Mobitrends

You might have read a lot about this 700MHz auction thing… let’s try and understand it. First thing first: what’s that spectrum:

The FCC has produced a helfpul map of the available spectrum, which runs from 698-806MHz. In the image above, the yellow sections have already been auctioned off, and the gray sections are reserved for the nationwide public safety broadband network that will be constructed over the next few years. The remaining (white) A,B,C,D, and E blocks are what will be offered at auction later this year.

Big blocks are C (22MHz) and D (10MHz) available nationwide, A, B and E are only available on some areas. The 22MHz C block also comes with requirements: 40 percent coverage within four years, 75 percent coverage within 10. C and D blocks come with special regulations : According to USA Today, Kevin Martin, chairman of FCC, says that the only exceptions would be for “software that is illegal or could harm a network,” leaving the network otherwise open for anyone to “use any wireless device and download any mobile broadband application, with no restrictions.”

We know that google is interested in that spectrum, as Verizon who see in it opportunities for expanding his network. It sounds like this spectrum is bound to be used for mobile applications, but it seems unclear yet what this truly means… and although the spectrum is pretty powerful, it will require a pretty dense local cell infrastructure to work efficiently.

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