Any updates on the 700MHz spectrum?

[newjerseyninja]

Any ideas on how the 700MHz spectrum is supposed to pan out?

I thought it was supposed to become available for useage starting Feb 19th 2009 which is in a little over two weeks from now.

I also thought that this was to become a spectrum like how cellphones are operated in Europe: you select the phone you want, then you select the wireless carrier and plan---no one locks out features, etc and there's only one version of the cellphone, not one for every carrier and custom firmware for every phone on every carrier.

Anyone got any info on this?

[dave73]

The open access part only applies to the C block that VZW acquired for the lower 48 states & Hawaii. I don't know about the other blocks. I however won't hold my breath that the phones won't be carrier specific (at least not in the beginning, due to carriers needing LTE/CDMA & LTE/GSM phones while LTE is built out).

Now if congress gets the bill passed on the DTV transition, then it'll be pushed back to June 12. If that happens, then carriers such as VZW & AT&T won't have access to the 700 spectrum for another 4 months. The original bill already died in the senate.

[XFF]

The DTV transition delay really doesn't affect anybody except QUALCOMM's MediaFLO service. The other companies holding 700 MHz spectrum, especially VZW and AT&T, won't do anything with it until 2010 when they're supposed to start deploying LTE.

[dave73]

The DTV transition delay really doesn't affect anybody except QUALCOMM's MediaFLO service. The other companies holding 700 MHz spectrum, especially VZW and AT&T, won't do anything with it until 2010 when they're supposed to start deploying LTE.

Verizon wants to start building out the LTE network as soon as the spectrum is vacated, so by 2010, they'll have some markets online with LTE. I do remember reading that somewhere online. I might let my current contract run out in order to give LTE a try, if it's ready for prime time. It expires May 2010. I live in a market that is expected to be priority for VZW, since I live in MTA/BTA 3 (Chicago market), and that's a top market for all the big carriers. I could be wrong, but I believe LTE will be in Chicago around 2010.

[MountainBikerMark]

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Verizons top priority market is the north east so look for it there first. Does this mean that i will have to do like my att buddies had to do a few years back and get new phones for my family when it comes out? When they switched to gsm from tdma here they all had to get new phones

[dave73]

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Verizons top priority market is the north east so look for it there first. Does this mean that i will have to do like my att buddies had to do a few years back and get new phones for my family when it comes out? When they switched to gsm from tdma here they all had to get new phones

When LTE is launched, you will need new a new phone to use LTE. I believe in the begining, they'll be LTE/CDMA phones. I plan to let my comtract run out and upgrade when LTE comes out.

I understand what you're saying about the Northeast being a priority for Verizon, but Chicago will also be a priority too, due to population, and it's market #3. Chicago might not go live at the same time New York would, but it's still a top market that I believe Verizon will launch after New York and maybe Boston.

[Big Dawg 23]

Verizon in the letter to the FCC stated they would begin testing in Summer 2009 and then wider release in 2010.

[ParthG]

Wirelessly posted (Ive been Dared: Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Teleca Q7; Brew 3.1.5; U; en) 240X400 LGE VX9700)

Verizons top priority market is the north east so look for it there first. Does this mean that i will have to do like my att buddies had to do a few years back and get new phones for my family when it comes out? When they switched to gsm from tdma here they all had to get new phones

Unlike AT&T which chooses the most random places to deploy 3G. (Yes random, there really is NO 3G or stable GSM in upstate NY, and don't tell me it's rural, nearly all carriers have service up here. [except T-Mobile.. but it doesn't really have coverage except in major major major cities]) AT&T needs to sort out its priorities. Fix things that already exist before adding more problems to the equation.

[codyboring]

Ugrh CDMA/LTE I hope not! I hope they go with the global standard, gsm/LTE?.

[FL1134]

When LTE is launched, you will need new a new phone to use LTE. I believe in the begining, they'll be LTE/CDMA phones. I plan to let my comtract run out and upgrade when LTE comes out.
...

