spectrum

Verizon: Feedback on 'Share Everything' has been great

Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo said the response to the carrier's shared data plan has been positive, despite the wave of criticism that has erupted over the new policy.

"Early feedback has been great," he said during an investor conference call today. "The customer adoption has been tracking with expectations."

The company last month launched its "Share Everything" plan to a bit of controversy, exacerbated by the carrier's decision to kill off unlimited data for anyone who upgraded their phone. Verizon took fire over the plan's complicated cost structure and … Read more

AT&T CEO says too early to talk about FaceTime pricing

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said the company is still in talks with Apple concerning the data-gobbling FaceTime service, following a rumor reported earlier today that AT&T has plans to charge for the use of FaceTime over its network.

When asked about it at a Fortune conference today, Stephenson skillfully skirted the issue, saying it's too preliminary for talk about pricing information.

"It's too early. We're working with Apple right now to work out stabilizing -- it's too early to talk about pricing," he said before moving on to another topic. … Read more

Is the DOJ holding up Verizon's $3.9B cable-spectrum deal?

The U.S. Justice Department is holding up Verizon Wireless's $3.9 billion bid to buy wireless spectrum from a consortium of cable operators, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The Federal Communications Commission, which also has to sign off on the deal, is ready to approve the deal, sources have said. Verizon announced in December that it planned to buy about 20 MHz of Advanced Wireless Services wireless spectrum from a group of cable companies that includes Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Bright House.

The deal is the largest spectrum transfer the FCC has ever considered … Read more

Verizon to hand T-Mobile LTE spectrum, iPhone compatibility next year

Verizon has reached a deal with T-Mobile to do an an Advanced Wireless Services spectrum swap, a deal that promises to add much-needed LTE capabilities to T-Mobile's network.

The deal would be dependent on forthcoming Verizon spectrum purchases, currently being scrutinized by the FCC. But, if the deals with SpectrumCo, Cox, and Leap go through, T-Mobile will get its LTE groundwork.

For iPhone users, this deal is particularly interesting, especially if you've already been using Apple's smartphone on T-Mobile's existing HSPA+ network. T-Mobile already offers tremendous support for the iPhone on its network even though it … Read more

Why the Verizon and T-Mobile spectrum deal could still fall apart

Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA are touting their spectrum swap deal announced Monday as a win-win for both companies. But concern over antitrust issues in Verizon's co-marketing deal with cable companies could threaten the outcome.

On Monday, Verizon Wireless announced a plan to swap Advanced Wireless Services spectrum with T-Mobile USA in a deal that will likely help Verizon win approval from regulators to complete its $3.9 billion acquisition of spectrum from cable operators. Regulators are likely to approve of the plan, since it alleviates concerns that Verizon will have too much spectrum in certain markets, and that … Read more

Verizon Wireless works FCC angle in T-Mobile deal

Verizon has announced a deal to swap Advanced Wireless Services spectrum with T-Mobile in a move that could bolster the latter's network and plans to roll out next-gen services. But Verizon isn't just being altruistic. The wireless giant needs the Federal Communications Commission to approve its own spectrum buying binge.

In a statement, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile said they will swap spectrum in certain markets. The catch? The spectrum T-Mobile would get is dependent on Verizon's transactions with SpectrumCo (a cable consortium), Cox and Leap. If Verizon closes its $3.6 billion deal -- announced late last year … Read more

AT&T and Sirius work to make spectrum available

AT&T is looking to put some of its unused spectrum to work in a move that could reshuffle the wireless spectrum deck.

On Friday, the carrier filed a joint proposal to the Federal Communications Commission with satellite radio provider Sirius. In the filing, the two companies proposed a solution to some longstanding interference concerns between AT&T's unused WCS spectrum, which is in the 2.3 GHz band and Sirius's satellite radio service. As part of this new proposal, AT&T agreed to give up about 10MHz of this Wireless Communication Services or WCS … Read more

Verizon exec criticizes FCC's handling of SpectrumCo deal

DALLAS--A top Verizon executive urged regulators here Thursday to get out of the way so that wireless operators can more easily buy and sell wireless spectrum on the secondary market.

During a speech today at the Telecommunications Industry Association trade show, Verizon Chief Technology Officer Tony Melone said that the Federal Communications Commission should make it easier for companies to buy and sell wireless spectrum licenses that they've bought in government auctions.

His sentiments echoed comments made by AT&T's CEO Randall Stephenson who spoke at the conference here on yesterday.

Melone said the FCC needs to … Read more

AT&T chief to FCC: Speed up those spectrum license transfers

DALLAS -- AT&T's CEO, Randall Stephenson, is urging regulators to figure out how to get new spectrum in the hands of wireless operators now, or the industry will run out of capacity very soon.

Speaking here today at the Telecommunications Industry association event, Stephenson said that the 50MHz of wireless spectrum the FCC expects to auction as part of the broadcast incentive auctions won't be enough to satisfy growing demand. In fact, he said, the industry is much closer than many think to running out of available spectrum.

He said that other countries, much smaller than … Read more