If reports are to be believed, T-Mobile, otherwise known as the greatest US wireless carrier in my opinion, is positioning itself to purchase some spectrum for an LTE network build out. According to reports, T-Mo recently completed an eight-city spectrum interference study with the goal of convincing the federal government to auction off a huge portion of spectrum that T-Mobile might purchase and use to build an LTE network. If you want to see the full study click here. Quite interesting.
According to the report, T-Mo’s study centered on the 1755 – 1780 MHz band. Interestingly that is the block of spectrum T-Mobile is urging the FCC to pair with the AWS-3 block (2155-2580 MHz) and put up for auction. If the FCC did indeed pair AWS-3 with a suitable spectrum that the big magenta won via auction and purchased it, we could very well see a nationwide LTE network for T-Mo.
So, LTE here we come? Well, maybe, hopefully. Honestly, in my opinion there are too many variables. For instance, T-Mobile might not even win an auction if it were to be held. It is quite common for wireless carriers to purchase large blocks or spectrum and sit on it to gain competitive advantages. Also, AWS-3 would not be ready for prime-time for quite sometime. Possibly years.
So, again, LTE here we come? Well, we will just have to wait and see. As always, stay tuned.