complete to "repack" their 39 GHz spectrum into the new band plan below along with the auction winners to get their remaining spectrum "deployable".

Oklahoma City, OK:

In Oklahoma City AT&T only controls 3 contiguous channels (8-B, 9-B, and 10-B).  I would expect that AT&T has centered its 5G channel on channel 9-B and it using 25 MHz of 8-B and 25 MHz of 10-B for guard bands.

Dallas, TX:

The final market we will look at is Dallas.  It is apparent that AT&T lacks the required 3 contiguous channels necessary for a 100 MHz 5G channel in this market.  As you can see, the FCC controls the 13-B and 14-B channels adjacent to AT&T's 12-B and 13-B channels.  I believe that AT&T has likely requested Special Temporary Authority (STA) from the FCC to use these channels until they are auctioned.


Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool Release for CANADA Mon, Mar 04, 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 Canada. We are releasing not only a March 2019 new release, but historical monthly releases going back to December 2017.  The Mobile Carrier Tool not only provides the spectrum allocation details for all of the Canadian 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.

The Canadian Spectrum Grid details the spectrum ownership and subordinate licensing (leases) for each service area (Tier 4).  The service areas can be seen on the example map below which indicates the spectrum owners for the Broadband Radio Service (BRS) A1 channel.  

Below is the Canadian Spectrum Grid for the Mobile Carrier low band spectrum.  All of the 600MHz spectrum is currently controlled by ISED Canada (ISD) leading up to the March 12, 2019 auction start.  Purchases of the Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool (CAN) during March 2019 will receive a complementary release after ISED Canada announces the auction results.

For more information on the Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool (CAN) please email us at info@allnetinsights.com.


CBRS and C-band Spectrum Tracking Mon, Feb 11, 2019

In the February 2019 release of our Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool, we have added the framework to visualize and analyze the Citizen's Band Radio Service (CBRS) and the C-Band satellite spectrum. 

The CBRS spectrum is broken into 10 - 10 MHz channels which will have 7 channels available for Priority Access Licenses (PAL) licenses and 3 licenses that are reserved for General Authorized Access (GAA).  When this spectrum is auctioned, licensees will not get specific channels but they will be allocated 10 MHz for each PAL license through the Spectrum Access System (SAS).  Our spectrum depth tools will summarize the available spectrum capacity that a carrier controls in the CBRS band similar to their AWS1 or PCS capacity that we currently track.

We have initially configured the C-Band spectrum in 20 MHz channels for a total allocation of 180 MHz. Like the CBRS spectrum we have assigned the initial ownership of the licenseable block to the FCC so users can see the total allocation in our spectrum depth summary tables.

Our spectrum depth tables provide users with frequency band breakdowns along with low band, mid band, and high band summaries.  We include the CBRS and C-band spectrum in our High band category because the coverage performance for those bands is not equivalent to the other mid-band spectrum frequencies.  High band spectrum also includes the WCS (2.3 GHz) and EBS/BRS (2.5 GHz).  We continue to denote spectrum above 6 GHz as Millimeter Wave spectrum in our Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool.


Sprint's Use of the 2.5GHz Guard Bands for TDD-LTE Mon, Feb 11, 2019

Late last year Sprint, filed some renewal applications that provided some insights into how they are configuring their 2.5 GHz spectrum assets for 20 MHz TDD-LTE channels.  As a reminder, the US 2.5 GHz band is configured into an Lower Band Segment (LBS), Mid Band Segment (MBS), and Upper Band Segment (UBS).  In the graphic below each of the segments are delineated by the J guard band and the K guard band. 

The LBS is to the left of the J channel, the MBS is between the J and K channels, and the UBS is to the right of the K channel.  The purpose of these guard bands was to provide protection to the data services originally offered in the LBS and UBS from the continuing video operations in the MBS.

It is a lesser known fact, that the all of the LBS spectrum owners collectively own the 4 MHz J channel and the UBS spectrum owners collectively own the 4 MHz K channel.  The J and K channels are licensed as secondary use, meaning they can be used accepting any interference from remaining video systems (primary use) operating in the MBS.

