Spectrum spat
AT&T came out swinging this week with a hard-hitting response to T-Mobile’s proposed “dynamic market rule” for upcoming 600 MHz spectrum auctions. T-Mobile U.S. wants to limit the amount of spectrum any carrier can acquire in a given market, with caps gradually increasing until the government meets its revenue targets for the auction. AT&T contends that this rule could jeopardize the entire auction, which is meant to reallocate bandwidth from television broadcasters to wireless carriers.
Economists from Yale and Columbia have submitted a letter to the FCC stating that T-Mobile’s proposal would “introduce significant uncertainty and complexity for all bidders.” Dr. Yeon-Koo Che of Columbia and Dr. Philip A. Haile of Yale point out that even if the FCC were able to achieve its price targets for spectrum licenses, the government might still be leaving money on the table.
“For any given quantity of spectrum that might be sold in the forward auction, revenues generally will be higher when all interested bidders are permitted to compete than when participation — especially that of high-valuation bidders —i s restricted,” their letter states. T-Mobile, meanwhile, maintains that without caps in place, AT&T and Verizon Wireless could end up with all the 600 MHz spectrum set to be auctioned next year.
Cisco’s cuts
Networking giant Cisco is plans to “rebalance” its workforce with 4,000 lay offs. CEO John Chambers said some of the affected workers will be “reallocated” to high growth areas. Hardware and software for mobile service providers is clearly seen as a growth area by Cisco. The company has made acquisitions in cloud-controlled Wi-Fi, policy control, self-organizing networks, and small cells.
News of the job cuts surprised analysts and investors, especially as it was delivered along with a report of record revenue and earnings for the most recent quarter. But Cisco says it will need to get leaner in order to continue to meet its projections in the current tepid economic climate.
LTE winners
Huawei hasn’t scored any high profile LTE contracts in the United States, but worldwide the Chinese vendor has won more LTE contracts than any other company, according to research from Informa Telecoms and Media. The research firm says Huawei has won 40% of all LTE contracts awarded worldwide to date, while Ericsson has won 34% and NSN 17%. All other vendors combined have just 9% of the market.
The 1800MHz band is increasingly important for LTE deployments. Informa has identified more than 90 operators in 53 countries who have launched or will launch LTE in the 1800MHz band between 2011 and 2015, covering Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.
