WASHINGTON – American wireless giant AT&T told the Federal Communications Commission it will support interoperability in the lower 700MHz band, the so-called A Block, starting in the fourth quarter of 2015.
“Challenges in the lower 700 MHz band have left the 700 MHz A Block vulnerable to interference and largely undeployed. Now, under the leadership of Chairwoman (Mignon) Clyburn and her staff, an industry consensus has emerged that offers a path to achieving interoperability in the band,” said Joan Marsh, AT&T vice-president-federal regulatory, in a company release.
“AT&T, for its part, has committed to investing considerable time and resources to the modification of its 700 MHz LTE network through the implementation of a newly-standardized software feature. That effort will allow AT&T’s network to support Band 12 capable devices. AT&T has also committed to working collaboratively with its chipset partners and OEMs to introduce, within a reasonable time frame, new Band 12 capable devices into its device portfolio. AT&T’s commitments are spelled out in detail in a letter filed today with the FCC,” added Marsh.
“These commitments, along with actions the FCC intends to take to harmonize the service rules for the 700 MHz E Block to address interference concerns, will put the industry on a path to increased investment and deployment opportunities in the 700 MHz A Block. Chairwoman Clyburn should be congratulated for this significant achievement that will benefit the wireless industry and US consumers alike.”
The move, says BMO Capital Markets telecom analyst Tim Casey, could be quite positive for Canadian wireless operators, “as it implies there could be more attractive spectrum than originally thought in the upcoming auction,” he wrote in a note to investors. “As a reminder, there are five paired blocks (A, B, C, C1 and C2) and two unpaired blocks (D and E) up for bid in the upcoming spectrum auction. However, only four blocks have been deemed ‘prime’ since AT&T and Verizon have been driving the 4G LTE network equipment and handset ecosystem for these blocks (B, C, C1 and C2). Simply put, there has been clear visibility on LTE equipment/device availability supporting the B and C blocks (the ‘AT&T blocks’;) as well as the C1 and C2 blocks (the ‘Verizon blocks’;) but no visibility for the A block.”
As the auction rules currently stand, incumbents are allowed to bid on only one prime block (B, C, C1 and C2) but two paired blocks (A block plus one deemed prime block). “Obviously, the timing of development of the A block ecosystem would make it less attractive than the prime blocks,” added Casey. September 17 is the deadline for initial refundable financial deposits for the January 14, 2014 700 MHz auction here in Canada.
A list of applicants is expected to be published on September 23.
– Greg O’Brien
