New US LTE network borne of satellite operators, launching next year
By Chris Ziegler 
posted March 29th 2010 1:35PM
posted March 29th 2010 1:35PM
Over the next few years we're looking at major LTE build-outs in the US from at least two players -- Verizon and AT&T -- but we've rather unexpectedly gotten a third player coming into the fold today led by hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners. Basically, these guys just got regulatory approval last week to buy satellite operator SkyTerra, combining about 23MHz of spectrum through slivers of ownership in the 1.4GHz and 1.6GHz terrestrial bands with 10MHz of L-band satellite space. This isn't the kind of network you'll just be able to waltz into a store and sign up for, though; instead, Harbinger is looking to offer it as an end-to-end wholesale service to other providers, of which AT&T and Verizon could be a part if they need the extra capacity or they're looking for a stopgap prior to completing their own build-outs. Interestingly, the terms of the SkyTerra deal specify that the big guys can only account for up to 25 percent of the new network's traffic, so there'll still be plenty of room for other players to get in when the initial commercial launch goes live (or is scheduled to go live, anyway) some time before the third quarter of 2011 covering 9 million potential subscribers. A full-scale launch in all "major" markets is lined up by the second quarter of 2013 -- and thanks to Harbinger's holdings in TerreStar, we could see even more than 23MHz worth of LTE airspace by the time everything's said and done. By comparison, Verizon holds 22MHz of 700MHz spectrum in many markets, so these guys are working with a decent-sized slice of the pie here.
If you do LTE via satellite, won't that add a lot to latency? Defeating some of the purpose of LTE... making some real time apps difficult to use...
@MJ
You would think so. Don't they have that problem with sat internet right now?
@MJ the network will not be sattelite based, it will be run by a company that has bought a company that is a sattelite operator.
HughesNet LTE. LoL.
And so begins the networking of SkyNet.
I thought ATT was already supposed to have a combined SAT service this year with TerraStar? Is this not happening now???
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/24/atandt-to-go-live-with-terrestar-sat-phone-services-this-year/
In other news...Clear WiMax went live in Houston @ 12 AM Sunday March 28th 2010. Plans starting at $40 a mo. AT&T promises a swift response. Inside source (AT&T employee) says major network upgrade to go live in June.
@ArhcAngel: I just noticed my Sprint Overdrive go to 4G instead of 3G yesterday. Haven't noticed a huge difference in speed, but then again 3G seemed to be just fine on it.
This really shows the need for frequency-agnostic LTE radios and antennas for phones. If these guys deploy LTE on 1400 and 1600Mhz bands, the future US LTE bands will possibly look like:
700Mhz Verizon
800Mhz? Sprint (currently IDEN but will they reclaim it in future?)
850Mhz AT&T
900Mhz Verizon
1400Mhz SkyTerra
1600Mhz SkyTerra
1700Mhz T-mobile
1900Mhz AT&T
2500Mhz ClearWire/Sprint (currently WiMax spectrum but will they reclaim it if Sprint goes LTE?)
Then if you want a phone that can work in Europe it also has to support 1800Mhz and 2100Mhz.
@kballs Sprint's 2500 MHz WiMAX equipment will simply be switched over to LTE on the 2500 MHz spectrum should they decide to make the switch. There would be no need for spectrum reclamation.
Riddle me this, commenters:
Harbringer wants to build an LTE network to rival AT&T and Verizon. Harbringer has shares in TerreStar. TerreStar has a partnership with AT&T for the Genus smartsatphone.
Harbringer/SkyTerra has 23 MHz of spectrum that is split into 5, 8, and 10 MHz chunks in the 1400, 1600, and 1700 MHz spectrums.
Nobody's really heard about Harbringer nor SkyTerra.
Almost every carrier is using some random hairbrained frequency for their "LTE" networks.
How the @#@% is this going to work out?
Here is some better information than engadgets....
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/The-Birth-Of-A-New-Wireless-Broadband-Competitor-107603
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