Technology rollouts: Build it and they will come

Editor’s Note: As part of RCR Wireless News’ relaunch, Publisher Jeff Mucci and Editor Tracy Ford interviewed a number of wireless executives across the industry to find out firsthand what they’re doing. In a few words: carriers are building.
Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless is testing LTE services in Boston and Seattle, and found initially that the network is performing as expected, said CTO Anthony Melone. The carrier is “kicking the tires” to validate the performance of the technology at 700 MHz, and to make sure that the equipment from various suppliers is interoperable. “We were happy with the consistency of the technology,” during the first phase of testing, Melone said. Verizon tested IP-based voice services on the network and found the application performed as expected, but the challenge in offering VoIP on the LTE network is how the application would scale.
T-Mobile USA
T-Mobile USA has built out the lion’s share of its AWS spectrum, effectively doubling its covered pops from 100 million at the end of 2008, to 200 million covered pops in 2009, noted Neville Ray, senior VP, engineering and operations. “It puts us on competitive parity in most of the country.”
And while much of the industry’s attention is now moving toward fourth-generation standards, T-Mobile is much more interested in the software upgrades that are taking place around the 3G HSPA-Plus standard. The carrier has said it is looking at LTE technology through its parent compaqny. “We’re excited about the technology but it’s not ready for prime time yet.” Meanwhile, advances to the HSPA technology will enable the carrier to see speeds of 21 Megabits per second, and testing is showing the technology can even reach 84 Mbps or 168 Mbps.
Leap Wireless International Inc.
The flat-rate carrier is concentrating on rolling out and optimizing the three markets it recently launched – Chicago, Baltimore and Philadelphia, said CTO Glenn Umetsu. As the carrier touts its mobile broadband services, Umetsu noted that “for more than 50% of our broadband customers, it’s their first Internet connectivity.” However, Leap initially is not touting its broadband services in these new markets; instead it is leading with voice services.
The company has been building out its AWS spectrum aggressively: in the past year, the company has grown from covering 36 million pops to the 92 million it covers today. That buildout is now enabling Leap to see economies of scale, Umetsu said. “Things are a lot simpler if you’ve got scale.” Even though Leap lowered its outlook for the rest of the year due to the economy and heightened competition in the prepaid space, Umetsu noted the second and third quarters traditionally are about keeping customers, rather than growing the base.
Clearwire
Clearwire, which has already launched WiMAX service in a few markets, is finding the nuances of the community are reflected in the individual market, noted CEO Bill Morrow. For example, Portland customers tend to be high-tech, while online gaming is a common application in Las Vegas. The carrier is planning to cover 120 million pops by the end of next year. As its cable partners roll out WiMAX offerings, Morrow said he expects the increased awareness will further spur adoption. Clearwire is targeting the mass-market customer, while the cable MSOs will focus on bundled offerings and Sprint Nextel Corp. will target the enterprise customer.