spectrum

commentary As the Department of Justice and now Sprint file suit to block AT&T's pending merger with T-Mobile USA, federal judges will begin looking closely at the deal and its potential impacts on the exploding mobile services market.

Let's hope that the kind of evidence-based, rational analysis of the courtroom does a better job separating fact from fiction than the court of public opinion, which is easily seduced by catchphrases and unrealistic scenarios. Many of the most outspoken critics of the deal, it seems, either don't understand the fundamentals of cellular technology, or assume at … Read more

The allure of 4G wireless service has drawn in a number of new players, including satellite-TV provider Dish Network.

Dish applied yesterday for a waiver to the Federal Communications Commission that would allow it to use its recently acquired spectrum to build a wireless network, according to Credit Suisse analyst Jonathan Chaplin. The company plans to build a 4G LTE Advanced network, Chaplin said yesterday in a research note, adding that it has committed to a "realistic" build-out schedule.

The FCC application provides some clarity on what Dish had planned to do with a recent wave of acquisitions, … Read more

The Federal Communications Commission said today that it will take a "coordinated" look at AT&T's proposed acquisition of both T-Mobile USA and spectrum controlled by Qualcomm.

TechCrunch reported that the FCC had informed AT&T that the reviews would be done together, which would put the telecommunications giant in the position of justifying the acquisition of such a large amount of wireless spectrum.

"The commission's ongoing review has confirmed that the proposed transactions raise a number of related issues, including, but not limited to, questions regarding AT&T's aggregation of … Read more

The proposed debt ceiling bill that Congress is expected to pass in the next day or so will not give the Federal Communications Commission authority to auction additional wireless spectrum. But that doesn't mean that wireless incentive auctions are dead.

Wireless experts in Washington, D.C. say Congress could tack on the authorization for the FCC to conduct spectrum auctions to a package that may emerge later this year from the bipartisan deficit-reduction panel created by this week's debt agreement. President Obama said the "super committee," which will consist of six Democrats and six Republicans, will … Read more

The mobile world moves at a breakneck pace, and it's difficult to keep up--even without the technical jargon most industry insiders throw around. And they do love to toss those terms about.

Last week, I dabbled in Wall Street-speak after AT&T and Verizon Communications reported their quarterly financial results. But today, I wanted to get back into some of the more technical (read: geekier) aspects of the industry.

So for some light reading, here are a few terms telecom experts throw around with the assumption that everyone understands them.

Spectrum: The term used to describe the radio … Read more

In their most direct plea yet, U.S. wireless carriers sent a letter to President Obama asking him to clear some government-controlled spectrum for commercial use.

The CTIA Wireless trade association said yesterday that it had sent the letter, asking President Obama to direct the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Association to clear unused and underused spectrum held by various government agencies. More specifically, the trade group is asking for spectrum in the bands below 3GHz, which are optimal for cellular use.

The letter represents the latest action taken by the wireless industry as it looks to free … Read more

What's keeping Congress from authorizing the FCC to auction off underutilized television spectrum badly needed for mobile broadband? The answer, strangely enough, is Net neutrality--specifically, the FCC's "Open Internet" rules passed at the end of 2010 and which are only now being published.

While mobile Internet spectrum is at a premium, most over-the-air television broadcasters are not making full use of the spectrum allocated to them as part of the transition to digital TV in 2009. So the FCC and the White House have been pushing hard for new powers that would let the FCC conduct … Read more

Gary Shapiro, the head of the Consumer Electronics Association, is frustrated by TV broadcasters' lack of innovation, and he isn't shy about voicing what he thinks they should do with spectrum licenses that have been give to them for free.

Shapiro and the CEA, which lobbies in Washington, D.C., on behalf of gadget makers and retailers, support a controversial proposal from the Federal Communications Commission, which calls for TV broadcasters to voluntarily give up some of their spectrum to be auctioned off.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has proposed the incentive spectrum auctions as a way to free up … Read more

Stephane Richard knows a thing or two about the iPhone.

In addition to carrying one of Apple's iconic smartphones, Richard is also the CEO of France Telecom, whose networks carry traffic from more iPhones than any other carrier except AT&T. France Telecom, with its Orange brands, sells the iPhone in 15 countries.

"They just created smartphones with the iPhone," Richard said during an hour-long chat over breakfast at the W Hotel in San Francisco last week. "Everybody should be grateful to them to have put such a product in our market."

But, while … Read more