Expanded 4G Coverage in NYC

Clearwire, Time Warner Cable and Sprint Expand 4G Coverage in New York City

By Clearwire

The city that never sleeps just got another reason to stay awake.

When we first launched our 4G network in New York City 8 months ago we changed the way New Yorkers were able to experience the Internet and stay connected on the go. We’ve been hard at work with Sprint and Time Warner Cable ever since then to continually upgrade and expand our game-changing network, and as of today we’ve added coverage for an extra 91,363 people. That means our total NYC area coverage now reaches over 11,927,000 people.

“Sprint 4G customers in the Greater New York area will benefit from these enhancements,” said Karen Paletta, Sprint’s East region Vice President. And it’s true! We know how busy you are, and these upgrades have made our network bigger, faster and strong enough to keep up with you as you run around making things happen in your city.

“Across New York and New Jersey, Clearwire’s 4G speed continues to set the standard in delivering a high-speed network that businesses and consumers demand,” said Sean Reid, Regional General Manager for Clearwire. It’s never been easier to get things done on the go – whether you’re downloading a file for work or sending your friend a video clip you took during an outdoor concert in the park. As Lou Lazzaro, Vice President of Wireless, Time Warner Cable New York City said, we’re “offering our customers multiple ways to access the information and content they want at home, at work and on the go.”

Reprinted from CLEAR blog

Spectrum Buzz

By John Celentano, Strategic Marketing, TESSCO Technologies

Seems like radio frequency (RF) spectrum, or lack of it, is a hot topic these days.

Consider the recent buzz on spectrum in the industry.

• AT&T, in addition to owning a large block of 700 MHz spectrum along with its 850/1900 MHz holdings for its cellular network, is willing to plunk down $39 billion to buy T-Mobile USA, ostensibly to gain access to T-Mobile USA’s extensive spectrum holdings across the country. If the deal goes through, AT&T gains T-Mobile USA’s existing 1900 MHz spectrum and more importantly, the 120 licenses of AWS (1.7/2.1 GHz) 20 MHz spectrum for which T-Mobile USA paid $4 billion in the 2006 auction.

• Right behind that, AT&T has offered to buy 22 700 MHz licenses from a rural service provider that operates in parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin.

• Verizon already has started its LTE build-out in the 700 MHz band as an overlay to its existing CDMA 1900 MHz network. The company just announced LTE build-outs in 21 new markets starting in June 2011.

• Sprint with its Network Vision architecture intends to recast its customer access to available spectrum by consolidating its holdings across the 800/900, 1900 and 2500 MHz bands.

• On May 20, 2011, the FCC issued a Public Notice inviting technical input on how to maximize the 2 GHz band for fixed/mobile applications.

• WCAI itself has been vocal in calling for channel allocations that are both wider and contiguous in certain bands such as 2.5 GHz. Such adoption by regulators would make use of this spectrum more “effective and efficient.”

Spectrum translates into bandwidth. More bandwidth means wider channels for carrying information. Wider channels mean faster download speeds that can support a greater array of services: high-speed Internet access, mobile voice, and increasingly, video. And more services simply means greater revenues for the service providers.

Where is all this demand for more spectrum coming from? Quite simply, it comes from the surge in usage of data-intensive smartphones, tablets, and mobile-enabled laptops that is driving demand for any speed, anywhere, any media services. If the carriers are going to deliver, they will need access to more spectrum wherever it can be made available.

Consider what happened when AT&T first released the Apple iPhone. In the beginning, the company was pleasantly surprised at the customer take-rates despite the iPhone’s high purchase price. But then, with literally millions of iPhones coming online in major markets in a matter of months, AT&T began to see its network suddenly bog down as all those data-rich devices tried to get a high-speed connection. Clearly, the company was unprepared for the surge in data traffic usage that iPhones generated. Needless to say, iPhone users were not very happy with AT&T’s performance. So the company embarked on a rapid network upgrade program to expand capacity in both the access network between customers and cell sites, and in the backhaul network that connects cell sites to switching centers. AT&T’s current motivation in scooping up more spectrum likely has as much to do with avoiding future network congestion as it does for providing new data-rich services. In this context, all wireless service providers, whether in metro or rural markets, are facing similar capacity issues.