All LTE is just the switch to an AIPN network. You will still be able to attach with EVDO(rA) through IP but you may not get the same experience (e.g. dial-up and fiber will both get you to the internet) Please correct me if I'm wrong here.



http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archiv.../22978-800.zip

[hwertz]

No it would not make sense for them to sell gsm/LTE phones. You could get one yourself, and use the LTE (as long as the phone supports 700mhz). But VZW has no plans to build out so much as a single channel of GSM as far as I know*, there's no reason for them to. They have a CDMA network, their roaming partners are CDMA, so a CDMA+LTE phone makes sense.

All LTE is just the switch to an AIPN network. You will still be able to attach with EVDO(rA) through IP but you may not get the same experience

Yeah I think so. LTE indeed uses IP, EVDO can carry IP (and EVDO Rev A supports quality-of-service features) so that should be fine.


*They're keeping GSM running in some cases, like the western part of Alltel, where they have guaranteed roaming revenue by having the only GSM coverage. But not adding to it.

[XFF]

All LTE is just the switch to an AIPN network. You will still be able to attach with EVDO(rA) through IP but you may not get the same experience (e.g. dial-up and fiber will both get you to the internet) Please correct me if I'm wrong here.

LTE comprises a completely different air interface (OFDMA-based), it has nothing to do with EV-DO or CDMA or any other existing technology. It's a completely different concept to realize multiple access. There is no inherent compatibility between LTE and anything that exists today. Therefore, and because LTE deployment won't occur over night, carriers will offer hybrid handsets for a while, so users have a fallback option to an existing 3G technology. VZW will likely offer LTE/CDMA2000 hybrids and AT&T will likely offer LTE/W-CDMA hybrids.

[FL1134]

LTE comprises a completely different air interface (OFDMA-based), it has nothing to do with EV-DO or CDMA or any other existing technology. It's a completely different concept to realize multiple access. There is no inherent compatibility between LTE and anything that exists today. Therefore, and because LTE deployment won't occur over night, carriers will offer hybrid handsets for a while, so users have a fallback option to an existing 3G technology. VZW will likely offer LTE/CDMA2000 hybrids and AT&T will likely offer LTE/W-CDMA hybrids.

I'm just going by a few PDF's and wiki so I'm sure I'm just not understanding this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3GPP_Lo....22_.28AIPN.29

At a glance, the UMTS back-end becomes accessible via a variety of means, such as GSM's/UMTS's own radio network (GERAN, UTRAN, and E-UTRAN), WiFi, and even competing legacy systems such as CDMA2000 and WiMAX. Users of non-UMTS radio networks would be provided with an entry-point into the IP network, with different levels of security depending on the trustworthiness of the network being used to make the connection. Users of GSM/UMTS networks would use an integrated system where all authentication at every level of the system is covered by a single system, while users accessing the UMTS network via WiMAX and other similar technologies would handle the WiMAX connection one way (for example, authenticating themselves via a MAC or ESN address) and the UMTS link-up another way.

[XFF]

What you're quoting deals with the back-end (ie. the core network). The handset (and most users) don't care about that. Read the section below titled "E-UTRA Air Interface" that gives an overview of the OFDMA multiple access scheme used by LTE.

PS: The section you quoted basically states that the AIPN core network portion of LTE can be accessed by older air interfaces (GERAN - 2G and UTRAN - 3G) without having to maintain separate (non-AIPN) core networks for those existing technologies.

[FL1134]

What you're quoting deals with the back-end (ie. the core network). The handset (and most users) don't care about that. Read the section below titled "E-UTRA Air Interface" that gives an overview of the OFDMA multiple access scheme used by LTE.

PS: The section you quoted basically states that the AIPN core network portion of LTE can be accessed by older air interfaces (GERAN - 2G and UTRAN - 3G) without having to maintain separate (non-AIPN) core networks for those existing technologies.

Ok. I guess what I was referring to was just the back-end; that LTE (700Mhz) would be separately deployed but in parallel with legacy CDMA (850/PCS). LTE would be mostly/all IP; however EVDOrA handsets would also get a few applications like VoIP running only on CDMA until 850/PCS is switched over to LTE. It just seems like an absolute waste to have even upgraded to EVDOrA without even deploying/testing any IP services on it.

If I'm still wrong, I'm going to have to bow out due the sheer number of confusing acronyms and the time before LTE is even deployed.