Hello, I know im a little bit behind but i heard that alltel was going to purchase some of the 700mhz Spectrum at the upcoming auction. What exactly is th 700mhz Spectrum? What are the pro's and con's of it? Will it make alltels network better? And just exactly does it do? Thank you very much!!
Well, I am by far no expert on this subject either, but if ALLTEL were willing to spend the $$$, it could mean that ALLTEL may be able to expand service into urban markets they don't currently have licenses in. It could also mean more spectrum to expand current voice and especially data possibilities. ~Andy
Also, 700 MHz has better in-building penetration and travels farther than 800/1900/2100 MHz signal so it means less physical infrastructure. I really think Alltel is going to come out of these auctions poised to become a major national carrier. Cingular & Verizon had better watch out.
Yes, I just hope that one of the national players do not try to outbid them in major markets just to keep them out. They have the money for it.
I don't know about that. All the major national carriers have a lot of debt while Alltel has relatively little. In addition, the influx of cash they could get from the private equity firms who agreed to purchase them could really make it a case of everybody playing catch up to Alltel. The only carrier I'd be really worried about outbidding Alltel would be T-Mobile but they spent so much on 2100 MHz I don't know how much they're going to buy in the 700 MHz auction. It's going to be really, really interesting to see how this develops.
Wirelessly posted (MOT-24.0_/00.62 UP.Browser/6.2.3.4.c.1.123 (GUI) MMP/2.0) I hope they are able to pick up 700 in most of the areas they don't have service now. Or pick up some already built out pcs spectrum...
If Alltel bids and aquires spectrum in some major markets, that will sell it in my mind that their new owners plan on staying in the wireless game. If only a few token rural markets are picked up, I don't see Alltel being around long term.
PCS refers to airwaves in the 1900 MHz band. This band is frequently used exclusively by Sprint and T-Mobile. It is generally used only to cover larger cities, the interstate, and other non-rural areas. Many rural areas are limited only to the Cellular band carriers. The cellular band is limited to 2 licenses in the 850 MHz band. The difference between cellular and PCS is that frequency, 850 vs. 1900. As the frequency gets higher, the wavelength (distance a wave travels between peaks) gets shorter. So basically, the 850, cellular band coverage travels further from a tower. It is much better for rural areas, penetrating indoors, fringe areas, etc. The 1900 band can still be built out to provide good coverage, but it's often much more costly to do so because more cell sites are required for an equivalent coverage area. Therefore, PCS carriers generally do not build outside of heavily populated areas. In a way, that's also why the 700 MHz band is seen as so important. Whoever has a 700 MHz license will have an inherit advantage of the airwaves. That may not matter in some areas that already have well-built networks, but it may allow a competitor, like Alltel or whoever wins for any given area, a chance to enter new markets with a very good chance of having good coverage and limiting cell sites in comparison to other providers to save on expenses.
Even though this is a bit fftopic: , I'll answer the question since someone may want to know. PCS stands for Personal Communication Service and it is the 1900 MHz band of wireless spectrum. Sprint made a big deal about it in the 1990's when they went by the name Sprint PCS touting their "all-digital" network as clearer than the 800 MHz spectrum. Essentially, PCS is synonymous with 1900 MHz but the term PCS itself is basically marketing, IMHO.
Only drawback in waiting for handset makers to catch up and make new phones that can handle 850, 1900 and the new 700 and 2100 bands. Definately need to iron out the hard hand off issues with CDMA and Alltel can have a sweet transition from the existing 850 to the newer 700 or 2100.
The real question will be can Alltel really go toe to toe in the 700 spect auction with the big boys. Personally I dont think at&t or verizon really need to get any of this spect in areas where they already are at.. now new markets thats fine.. but markets they already exsist in I hope the winner is a new carrier.. someone like Alltel would be good.. but any new area... we.. the consumers that is dont need the big hogs to have another chance at locking down the markets that they dominate. There are a lot of ppl who are tired of the at&t's and verizon's of the big cities and would love to change if they had another choice... the USA needs another big player... another national carrier.. and this auction would be a great way for one to come about... should it be Alltel? who knows... they would be a good choice since they also serve rural areas... but it could be a totally new carrier.. either way I would like to see Alltel get some nice new markets in some big metro areas and kick some major butt! Then they will ofcourse as mentioned have to answer the question of new phones that can handle the new spectrum. Maybe then Moto will actually stop viewing Alltel as some small carrier to throw breadcrumbs at... Though from the looks of things I think Samsung is becoming the new champion of Alltel... everytime you turn around they are bring or going to bring out a Samsung. Its funny on that note, Samsung, so many phones with Alltel, yet they refuse to even list them in their main carrier page for phones. :loony:
Im for the smaller carriers myself. I hope some of the smaller carriers get into some new markets. I found an article on the FCC site and it looks like the auction is done and looks like Tmobile is the big winner, Tmobile spent something like 1 billion dollars with the next carrier bidding something like 60 million. Im just guessing with the numbers but it was something like that. The auction block is awkward as well and the territories are bigger. Just for example one of the areas covered the whole great lakes area.
Thats what I had thought and read the article but i dont remember the details or maybe it was just the forerunners of the auction.
Nope it has not happened yet... they dont have the true date nailed down because the FCC is still trying to get some rules in place to make sure smaller carriers and other companies who want to get into the game have a chance against the likes of at&t and verizon. T-Mo was the big winner in the last auction from what I gather.
