4G Global Update - June 13, 2011

 

UK Stands Firm on 4G Auction Rules

Mobile Business Briefing

The U.K. government has issued a warning to O2 U.K. not to derail the country's upcoming LTE spectrum auctions with the threat of legal action. The Telefonica-owned operator suggested it is mulling legal action on the basis that the auction rules unfairly benefit some of its rivals, enabling them to pick up valuable sub-1GHz spectrum at discounted rates. However, the Financial Times reports that the government department responsible for the auction called for the 4G spectrum to be "released as soon as possible," adding that the auctions were "essential for consumers, the communications market and our wider economy." The U.K. regulator, Ofcom, also defended its proposed auction rules, noting it is "ready to defend robustly our final decisions." The auctions are currently scheduled to begin early next year but would certainly be delayed if challenged in the courts. More

 

 

Spain's Yoigo, Orange Win Tech Neutral Spectrum

TeleGeography

Spain's Secretaria de Estado de Telecomunicaciones has announced that Xfera Moviles, which offers its services under the Yoigo banner, and Orange Espana have been awarded concessions in the 1800MHz and 900MHz bands respectively, after it was revealed last month that the duo had been the only two bidders for the licenses. With the sale representing the first batch of new mobile spectrum that is being made available by the government as part of a raft of frequency sales due to be held this year, France Telecom-owned Orange has committed to investing EUR433 million ($620 million) for its new allocation, far higher than the EUR126 million minimum that the government had set for the first three years of the concession. More

 

 

Air on a 4G String: Thailand's DTAC Shares LTE Frequency Musings

TeleGeography

Thai cellco DTAC has aired a proposal to return an unused 25MHz block of 1800MHz band wireless spectrum to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission in exchange for a 4G LTE license, to bypass the deadlock in the country's 3G licensing plans. DTAC holds 50MHz in the 1800MHz band for voice services, plus 10MHz in the 850MHz range for data services. More

 

 

Genius Awards 4G Contract to Huawei

Global Telecoms Business

Hong Kong operators Hutchison and PCCW, through their 50/50 joint venture Genius Brand, have awarded a contract to the Chinese firm Huawei Technologies to launch 4G LTE. The contract is for a turnkey deployment of base stations. In spite of the shared rollout venture, Hutchison and PCCW plan to keep their commercial 4G services completely separate. More

 

 

Report: ZTE Sues Huawei Over TD-LTE Patents

Mobile Business Briefing

ZTE has reportedly opened up another front in its legal battle with rival Chinese equipment vendor Huawei — this time concerning alleged infringement of TD-LTE patents. According to Marbridge Daily, a ZTE official last week confirmed that the vendor had filed a new suit against Huawei in Shenzhen, adding that the court had accepted the suit and had begun legal proceedings. Huawei confirmed the report. ZTE had asked the court to order Huawei to immediately cease the manufacture and use of its TD-LTE equipment, and to forbid Huawei from conducting large-scale TD-LTE technology trials. TD-LTE is the technology currently being tested and rolled out by China's (and the world's) largest operator, China Mobile. More

 

 

LightSquared Opposition Wants Spectrum Shift

Light Reading

Opponents to the proposed LightSquared LTE network in the L-Band are now suggesting that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission find a different swathe of spectrum for the proposed wholesale 4G network. LightSquared plans to build out the first wide-scale, hybrid LTE terrestrial and satellite network using L-Band spectrum. The 1.6GHz L-Band, however, sits adjacent to frequencies used by GPS to broadcast triangulated location data to earthbound receivers. The National PNT Engineering Forum has issued new data that suggests that the LightSquared equipment weakens some receivers' ability to get positioning data and swamps some others entirely. The committee's suggested fix is to put LightSquared on different spectrum or add new filters to the GPS receivers. More

 

 

Contenders to Line Up for Nortel Patents

The Wall Street Journal

Companies trying to unseat Google from the lead position in the bidding on Nortel Networks' patent portfolio have until 4 p.m. Eastern Time Monday to take a shot at it. The list of contenders likely will include Microsoft, Apple, Research in Motion, and perhaps Ericsson of Sweden, Intel and China's ZTE. The bid deadline can be pushed back, under the court-approved rules, if the company and the creditors who will be watching over Nortel's shoulder think it's justified. Once the bid envelopes are opened, Nortel has time to decide who will actually kick off the bidding. Under the rules, Nortel is required to name the starting bid by high noon at least one day prior to the June 20 auction. More