T-Mobile Sees Promise on 1755-1780 MHz Auction, Concerns on 1695-1710 MHz

T-Mobile US believes efforts to make the 1755-1780 MHz band available for commercial use are now “very doable” because of the Department of Defense’s proposal to vacate the band, said Steve Sharkey, T-Mobile chief-engineering and technology policy, at a 4G Americas event Thursday. Under the plan, DOD would exchange its space on the 1755 band for continued use of the 1780-1850 MHz band and shared use of broadcast auxiliary spectrum in the 2025-2110 MHz band (CD July 23 p1).

DOD’s proposal represented “incredible progress” from the widespread sentiment early in the year that “there’s no way this will be made available,” Sharkey said. “There are things that need to be finalized,” but it appears likely “it will come to fruition.” 4G Americas and other proponents of making the 1755-1780 MHz band available are pushing for the FCC to pair it at auction with the 2155-2180 MHz band, meaning the spectrum must be licensed by the congressionally mandated February 2015 deadline. There is a tight window to meet that deadline, “but it looks feasible,” Sharkey said.

The carriers had also asked the FCC to pair the 1695-1710 MHz band with the 2095-2110 MHz band for an eventual auction (CD Sept 20 p1), but DOD’s plans to use the 2025-2110 band could scuttle that idea, Sharkey said. The 1695 band is “good spectrum,” but without the 2095 band it’s challenging to use 1695 for commercial purposes, he said. The 1695 band on its own is “only usable as an uplink band” -- and there isn’t a natural pairing besides 2095, Sharkey said. T-Mobile is continuing to talk with DOD about sharing strategies, but talk on their presence on 2025-2110 “hasn’t matured yet” because the department is focused on clearing itself off the 1755 band, he said.

The government shutdown has delayed federal agencies’ preparations for moving their systems off the 1755 band, but plans to recall most furloughed DOD workers this week means “their work is able to continue,” Sharkey said. Telecom executives are frustrated by the shutdown’s effects on the FCC, including the shutdown of that agency’s website (CD Oct 10 p3). “There are definitely challenges with the FCC website being down,” said Joe Marx, AT&T assistant vice president-federal regulatory. “It’s a shame we have to turn off automated systems. I can understand not being able to submit data, but to turn it off doesn’t make sense to me.” While T-Mobile is frustrated by not being able to file through the FCC’s ECFS system and can’t access others’ filings, the carrier is “moving ahead with preparing comments in proceedings” so they will be ready to submit when the government re-opens, Sharkey said.

AT&T and T-Mobile are continuing expand their own LTE networks, Marx and Sharkey said. AT&T’s LTE network currently covers a potential 240 million customers, and it plans to expand the network to cover 270 million by the end of the year. The carrier’s LTE network will reach more than 300 million potential customers when it is “substantially complete” in summer 2014, Marx said. AT&T is also branching into Voice over LTE devices and carrier aggregation, Marx said. VoLTE and carrier aggregation are two ways the U.S. wireless industry can become more spectrally efficient, said 4G Americas President Chris Pearson. T-Mobile has managed to surpass its target of expanding its LTE network to cover 200 million potential customers by the end of the year, with the carrier announcing Wednesday night that its LTE network now covers 202 million potential customers, said Sharkey. The carrier continues to have a “good solid” foundation in HSPA-Plus, he said.