The FCC granted regulatory approval for AT&T to acquire 700 MHz licenses from Qualcomm.
AT&T is purchasing 700 MHz spectrum licenses covering more than 300 million people for approximately $1.9 billion. The deal includes all 11 of Qualcomm’s D and E Block licenses in the Lower 700 MHz band.
In its FCC application for license transfer, AT&T said it plans to use supplemental downlink technology (carrier aggregation) to bond this unpaired spectrum with paired spectrum that it already holds. This will enable AT&T
to add substantial capacity on its LTE network once the LTE Advanced standards are released. The licenses at issue cover all of the United States with six or 12 megahertz of Lower 700 MHz spectrum. Specifically, Qualcomm holds all six of the Lower 700 MHz D Block licenses (six megahertz). In addition, Qualcomm holds five of the 176 Economic Area licenses35 (also six megahertz) in the Lower 700 MHz E Block, providing coverage in five of the top 15 metropolitan areas (New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and San Francisco), covering more than 70 million people.
Qualcomm originally planned to use this spectrum for its Media FLO mobile TV service, which was launched in 2009 and then cancelled in early 2011 after failing to catch on in the market.
"This spectrum will help AT&T continue to deliver a world-class mobile broadband experience to our customers," said Bob Quinn, senior vice president-Federal Regulatory, AT&T. "We appreciate the FCC Chairman, the Commissioners and their staff for completing its review before the holidays. http://www.att.com http://www.fcc.gov
AT&T is purchasing 700 MHz spectrum licenses covering more than 300 million people for approximately $1.9 billion. The deal includes all 11 of Qualcomm’s D and E Block licenses in the Lower 700 MHz band.
In its FCC application for license transfer, AT&T said it plans to use supplemental downlink technology (carrier aggregation) to bond this unpaired spectrum with paired spectrum that it already holds. This will enable AT&T
to add substantial capacity on its LTE network once the LTE Advanced standards are released. The licenses at issue cover all of the United States with six or 12 megahertz of Lower 700 MHz spectrum. Specifically, Qualcomm holds all six of the Lower 700 MHz D Block licenses (six megahertz). In addition, Qualcomm holds five of the 176 Economic Area licenses35 (also six megahertz) in the Lower 700 MHz E Block, providing coverage in five of the top 15 metropolitan areas (New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and San Francisco), covering more than 70 million people.
Qualcomm originally planned to use this spectrum for its Media FLO mobile TV service, which was launched in 2009 and then cancelled in early 2011 after failing to catch on in the market.
"This spectrum will help AT&T continue to deliver a world-class mobile broadband experience to our customers," said Bob Quinn, senior vice president-Federal Regulatory, AT&T. "We appreciate the FCC Chairman, the Commissioners and their staff for completing its review before the holidays. http://www.att.com http://www.fcc.gov
- In 2008, Qualcomm won eight licenses in the FCC's 700 MHz spectrum auction at a total cost of $558.1 million. Specifically, Qualcomm purchased licenses in the E block covering the Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia and San Francisco Economic Area regions. These licenses doubled Qualcomm's 700 MHz spectrum holdings throughout a footprint of more than 68 million people in 28 individual markets for MediaFLO USA's "FLO TV" service (21 of its top 100 markets) at a cost of $554.6 million. In addition, Qualcomm purchased three licenses on the B block at a cost of $3.5 million.
Russia's Yota announced the launch of its first LTE network in Novosibirsk in Siberia. The network is ready for joint operation by several operators. Commercial service is expected to start by January 15, 2012, with modems available in retail shops by various network partners.
Jawbone, which is based in San Francisco, is positioning itself as a "leading innovator in products and services for the mobile lifestyle."
Swisscom plans to begin the rollout in January 2012 and by mid-2014 all 6,000 mobile base stations will be upgraded with new hardware and software and connected to fibre-optic lines. The carrier expects to add more than 300 new mobile sites each year. The antenna systems will not be affected, and the stringent radiation limits will continue to be met. Swisscom also said it intends to set up microcells at busy locations. In addition, the existing HSPA network will be increased to a maximum of 84 Mbps in the downlink. 
JDSU announced that a tier-1 service provider in North America has selected its new T-BERD/MTS-8000 V2 40/100 G Transport Module for field-test applications. The unit is designed for field turn-up and troubleshooting of Carrier Ethernet/packet transport, long-haul, and metro-core networks, as well as government telecommunication centers. The T-BERD/MTS-8000 V2 40/100 G solution can be used for testing OTU3 and OTU4 with 100 GE client, 40 and 100 G Carrier Ethernet with RFC 2544, CoS with 10 data streams, and loop up/down. The T-BERD/MTS-8000 V2 can switch between 40 G and 100 G applications within 12 seconds. It supports both CFP- and QSFP+-based services and offers signature ruggedness, optional battery power, and control connectivity that can withstand extremely diverse test conditions. 
As of November 30, China Mobile had 644,319 customer lines in service. During the month of November, the carrier added 5,430,000 users, bringing the total number of additions during 2011 so far to 60,302,000. 