In our February 2019 release of the Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool,  we have have expanded the detail in our Spectrum Grid for these guard band channels along with the proper licensing database records.  

As you can see in the above image, the J channel breaks down into 12 sub-blocks of 0.3 MHz each.  The first sub-block (JA1) is controlled by the owner of the A1 channel.  The second sub-block is controlled by the A2 channel owner.  So this update provides a clear view of whether Sprint controls the sub-blocks that would allow them to operate a 20 MHz channel across either guard band.  Because the use of these spectrum is secondary, we don't include these spectrum blocks in EBS/BRS spectrum totals, and MHz-POPs totals in our tools.

Now onto Sprint's recent renewal application.  Sprint's original application requested Special Temporary Authority (STA) to allow Sprint to use the KG1, KG2, and KG3 channels in 15 BTA markets where the G123 channels are still held by the FCC as unlicensed white space.

In the image above, you can see that in the counties surrounding Atlanta, the FCC controls the G123 channels. This limits Sprint's TDD-LTE deployment to 2-20 MHz channels, indicated by the black boxes.

With the STA, Sprint can utilize the KG1, KG2, and KG3 channels allowing them to form an additional 20 MHz LTE channel by combining the F4, E4, K, and BRS2 channels.

The image below is from Sprint's original filing.  It illustrates the geographic area of the Atlanta BTA and an indication where the G1 channel is licensed, where it is leased to Sprint, and where it is FCC white space.  The areas in gray that do not intersect the red or yellow areas are the FCC white spaces where Sprint has requested access to the KG1, KG2, and KG3 channels.  Sprint did not request access to the primary G1, G2,or G3 whitespace licenses (16.5MHz total).


Licensed Spectrum Survey for DAS and Small Cell Implementation Mon, Nov 05, 2018

Two questions for all of the wireless network installers and drive testers:

1)  Where can you get the spectrum assignments for all of the mobile carrier bands with in a county?

2)  How can you determine if the licensed spectrum assignment will change in the near future?

Allnet Insights' Web Spectrum Viewer now includes a Wireless Survey which details the wireless carrier that currently controls each block of Mobile Carrier spectrum (600MHz-2.5GHz) for a selected US county.  In addition, the Wireless Survey indicates whether there are any filed transaction that will move that spectrum to another wireless carrier, as indicated in the Future column.

The output table details the spectrum assignments,licensees, and bandwidth for each block and is sorted from lowest frequency to highest frequency.  This output table can be exported as a .csv file.  


