MetroPCS to expand LTE network wide by early 2011; 800 MHz option for Sprint Nextel’s CDMA network

Looking to continue its LTE momentum, MetroPCS Communications Inc. (PCS) plans to have the service available in all of its native markets by early next year, with all of its approximately 11,000 cell sites LTE-enabled by the end of 2011. The carrier launched its inaugural LTE service in Las Vegas earlier this week.
Speaking at this week’s Goldman Sachs Communicopia XIX Conference in New York, MetroPCS President and CEO Roger Linquist, noted that as part of the carrier’s LTE plans it was looking at deploying a voice client to run over the next-generation network, either the Voice over LTE standard or a Voice over Internet Protocol standard.
Linquist explained that by migrating both its voice and data traffic over to the LTE network the carrier would be able to free up spectrum currently being used for its CDMA network to further LTE capacity. The carrier currently has between 20 and 30 megahertz of spectrum in most of its markets, save Philadelphia.
The move to complete its LTE roll out by the end of 2011 will also allow MetroPCS to target capital expenditure reductions in 2012 and a change in focus to generating free cash flow.
As for further expansion of LTE coverage beyond its native network, Linquist said that an opportunity to acquire coverage via a wholesale agreement with a carrier like Harbinger Capital Partners’ LightSquared initiative would be a possibility, though he later noted that he did not see reselling services as being a “long term proposition” for the carrier.
Sprint Nextel looking at 800 MHz for CDMA
Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) CEO Dan Hesse, speaking at the same conference, reiterated the company’s plans to make a decision later this year on a network vendor to help the carrier update its entire network operations.
Hesse noted that the carrier’s current operations of two separate networks with CDMA and iDEN technology has hindered its ability to grow its profit margins and that it hopes a network wide upgrade will help the carrier lean out its cost structure.
“A real driver for us is to have multiple air interfaces, multiple frequencies in the same unit in a more cost effective manner,” Hesse explained, noting this could also lead to a decrease in cell sites needed. Sprint Nextel’s CFO Bob Brust noted at an investor conference last week that the carrier was looking to decommission as many as one-third of its approximately 66,000 cell towers through a network update.
As part of those update plans, Hesse noted the carrier was looking at using some of the 800 MHz spectrum currently used for its iDEN network for its CDMA services that would allow the carrier to increase signal penetration in some of its markets.
“There is beachfront property in 800 MHz that we can use for CDMA,” Hesse said, adding it can be used for better coverage in cities and into buildings and help the carrier drive down in-market roaming costs. Those costs are associated with customers that might roam onto a competitor’s network even though they are in a market where Sprint Nextel offers service. Hesse noted that those roaming charges used to go predominately to Alltel Wireless, but are now going to rival Verizon Wireless, which purchased most of Alltel’s assets.