Rapid LTE Deployment Behind High AWS-3 Totals, Analyst Says

LTE deployment “chewing up spectrum at a faster pace” than expected could explain why the AWS-3 auction bidding (see 1412030023) has topped $40 billion and continues to rise, BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk said Thursday in a research note. Verizon confirms it has started converting PCS spectrum from 3G to LTE a year after it tripled the spectrum it allocated to LTE to launch XLTE, Piecyk wrote. “The increased spectrum usage for LTE comes a year earlier than we expected and leaves Verizon with less than 50 MHz of spectrum to provide voice (which LTE does not yet support) as well as data service to existing 2G and 3G customers." Telecommunications Industry Association CEO Scott Belcher noted in a statement the record levels in the auction. “The level of bidding demonstrates that the spectrum crunch is very real, and that more work is needed to keep pace with exploding consumer demand for mobile broadband,” he said.