Sad news, 600 MHz auction delayed

[Allograft]

So the FCC just postponed the auction for the major beach front location of the 600 MHz action because some tv broadcasters were whining. So instead of getting that luscious low wave propagation and penetration of the 600 MHz in like 2017 (assuming the auction occurred next year as planned), it'll be at least 2018 now...at least.

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/fcc-delays-start-600-mhz-incentive-auction-early-2016/2014-10-24

I hope carriers start repurposing bandwidth quickly!!! VZW, are you listening? Dump CDMA on PCS and throw up some more LTE...and reduce CDMA 850 to just a sliver also and leave like 7.5 MHZ for CDMA and use the other 5 MHz for LTE....that'd be hot

VZW with 10 MHz on 700, 5 MHz on 850, various PCS 1900 and various AWS. Add some carrier aggregation and it's a serious network.

 

[KPOM]

That is too bad. T-Mobile would have been a very active buyer in that auction. They need the spectrum because most of what they have is at very high frequencies, which means their signal has a tough time penetrating buildings in downtown areas.

 

[Allograft]

No doubt, I enjoy my VZW service, but would be open to jumping ship if a scrappy carrier was able to exceed their network quality and coverage. Might take a few years but hey, if VZW gets off their laurels, they can certainly give a reinvigorated TMUS a run for their money

 

[KPOM]

My iPad Air 2 is running on T-Mobile (I carried over the $20/month 3GB promo from my iPad mini, but may also activate the promotional $10 5-month 5GB plan for overages). My iPhone 6 is running on a grandfathered AT&T unlimited plan for my work e-mail, and I just AOLed an unlimited data "loophole" account on VZW for a personal phone. And for good measure, I have a Sprint mobile broadband device through my employer.

My observations are as follows:

• AT&T has improved dramatically in recent years, even though their spectrum is fragmented. Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired.
• T-Mobile is great in big cities. In rural areas, not so much (I had EDGE in many spots on a recent trip to South Dakota).
• Verizon has great coverage, but its network is a little saturated in spots. AT&T and T-Mobile are faster in downtown Chicago (where I live and work) from my experience. I like how they at least offer tethering for a fee for their grandfathered unlimited plans, and backed off their plans to throttle unlimited plan users. AT&T won't do either.
• Sprint? More like waddle or limp.

 

[wxman2003]

Yea, lets give more spectrum to carriers so that OTA HDTV becomes even crappier. I'm glad the broadcasters are fighting back. Remember all that spectrum that Google bought years ago and was required to build out? Yea, how is that working out? Plenty of spectrum that the carriers bought and are not using. Perhaps the FCC should focus more on enforcing those agreements made years ago, instead of trying to sell more spectrum. Sorry, but I dont want to see more compressed OTA HD broadcasts. I actually enjoy the vastly superior OTA HDTV over crappy cable and satellite HD.

 

[Allograft]

I think that most of the available spectrum is pretty actively implemented. There was the whole PCS Nextwave debacle, but that has been resolved for some time. Dish has some throwaway spectrum that no one else wanted. I think that the 700A is a bit fallow at this point as manufactures haven't put forth too many devices yet.

I would imagine in 20 years, all media and communications content will be owned by wireless carriers anyways, it'll just be more efficient.