| Quick summary: PCS (in North America) is a new frequency allocation in
the 1850-1990 MHz bands. There can be six carriers: A/B/C carriers each
get a 30 MHz allocation; C/D/E carriers get 10 MHz.
Extracted from the Omnipoint FAQ:
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� PCS operates in different frequencies from cellular. In the
United States, cellular systems operate in the 824-849 megahertz
(MHz) frequency bands; PCS operates in the1850-1990 MHz bands. All
other things being equal, this difference in frequency use does not
translate into any real advantage for PCS operators because the
higher frequencies do not allow signals to travel as far as
cellular signals. Consequently�again, all other things being
equal--it generally takes a greater number of cell sites to cover a
specific area using PCS frequencies than cellular frequencies. The
advantage for PCS here is that more cell sites will mean better
coverage and fewer dropped calls.
� PCS licenses have different bandwidth sizes than cellular
licenses. Cellular licenses give the operators (there are two
licenses in each market) 25 MHz with which to work, whereas PCS
operators can have two different sizes of licenses: 30 MHz (A-, B-
and C-blocks) and 10 MHz (D-, E-, and F-blocks). There are six PCS
licenses in each market. In addition, PCS operators can aggregate
up to 40 MHz of spectrum in each market by buying one of each kind
of license, generally allowing them to serve more customers in a
market than cellular. Cellular carriers and other commercial mobile
radio service (CMRS) operators can buy PCS licenses in markets that
they cover as long as they do not exceed 45 MHz of combined
frequencies for any particular market. The real advantage for PCS
is that the 30 MHz and 10 MHz licenses are contiguous, which cuts
down on the cost of infrastructure and subscriber equipment. So,
the advantages are: 1) more capacity, and; 2) lower infrastructure
and subscriber costs.
� PCS covers different geographic regions than cellular. A/B-block
PCS licenses are based on Major Trading Areas (MTAs)--geographic
regions developed by Rand McNally that are approximately the size
of one or more states�and Basic Trading Areas (BTAs), smaller
regions that fit within the MTAs. There are 51 MTAs and 493 BTAs in
the United States. The A/B-block auction sold MTA licenses, while
the C-, D-, E-, and F-block auctions are based on BTA licenses.
Cellular licenses are based on Metropolitan statistical areas
(MSAs) and rural service areas (RSAs), both of which approximate
BTAs in size.
Omnipoint initially obtained the licenses to operate PCS-1900 GSM based
service:
� the New York MTA "A-band" license (27 million pops)
� "C-band" BTAs: Amarillo, Texas; Springfield-Holyoke, Mass.;
Lebanon-Claremont, N.H.; Pittsfield, Mass; Philadelphia,
Pa.-Wilmington, Del.; Harrisburg, Pa.; York-Hanover, Pa.; Reading,
Pa.; Atlantic City, N.J.; Dover, Del.; Sunbury-Shamokin, Pa.;
Williamsport, Pa.; Pottsville, Pa.; State College, Pa.;
Buffalo-Niagara, N.Y.; Rochester, N.Y.; Pine Bluff, Ark.; Wichita,
Kans. (13.3 million pops)
More recently, Omnipoint obtained D, E, or F band licenses for Boston,
Providence, Washington DC, Baltimore, Norfolk, Miami, Detroit, St. Louis,
Indianapolis, Nashville, and San Antonio.
/john
|
| No dual mode 1900/anything sighted yet.
I mistakenly thought the Motorola 8800 was 900/1900, but it is, instead,
900/1800, designed to allow Orange/One-to-One/Eplus customers the ability
to roam on 900 MHz GSM systems outside their home countries as roaming
agreements are established.
The GSM MoU Organization says that it is going to encourage the development
of tri-mode 900/1800/1900 phones.
Another nasty kick in the head for the U.S.: Not all those 1900 MHz
systems are going to be GSM based.
Specifically, while Omnipoint (to serve the Northeast), Sprint Spectrum
(Washington, DC), Bell South (Carolinas), VoiceStream (plains and Hawaii),
Pacific Bell (California), and Microcell (Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City)
are now operational as GSM 1900 carriers, other 1900 carriers such as
SprintPCS (Denver) are not GSM compatible. If there are any areas where
no company planning to offer GSM service got one of the licenses for one
of the 1900 MHz bands, (I hope this is not the case) there will be possibly
permanent holes in coverage.
Confusion abounds. The Sprint Spectrum site is at www.sprintspectrum-apc.com.
If you forget the "-apc" you'll end up at the SprintPCS site instead.
I wanted to find out more details about what technology SprintPCS was using
and spoke to someone at their customer service center whose name had been
given to me as an "expert". He said all of the following things, most of
which are incorrect:
- Our PCS technology is better than GSM. Which is basically an
analog technology. (He was completely silent when I told him
that GSM was fully digital and always had been.)
- Compatibility will be provided between the Sprint Spectrum
APC (GSM) system by "upgrading" it to PCS. All he could say
when I told him that it was my understanding that GSM was
the leading technology worldwide was that this was not true.
Omnipoint seems to be the clear leader in setting up roaming; if I
had a 1900 MHz phone, my Omnipoint card would let me roam in DC, in
the Carolinas with BellSouth Mobility, in Honolulu, Oklahoma City,
Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Vegas and Portland with VoiceStream, in
SFO/LAX/SanDiego with Pacific Bell, and in Montreal, Ottawa, and
Quebec City with Microcell. These are all fully active roaming
agreements. See www.omnipoint.com.
As far as I know, Omnipoint is the only real GSM carrier so far to have
any overseas agreements; last Friday they added Sweden to their list
which previously included the UK, the Republic of Ireland, the
Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland.
/john
|
| �As far as I know, Omnipoint is the only real GSM carrier so far to have
�any overseas agreements; last Friday they added Sweden to their list
�which previously included the UK, the Republic of Ireland, the
�Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland.
Telecom Finland says they've signed roaming contracts with Omnipoint,
Western Wireless and APC. (They also have their 1800 MHz network up and
running for tests now - they just call it GSM 1800).
|