T-Mobile will announce its move into 3G (UMTS) in the United States tomorrow, reports eWeek. The announcement will take place jointly with officials from Deutsche Telekom and from its US Subsidiary, T-Mobile USA.
“T-Mobile will announce UMTS on 1700 MHz and 2100 MHz,” said analyst Roger Entner, vice president of the London-based research and consulting company Ovum. A Gartner analyst says it will take up to a year and a half for T-Mobile to deploy the network nationally.
Entner said that the U.S. frequencies are different from those in Europe and elsewhere, and for that reason, T-Mobile’s UMTS solution will work only in the United States until new devices with multiple frequency support are developed, despite the fact that UMTS is a global standard.
T-Mobile could have WiFi/Cellular phone services that use the unlicensed mobile access (UMA) specification ready as early as the fall, according to Roger Entner, VP of Wireless Telecoms at analyst firm Ovum Ltd.
Based in Bellevue, Washington, T-Mobile USA paid some $4.1 Billion for 120 licenses covering the continental United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands, Alaska and major markets including New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Their GSM/GPRS/EDGE network in the United States (including roaming and other agreements) reach more than 275 million people. In addition, T-Mobile provides Wi-Fi access at more than 7,800 public locations throughout the country.
According to market researchers U.S. wireless subscribers total 219.4 million with penetration at approximately 74% and likely to exceed 78% by the end of the year.
The top 4 US carriers (Cingular, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile) accounted for over $6.3B in wireless data revenues for the first half of 2006 and added 12.7M subscribers from Jan-Jun 2006.
Cingular has (57.3 million customers), Verizon (54.8 million subs), Sprint/Nextel (51.7 million subs) and T-Mobile USA (23.3 million subs).
The US had about 7 million 3G subscribers by Q2 ‘06, primarily from Verizon and Sprint Nextel (using EV-DO). With Cingular (and T-Mobile) now joining the fray, 3G growth is expected to accelerate. Cingular says its UMTS/HSDPA mobile broadband network is now available in and around 44 major metropolitan areas.
The FCC’s Advanced Wireless Services auction will likely be used for 3G (W-CDMA) phone services. It grossed $13.9 billion for the U.S. Treasury. The 28-day-long auction ended last month after 161 rounds, with 104 of the 168 registered bidders winning at least one license. All but 35 of the total 1,122 licenses up for grabs received bids.
|
Top 10 Highest AWS Bidders
|
|
| Bidders | Net total of high bids |
| 1. T-Mobile | $4.2 billion |
| 2. Verizon Wireless | $2.8 billion |
| 3. SpectrumCo | $2.4 billion |
| 4. MetroPCS | $1.4 billion |
| 5. Cingular | $1.3 billion |
| 6. Cricket | $710 million |
| 7. Denali Spectrum | $365 million |
| 8. Barat Wireless | $127 million |
| 9. AWS Wireless | $116 million |
| 10. Atlantic Wireless | $81 million |
| Click here to find out who is backing these bidders. | |
Meanwhile SpectrumCo, the joint venture between Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Advance/Newhouse (cable/newspaper) and Sprint Nextel, says it was the winning bidder for 137 wireless spectrum licenses for $2.37 billion in the FCC’s AWS auction last month. Comcast’s portion of the total costs is $1.29 billion. Time Warner Cable’s portion is $632.2 million and Cox Communications’ portion is $248.3 million.
The spectrum cost an average of $0.45 per megahertz per pop (potential population), which - says SpectrumCo - was the lowest average price paid by all the major bidders.
The 1.7/2.1 GHz spectrum licenses will create a true national footprint covering the cable companies’ top cities including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, and provide flexibility and strategic options.
Related DailyWireless articles include; AWS: It’s Done.
.gif)