Weekly FCC Spectrum Transactions Mon, Oct 22, 2018

Since blog postings of our Weekly Spectrum Transaction Summary emails are behind a subscription wall, I am posting last week's summary to show the detailed information that will arrive at your inbox every Friday, covering both the Mobile Carrier (600MHz-2.5GHz) and Millimeter Wave (12.2GHz-47GHz) transactions filed the previous week.
FCC Transactions - October 17, 2018
In this week's FCC transactions we see 4 transaction themes.  First, we see Cimaron Telephone / Cross Cable leasing an AWS3 license from Cross Telephone (a parent company).  Second, we see GE MDS leasing 4 - 700MHz Guard band licenses across the South and Southwest.  Third, we see a large filing from SpeedConnect providing them access to a varying number of channels on 35 call signs across the midwest, primarily in rural or low population areas.  The owned BRS channels are involved in most of these transactions which is surprising because it is Sprint's premium spectrum holding in all of these markets.  Most of these channels cover entire BTA market areas with contiguous spectrum.  Fourth, we see T-Mobile leasing RigNet's 700MHz C band license covering the entire Gulf of Mexico.  This will enable T-Mobile to build their LTE network for the oil platforms in the gulf.
Purpose Assignee Assignor CallSign Map RadioService Market ChannelBlock
New Lease Cimaron Telephone Cross Telephone Company WRBQ838 AWS3 CMA598 - Oklahoma 3 - Grant G
New Lease GE MDS LLC Access 700 WPRR314 700MHz GB MEA025 - Nashville A
New Lease GE MDS LLC Access 700 WPRV427 700MHz GB MEA008 - Atlanta A
New Lease GE MDS LLC Access 700 WPRV430 700MHz GB MEA024 - Birmingham A
New Lease GE MDS LLC Access 700 WPRV439 700MHz GB MEA038 - San Antonio A
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B064 Map BRS BTA064 - Butte, MT BRS1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B064 Map BRS BTA064 - Butte, MT E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B064 Map BRS BTA064 - Butte, MT F1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B064 Map BRS BTA064 - Butte, MT F2
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B064 Map BRS BTA064 - Butte, MT F3
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B064 Map BRS BTA064 - Butte, MT F4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B064 Map BRS BTA064 - Butte, MT H1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B064 Map BRS BTA064 - Butte, MT H2
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B064 Map BRS BTA064 - Butte, MT H3
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B144 Map BRS BTA144 - Flagstaff, AZ BRS1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B144 Map BRS BTA144 - Flagstaff, AZ E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B144 Map BRS BTA144 - Flagstaff, AZ F4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B167 Map BRS BTA167 - Grand Island-Kearney, NE BRS1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B171 Map BRS BTA171 - Great Falls, MT BRS2
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B171 Map BRS BTA171 - Great Falls, MT E1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B171 Map BRS BTA171 - Great Falls, MT E2
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B171 Map BRS BTA171 - Great Falls, MT E3
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B171 Map BRS BTA171 - Great Falls, MT E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B171 Map BRS BTA171 - Great Falls, MT F1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B171 Map BRS BTA171 - Great Falls, MT F4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B202 Map BRS BTA202 - Idaho Falls, ID BRS1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B202 Map BRS BTA202 - Idaho Falls, ID BRS2
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B202 Map BRS BTA202 - Idaho Falls, ID E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B202 Map BRS BTA202 - Idaho Falls, ID F4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B205 Map BRS BTA205 - Iowa City, IA BRS1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B205 Map BRS BTA205 - Iowa City, IA BRS2
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B205 Map BRS BTA205 - Iowa City, IA E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B205 Map BRS BTA205 - Iowa City, IA F4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B300 Map BRS BTA300 - Missoula, MT BRS1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B353 Map BRS BTA353 - Pocatello, ID BRS1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B353 Map BRS BTA353 - Pocatello, ID BRS2
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B353 Map BRS BTA353 - Pocatello, ID E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B353 Map BRS BTA353 - Pocatello, ID F4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B422 Map BRS BTA422 - Sioux Falls, SD BRS1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B422 Map BRS BTA422 - Sioux Falls, SD BRS2
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B422 Map BRS BTA422 - Sioux Falls, SD E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B422 Map BRS BTA422 - Sioux Falls, SD F4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B451 Map BRS BTA451 - Twin Falls, ID BRS1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B451 Map BRS BTA451 - Twin Falls, ID E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B451 Map BRS BTA451 - Twin Falls, ID F4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WFY431 Map BRS P00089 - P35 GSA,40-43-38 N,99-7-41.3 W BRS1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WFY595 Map BRS P03002 - P35 GSA,41-32-48.1 N,90-27-56.5 W BRS1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WGW275 Map BRS P03471 - P35 GSA,43-28-24.1 N,83-50-39.9 W E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WHI959 Map BRS P00168 - P35 GSA,43-59-30.9 N,96-46-11.2 W F4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WHT588 Map BRS P03685 - P35 GSA,41-31-58.1 N,90-34-40.5 W E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WLK328 Map BRS P01359 - P35 GSA,43-14-38 N,97-22-39.2 W F4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WLK384 Map BRS P01362 - P35 GSA,43-14-38 N,97-22-39.2 W E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WLW827 Map BRS P01384 - P35 GSA,31-25-16.6 N,100-32-37.3 W F1234
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WLW894 Map BRS P01898 - P35 GSA,41-31-58.1 N,90-34-40.5 W F4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WMH800 Map BRS P02690 - P35 GSA,34-13-58.1 N,112-22-15.6 W E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WMI345 Map BRS P01925 - P35 GSA,41-54-33 N,91-39-17.6 W E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WMI827 Map BRS P02939 - P35 GSA,34-42-17.1 N,112-6-57.6 W E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WMI864 Map BRS P02941 - P35 GSA,34-42-17.1 N,112-6-57.6 W F4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WML478 Map BRS P03544 - P35 GSA,31-25-16.6 N,100-32-37.3 W BRS1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WMX344 Map BRS P03719 - P35 GSA,43-30-10.9 N,96-34-39.2 W F4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WMX358 Map BRS P01947 - P35 GSA,43-30-10.9 N,96-34-39.2 W E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WMX656 Map EBS P00155 - P35 GSA,42-43-54 N,114-25-7 W D1234
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WMX678 Map EBS P00017 - P35 GSA,42-43-54 N,114-25-7 W C1234
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WMX908 Map BRS P03551 - P35 GSA,31-25-16.6 N,100-32-37.3 W E1234
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WNTC543 Map BRS P01566 - P35 GSA,31-25-16.6 N,100-32-37.3 W H1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WNTC543 Map BRS P01566 - P35 GSA,31-25-16.6 N,100-32-37.3 W H2
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WQLW472 Map BRS BTA070 - Cedar Rapids, IA BRS2
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WQLW472 Map BRS BTA070 - Cedar Rapids, IA E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WQLW472 Map BRS BTA070 - Cedar Rapids, IA F4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WQLW474 Map BRS BTA105 - Davenport, IA-Moline, IL BRS2
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WLW970 Map BRS P02673 - P35 GSA,35-14-2 N,111-36-27.6 W F4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint WMI320 Map BRS P02694 - P35 GSA,35-14-29 N,111-36-37.6 W E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B011 Map BRS BTA011 - Alpena, MI BRS1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B011 Map BRS BTA011 - Alpena, MI E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B011 Map BRS BTA011 - Alpena, MI F1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B011 Map BRS BTA011 - Alpena, MI F2
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B011 Map BRS BTA011 - Alpena, MI F3
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B011 Map BRS BTA011 - Alpena, MI F4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B011 Map BRS BTA011 - Alpena, MI H1
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B011 Map BRS BTA011 - Alpena, MI H2
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B011 Map BRS BTA011 - Alpena, MI H3
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B307 Map BRS BTA307 - Mt. Pleasant, MI E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B307 Map BRS BTA307 - Mt. Pleasant, MI F4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B390 Map BRS BTA390 - Saginaw-Bay City, MI E4
New Lease SpeedConnect Sprint B390 Map BRS BTA390 - Saginaw-Bay City, MI F4
New Lease T-Mobile RigNet WPWV330 700MHz CMA306 - Gulf of Mexico C

