spectrum

Verizon Wireless won't lose much by selling some of its "high-quality" wireless spectrum, but it has much to gain if the Federal Communication Commission approves its controversial deal to buy spectrum from cable operators.

On Tuesday, Verizon said it planned to sell licenses in the A and B blocks of the 700MHz spectrum which it acquired in an FCC auction in 2008. The company said it would put the licenses up for sale, if it could get approval from regulators to buy another chunk of spectrum from a consortium of cable operators, that includes Comcast and Time … Read more

Verizon Wireless is planning to auction off some of its wireless spectrum in the hopes of winning favor with regulators to buy a chunk of spectrum from cable operators.

Verizon has been facing opposition from several smaller wireless carriers for a deal it proposed last year to buy unused spectrum from a group of cable operators called Spectrum Co. that includes Comcast and Time Warner Cable.

Verizon said in a statement today that if it's given approval to buy the cable operators' spectrum it will sell some of its own spectrum in the A and B block of the … Read more

T-Mobile USA and Leap wireless said today they plan on exchanging spectrum in several markets in the U.S. to better improve the potential coverage.

The spectrum swap also includes T-Mobile, Cool Inlet/VS GSM VII PCS, a joint venture in which T-Mobile has a non-controlling majority stake, as well as Savary Island Wireless, which Leap has a non-controlling majority stake in.

The deal is just the latest move by the wireless carriers to improve their various spectrum positions. By realigning their spectrum holdings, the carriers can build a network with better coverage, and potentially, better service. The transaction also … Read more

A year ago, hedge fund manager Philip Falcone's LightSquared offered the Federal Communications Commission a huge opportunity to satisfy some of its most lofty wireless broadband goals. Today, the company is facing possible bankruptcy and only the slimmest chance of actually building its network, leaving policy makers in Washington focusing on alternatives.

Earlier this week, Falcone, whose hedge fund Harbinger Capital is the largest stakeholder in LightSquared, told Reuters that bankruptcy protection is one of several options he is considering as he tries to keep the company alive. LightSquared, which has been battling the GPS industry over claims that … Read more

Verizon's new argument to regulators on its cable deal: give us the OK and we'll start offering better mobile video.

CEO Lowell McAdam is eager to win regulatory approval for Verizon's cross-selling and spectrum deal with several cable providers. One such benefit would be pay-TV subscribers getting access to more mobile video, the Wall Street Journal reported. Lowell said the integrated service would be available to cable subscribers or customers of its own Fios TV service.

Verizon and the cable companies are in the midst of defending a $3.9 billion deal that would send a valuable … Read more

The FCC kicked off a process that should eventually allow Dish Network to use its satellite spectrum to build a 4G LTE wireless broadband network.

At its March opening meeting, the FCC voted unanimously to begin a rulemaking process aimed at letting Dish use spectrum designated for satellite use to provide a land-based wireless broadband service. Draft regulations described the service and technical rules for implementing the flexible use of the spectrum.

Dish had asked the FCC to grant it a waiver so that it could use 40 MHz of spectrum in the 2 GHz band for 4G. But earlier … Read more

Verizon Communications, in justifying its planned acquisition of spectrum from the major cable providers, said today its wireless arm could suffer from a capacity shortage in its bigger cities as early as next year.

"We will need this spectrum in a number of significant markets by 2013, so there is no time to lose in making this spectrum available," said Randal Milch, general counsel for Verizon, in prepared remarks.

Verizon and Comcast, hoping to avoid the pitfalls that ended up killing the AT&T-T-Mobile deal, made their best case during a Senate hearing today. At stake is … Read more

All eyes will be on the Federal Communications Commission in the coming months as it deals with a series of spectrum-related issues that will help determine who is a player in the mobile broadband market and who isn't.

The FCC is under pressure to get as much new spectrum on the market as soon as possible. Wireless operators say they face a crisis if they can't get additional wireless spectrum to fuel the growth of mobile data usage. But as wireless spectrum is increasingly viewed as a limited resource, regulators are faced with politically charged debates surrounding topics associated with spectrum. … Read more

LightSquared says it's not yet giving up its fight to build a nationwide 4G LTE network.

The company, which is backed by Philip Falcone's Harbinger Capital, has invested more than $4 billion into the network, which it hoped would be a wholesale alternative to wireless broadband networks run by AT&T and Verizon wireless. For the past year, the company has been fighting an uphill battle in Washington, D.C., where the GPS industry has rallied political support around its claims that LightSquared's network interferes with its receivers and therefore cannot be built.

So far, the … Read more