This situation begs the question: how much investment will be needed to build the network that can handle all this traffic?

Two main factors drive wireless capital expenditures (capex) – the number of wireless devices connected to the network, and the minutes of use (MOUs-voice & data) that each device generates. The number of devices is proliferating when you count smartphones, tablets, mobile-enabled laptops, and growing volume of machine-to-machine (M2M) connections for a host of industrial and commercial applications. And each device is churning out ever-increasing megabits per second of information. Taken together, the data traffic load on the network is expected to grow at high double-digit rates annually with no foreseeable deadline. This means that wireless carriers will book, for some time, significant capex as they expand area coverage and increase data-handling capacity, while beefing up the backhaul network throughput.

In the end, this capex pace and duration will be gated by the amount of spectrum being freed up over the next several years. That will create even more buzz!

Clearwire and Sprint (peanut butter and jelly, peas and carrots…you get the idea)

By Clearwire

We’re pretty proud of the Sprint and Clearwire match – it’s a partnership that’s been one of the most productive in the U.S. wireless market to date. Together we’ve deployed the first true 4G network in North America and made 4G a household word. So, we’re happy to report that this partnership continues with an updated long-term wholesale agreement between Clearwire and Sprint.

There are a number of details that you can read about here, but the really big news for Clearwire is that Sprint will commit a minimum of $1 billion in cash to Clearwire for 4G wholesale services. This money will be used to support Clearwire’s ongoing operations, and it underscores the interdependent and strategic relationship we have with Sprint.

Our all IP-network is Sprint’s 4G network. (It’s also the same 4G network used by Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Best Buy, Cbeyond, Mitel, and Locus Telecommunications to offer mobile broadband to their customers.) Our unmatched spectrum provides Sprint with a strategic advantage in terms of network capacity. As data usage rises, the need for a rich spectrum portfolio will become even more acute.

With the only 4G wholesale network in the country, coverage for more than 120 million people, and a growing customer and revenue base, we look forward to continuing our partnership with Sprint to deliver outstanding 4G service.

This article is reprinted from the Clearwire blog.

WCAI 4G Caucus Kicks Off with Discussions on Spectrum, AT&T/T-Mobile Merger, 4G Migration Strategies

Gerry Salemme, Partner at Eagle River, kicked off the WCAI 4G Caucus this morning with a fireside chat keynote led by WCAI President Fred Campbell. In a lively discussion of the future of mobile technologies Mr. Salemme spoke about the growing data demand and spectrum issues, the AT&T/T-Mobile merger and the chances of its approval, the gaining momentum of LTE and its potential impact on Clearwire and regional players in the 2.5 GHz band, as well as the economy and the availability of investment capital affecting 4G network deployment in the U.S. Mr. Salemme, who is an advisor to the Clearwire CEO on business and spectrum strategy, also clarified the relationship between Clearwire and Sprint, saying that it’s “more cooperative than people expect.”

The opening keynote was followed by a panel on 4G network migration strategies led by one of the most distinguished industry analysts Berge Ayvazian of Heavy Reading. During the panel, experts from Sprint, AT&T, FiberTower and Tessco discussed their views on the transition from 3G to 4G networks, key challenges of the migration the industry faces, and how policy management solutions can help manage the transition.

Still ahead is the day packed with lively discussions and networking opportunities. Iyad Tarazi, Vice President, Network Development and Engineering at Sprint, will speak about how Sprint’s Network Vision is expected to consolidate multiple network technologies into one, seamless network. Following his keynote presentation, Mr. Campbell of WCAI will lead the discussion on adapting regulations to the new realities of 4G technologies. The panel will feature FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman, along with regulatory experts from AT&T, Sprint, Clearwire and Wilkinson Barket Knauer.