Upper Microwave - New Channels and New Call Signs (39GHz) Tue, Sep 04, 2018

In our September 2018 Millimeter Wave - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool, we have incorporated the FCC's re-licensing of the 39GHz into the new Upper Microwave Flexible Use Service.  In making this change the FCC issued new call signs and leases for all of the 50 x 50 MHz channels.  The call signs have been reissued on a Partial Economic Area (PEA) market frame work.  Previously these licenses were issued on a Economic Area (EA) basis. The original channels were lettered A through N.  Now they are numbered 1-14 with the A designation for the uplink channel and the B designation for the downlink channel.

The FCC reissued this spectrum with a different call sign and channel number for each of the original channel blocks.  Issuing a separate call signs will make it easier to combine the 2-50MHz blocks into 1 -100MHz block as indicated in the Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking below.

See Reducing Encumbrances in the 39 GHz Band

For example from the chart below, the 1-A and 1-B channel for Butts County, GA.

Old Records:

Market:  BEA040 - Atlanta, GA-AL-NC

Call Sign:  WPQV559

Channel A

New Records:

Market:  PEA011 - Atlanta, GA

Channel: 1-A

Call Sign: WRBI208

Channel: 1-B

Call Sign: WRBI209

The mapping of original call sign / channel to the new call sign / channel is available in our Web Spectrum Viewer, Transactions Menu.


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