T-Mobile Wins 3G Spectrum; Is MetroPCS Coming To NYC?
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Well, it looks like T-Mobile is fighting the mobile turf war by utilizing 3G as their angle of choice…
Will T-Mobile actually build out a nationwide 3G UMTS network before Cingular does? The Tea Mob got a big boost from the final results of the most recent FCC spectrum auctions, where the government sold off chunks of the 1700 Mhz and 2100 Mhz bands. Both bands are prime territory for 3G cellular technology; in fact, most of the rest of the world has installed 3G on a slightly different segment of 2100 Mhz than we’ll be using.
T-Mobile grabbed swathes of spectrum nationwide, winning 120 bids covering 474 million people. Yes, there are fewer than 474 million people in the US; that just means they grabbed multiple chunks of spectrum in some metro areas. A T-Mobile press release says the licenses cover “the continental United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico/US Virgin Islands, Alaska, and major markets including New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago.”
T-Mobile has historically been squeezed for spectrum, which is one of the reasons they haven’t rolled out 3G before now. This big land grab puts them on track to deliver UMTS in 2007 as they’ve hinted at…. Source: Gearlog