Other program highlights include a keynote from Sybase an SAP Company on real-time actionable intelligence strategies for 4G operators; a keynote from Alvarion on building 4G smart grid, as well as panel discussions on broadband spectrum options for smart grid applications and on fixed wireless innovations.

Wrapping up the first day of the event will be the popular WCAI Networking Dinner at Ruth’s Chris, one of the best steak houses in town.

So if you are not already here, come join us for the exciting day of discussions and networking!

2010 Prediction: A Mix of WiMAX Smartphones and Low-Cost Devices to Emerge

By Guest Blogger Pascal Deriot, Senior Analyst & Partner, WiMAX & LTE Equipment, Maravedis

In a recent interview, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse commented that not only was its network up and running, but its compelling and cool devices, such as dual-mode 3G/4G smartphones, will make WiMAX a successful adoption. On the same front, Clearwire CEO Bill Morrow explained that the second stage of Clearwire’s business model, targeting the PDA/smartphone market, is to happen in the second half of 2010. Although Yota has proved that smartphones can be a great vehicle to promote the fantastic bandwidth capability of the first 4G technology, we also project that the cost of the WiMAX platform is another angle that needs to be considered.

As previously seen in Wi-Fi or 3GPP/3GPP2 markets, WiMAX chipset vendors have leveraged their first or second generations to further reduce chipset costs by migrating to a smaller geometry process node, and/or by introducing monolithic dies. At the same time, new packaging approaches, such as System-in-Package and optimized Bill Of Material (BOM), have significantly reduced the footprint of the WiMAX platform, allowing device manufacturers to launch a new generation of products that are more appealing, integrated, and that combine 3G and 4G standards.

The new research report released by WCAI member Maravedis in partnership with Reveal Wireless, “WiMAX Wave2 Subscriber Station Chipset Vendors Competitive Analysis” provides a detailed comparison of the key WiMAX chipset vendors, identifying system architectures, estimating chipset and system BOM, and cost of available devices such as CPEs, USB dongles or Express Cards. One of the report’s major findings is that WiMAX mass-market adoption may require sub-US$10 chipsets that are power and performance optimized for each application-specific segment. Maravedis and Reveal Wireless have identified three chipset vendors best positioned to achieve the US$10 price target through base-band and RF monolithic die integration in 65-nm.

Although most of the available chipsets are not highly optimized because they were compelled to cover a broad range of application segments, an additional study revealed that device manufacturers could build a basic WiMAX USB dongle solution for as low as sub US$50, while maintaining healthy profit margins. The figure below presents the breakdown of the cost of the USB dongle: the electronic BOM (eBOM) is composed of all the platform components, excluding the chipset. A basic USB dongle platform can be divided into 3 main sub-systems: base-band, RF and power management sub-systems, bringing the component count to 150-200 components. The rBOM, also called sometimes mBOM, defines the mechanical Bill-Of-Material. It contains the non-electronic components such as connectors, USB plug, antennas, PCB, housing, shielding or screws. Our total manufacturing cost estimation includes the labor cost, profit and SG&A. According to our research the WiMAX chipset, by its complexity and silicon die size, represents 44% of the total cost.

Moreover, our analysis shows that a combination of an aggressive Bill-Of-Material reduction by 20-30%, combined with a second generation chipset and higher production volumes, could further shrink the cost of the USB dongle by roughly 20%, providing a sub-US$40 product in 2010 time-frame.

We believe that WiMAX mass-market adoption requires a ubiquitous coverage and technology maturity, a mixed portfolio of appealing, integrated and low cost devices, and competitive WiMAX chipsets. We have no doubt that all these ingredients will be ready next year contributing to a fantastic growth of the WiMAX market, in all regions.

MARAVEDIS is a leading analyst firm focusing on disruptive technologies including smart networks using WiMAX, IEEE, and 3GPP/LTE. For more information about Maravedis, please visit http://www.maravedis-bwa.com/ or contact info@maravedis-bwa.com.