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AT&T Going After Verizon Wireless Assets

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I don't understand how this works. . .

Jayshmay

Feb 4, 2009, 11:25 AM
Verizon's assets are CDMA, and AT&T (GSM) is persuing Verizon's asset. I don't get this.

A little help please.
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haley72

Feb 4, 2009, 11:29 AM
Att is after the Spectrum. It wouldnt be that hard to convert to GSM from CDMA. Att just needs the space not nessessarily the "towers".
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Jayshmay

Feb 4, 2009, 11:32 AM
So spectrum is spectrum, spectrum isn't GSM or CDMA, is that what your saying?
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haley72

Feb 4, 2009, 11:37 AM
My understanding is that spectrum is just the space in which a carrier transmits its signal. I could be wrong though. Also, I think that if Att buys a chunk of "spectrun" they wil also get the towers that were in that area, it wouldnt be that hard at that point to convert them to GSM from CMDA. Again, I think thats how it works, if Im wrong please help me understand how it really works.
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dave73

Feb 4, 2009, 12:12 PM
How it works is that the licenses are for broadcasting in specific frequencies. The technology to broadcast in doesn't necessarily matter with the FCC, as long as it's approved for use with the FCC.

For most markets that Verizon must divest, they are CDMA (which is what Alltel currently uses). Some markets in the great plains & the west also have GSM overlaid from Alltel's purchase of Western Wireless. In those markets, both CDMA carriers held the cellular licenses, and no GSM carrier built out in PCS. So Western Wireless (and later Alltel) put up the GSM roaming network to make some money off AT&T (nee Cingular) & T-Mobile. AT&T would have to be foolish to pass up places such as Montana & all of North & South Dakota, since GSM is al...
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Pink Jazz

Feb 4, 2009, 12:39 PM
Don't forget, AT&T is buying out Centennial, and Centennial operates a CDMA network in Puerto Rico. I don't think it would be that hard.

Verizon sold their Puerto Rican network and subscribers to America Movil/Claro, and Claro has been converting Verizon's existing CDMA network to GSM/UMTS. I think AT&T can easily do the same with the Centennial subscribers there.
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haley72

Feb 4, 2009, 1:30 PM
Thanks for breaking it down into simple terms. I know how it works, I just have a hard time putting it into words that make sence.
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Versed

Feb 4, 2009, 8:52 PM
Also, Alltel has/had gsm towers thoughout the midwest, I'm sure AT&T would love those.
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TheSinister

Feb 4, 2009, 10:37 PM
😈 🤣 Thats the Whole True fact now behind this story, and I was trying to get across to everyone read my most at the bottom. You'll understand this whole point of view AT&T wants the GSM cell sites, not the CDMA Cell sites come on people understand this!!!
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dave73

Feb 5, 2009, 2:47 AM
TheSinister said:
😈 🤣 Thats the Whole True fact now behind this story, and I was trying to get across to everyone read my most at the bottom. You'll understand this whole point of view AT&T wants the GSM cell sites, not the CDMA Cell sites come on people understand this!!!

In some markets that AT&T acquires, they won't have a choice, but to acquire CDMA networks, and spend money to convert those markets to GSM. The CDMA/GSM markets will be easier, as it's already in place. The only thing AT&T would have to do for those markets (should they acquire the CDMA/GSM combo networks) is add additional towers to make the GSM side work like it should, without lots of holes in the coverage area.
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Rebelpilot

Feb 4, 2009, 12:17 PM
Towers and Spectrum are two different assets.

Spectrum is issued by the FCC (like in the 700 MHz auction) for any company to use for their needs. This has nothing to do with the technology used to handle wireless calls, it is merely the frequency used to to carry the technology (it's basically the road in an interstate system).

CDMA and GSM are technologies that allow the phones to communicate to the network in general. In a technical term they are decoding schemes that use the spectrum to communicate how the phones should talk to the network. (They would be the cars on the interstate, they are how you get around).

Towers are where carriers put up their antennas to transmit the spectrum to user their technology to talk. (They wou...
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JeffdaBeat

Feb 4, 2009, 1:29 PM
Very good way to put it sir. Spectrum is basically the space that the information can work around in. I always think of it as layers in a cake or floors of a building. Each provide occupies one of the floors. Interference occures when the signal from one provider goes to a different floor or layer.

What Verizon is doing is selling off floors because it already has space above or below what Alltel owned. AT&T may not own any floors in that area.
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durkadurkha

Feb 4, 2009, 4:26 PM
long story short picture spectrum like a very wide toll road.

the government regulates how many lanes of the toll road each carrier has access to. the more spectrum a single carrier has the more lanes they can have customers on and the easier traffic flows (fast internet speeds, good call quality, few dropped calls). In turn if a carrier owns a small amount of spectrum there would be traffic jams and customers would have dropped calls, poor call quality and slow connection speeds.

in short the more spectrum you have the better you can provide service to customers.
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Jayshmay

Feb 4, 2009, 4:51 PM
So is there any difference between the spectrum a CDMA carrier has and the spectrum a GSM carrier has?
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durkadurkha

Feb 4, 2009, 5:27 PM
nope the carrier buys the spectrum then the carrier decides which technology to use in that spectrum--- if a carrier buys spectrum from another carrier they are buying the rights to the radio waves not the technology the other carrier used in the area.
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TheSinister

Feb 4, 2009, 6:54 PM
This is the understanding AT&T is buying the Alltell's wireless Gsm Network and is acquiring the Specturm to run that network and they are acquiring the spectrum where the D.O.J ordered Verizon Wireless Divest in 105 markets across the main forty eight states and the spectrum runs on the CDMA 850 megahertz frequencies along with the 1900 Megahertz frequencies the spectrum ranges from 10 megahertz to 30 megahertz in some markets these are statewide spectrum licenses AT&T will acquired along with 2.1 million customers more than likely AT&T will let those customers go and move onto other carriers to win D.O.J approval and they will in the long run acquire the old alltell GSM network along with the Specturm to run it and along with the CDMA spec...
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dave73

Feb 5, 2009, 2:56 AM
AT&T won't be acquiring all markets. It doesn't say which markets they're going after, but AT&T would have to be foolish to pass up markets that Alltel runs a GSM roaming network on top of their CDMA network.

I don't know if any of the markets Verizon is divesting of Alltel involves any PCS or not. I know Alltel doesn't have many PCS only markets, and any markets that do have PCS running are in cellular/PCS markets. I do believe that Verizon is acquiring the unused PCS licenses that Alltel holds, but doesn't have a network built out on them. Alltel did acquire all the PCS licenses that Western Wireless held when they were bought out in 2005. So I expect the markets to be the 800 bane spectrum being divested of Alltel's. Only in Mich...
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