AT&T to Use Qualcomm Spectrum to Improve Downlink Speeds, Carrier Tells FCC
AT&T will use 700 MHz spectrum licenses it proposes to buy from Qualcomm to expand its network’s downlink capacity by late 2014, AT&T said in a letter responding to a series of questions about the transaction posed by the FCC Wireless Bureau. AT&T estimated that handsets and equipment incorporating the Qualcomm spectrum won’t be available before 2014-2015. The carrier said it’s still “collecting the tens of thousands of pages of documents requested by the Commission” and argued again that the information must be protected because it’s commercially sensitive (CD June 6 p14).
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The AT&T filing, though key parts were redacted, offers insights into how the Qualcomm spectrum will be used if the FCC approves the transaction. Because the spectrum it’s buying is unpaired, it must be paired with other spectrum otherwise owned by AT&T in the 700 MHz and AWS bands, the filing said. Some of the Qualcomm spectrum could be paired with spectrum from the T-Mobile deal. “AT&T also has submitted to the 3GPP standards organization a request for a specification that will permit AT&T to bond the Qualcomm Spectrum with 1900 MHz spectrum on its LTE network,” the filing said.
AT&T said even if it buys the spectrum from Qualcomm, unless the AT&T/T-Mobile deal is also approved, its plans remain to deploy LTE to 80 percent of the U.S. population by the end of 2013. The company “has no current plans for any further LTE deployment,” absent approval of its buy of T-Mobile, AT&T said. Because the Qualcomm spectrum does not affect AT&T’s planned LTE footprint “the Proposed Transaction will not affect AT&T’s current marketing or pricing planning,” the filing said.
The Qualcomm spectrum by itself will not “resolve AT&T’s current or future capacity needs,” AT&T said. “AT&T will be gaining only 6 MHz of unpaired spectrum in most of the country, and even where it obtains 12 MHz, the spectrum will be unpaired and limited for downlink capacity.”
AT&T said the Qualcomm spectrum will help it offer better service by improving downlink speeds. “Customers who use iPads and other tablets which will support this capability or devices with large screens will notice improvements in speed and performance of high-resolution applications and download, and also may experience a more seamless video or gaming experience,” the filing said. “Customers will experience faster, more consistent, and more reliable LTE download services, particularly during periods of peak use -- thus permitting the downloading of videos, files, and other services in as little as half the time.” AT&T said downlink traffic “far exceeds data uplink traffic” on its network and creates “a major constraint on spectrum utility and capacity.”
The filing argues that Wireless Communications Service licenses AT&T owns are irrelevant in terms of offering broadband. “WCS licenses are not suitable for mobile broadband service at this time, and AT&T is aware of no other licensees deploying a mobile broadband system in this service,” AT&T said.