Spectrum

Dish said to bid $2B for Lightsquared spectrum

LightSquared's wireless spectrum could be getting a new owner, according to a new report.

According to Bloomberg, Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen made a $2 billion bid last week for LightSquared's radio frequencies, which are owned by private investment firm Harbinger Capital Partners.

Bloomberg added, based on unnamed sources said to be familiar with the deal, that LightSquared has until the end of the month to make a decision.

Dish is already bogged down by other networking and communications deals floating around -- namely a $25.5 billion bid for Sprint Nextel. The nation's third-largest mobile provider … Read more

SoftBank: Our Sprint bid is better for this reason -- TD-LTE

Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son says his company's $20.1 billion acquisition offer is best for Sprint, even though Dish Nework's bid is higher.

Speaking Tuesday at an event in Tokyo, Son told reporters the LTE network efficiencies that his company can bring to Sprint would dramatically improve the value of Sprint's network to customers. And that's all because of an LTE variant that Softbank already uses, called TD-LTE.

Softbank has been using TD-LTE for quite some time, and as Son points out, it's doing so in Japan "on a large scale."

TD (Time … Read more

California gets first commercial white-space high-speed Internet

Believe it or not, there are still parts of the U.S. that don't have access to high-speed Internet. But that's looking to change with the onset of TV white-space broadband technology.

The first commercial application of this type of service in the U.S. is coming to a rural area of Northern California called El Dorado County, or Gold Country. Internet provider Cal.net is partnering with network equipment provider Carlson to bring this region's residents something more than dial-up.

"Over 59,000 residents in our rural service area have had little or no quality … Read more

How T-Mobile's new service plans could change the industry

Imagine a world where you could take your mobile phone to any carrier you wanted.

You wouldn't be bound to a contract, and your phone would be free from technical constraints that make it impossible to use on other carriers' networks. And forget about that $700 price tag that left you wondering if you were buying a phone or a computer. In this new world order, pricing on smartphones would fall as quickly as the components inside them become commoditized, much like the prices of all consumer electronics. That means no need to cling to a service contract in … Read more

Google taps 'white spaces' for broadband in South Africa

In an effort to show the potential of the unused frequencies in the broadcast TV spectrum, Google has launched a trial program that will tap the so-called white spaces to provide wireless broadband to schools in South Africa.

The Web giant announced today it will use the unused spectrum to provide Internet access to 10 schools in the Cape Town area. The goal of the trial is to show that wireless broadband can be provided over white spaces -- the unused spectrum that sits between broadcast TV channels -- without interfering with licensed spectrum.

"White space has the advantage … Read more

Verizon to use cable spectrum for LTE starting this year

Verizon Wireless will soon put to use spectrum it bought from the cable companies last year, according to its chief technology officer, Nicola Palmer, who was interviewed by Fierce Wireless.

Palmer told the blog in a one-on-one interview published today that the company will soon complete deployment of its 4G LTE service in the nationwide 700MHz spectrum it bought in a Federal Communications Commission auction in 2008. Verizon covered about 90 percent of the U.S. with its 700MHz spectrum last year, Palmer said. And starting the middle of this year, Verizon will add capacity to the network using the … Read more

AT&T: You can never have enough wireless spectrum

As the saying goes, you can never be too rich or too skinny. And if you're a wireless carrier, apparently, you can never have too much wireless spectrum.

At least that's AT&T's take. The company, which is the second largest wireless provider in the U.S., is in good shape when it comes to wireless spectrum for the next five years, according to chief financial officer John Stephens. But the company is still pushing the Federal Communications Commission to free up as much additional spectrum as possible.

"We have a satisfactory spectrum position for … Read more

FCC takes first step toward allocating more Wi-Fi spectrum

The Federal Communications Commission took the first steps today toward freeing up more wireless spectrum to boost Wi-Fi data speeds and ease congestion on Wi-Fi networks in hotels, airports, and homes.

During its meeting today, the five-member commission approved a proposal that will allow 195 megahertz of additional wireless spectrum in the 5GHz band to be used for unlicensed Wi-Fi use. This will increase the amount of available unlicensed spectrum by 35 percent. This is the largest block of wireless spectrum the FCC has freed up for unlicensed use in 10 years.

The commission also agreed to create rules that … Read more

Sprint shopping for more wireless spectrum, report says

Sprint Nextel is shopping for more wireless spectrum, Bloomberg reported, as the nation's third-largest carrier tries to catch up with bigger rivals Verizon Wireless and AT&T.

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse told the news service in an interview published today that Sprint's purchase of Clearwire will give it a strong position for a period of time, but Sprint wants to buy more spectrum to help it in the long term.

Sprint is looking at making deals with other companies or buying spectrum through government sales, Hesse said, according to Bloomberg.

The carrier, which late last year reached a $20.1 billion merger pact with SoftBank, … Read more