Deutsche Telekom last week launched a 20 x 20 LTE...
Deutsche Telekom last week launched a 20 x 20 LTE network in Cologne, Germany, showing growing interest in “fat channels” and this higher speed version of LTE, BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk said Tuesday in a research note. “Is 20x20 the…
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future?” Piecyk asks. “The fatter channels, not surprisingly, deliver much faster download speeds than a 10x10 or 5x5 version of LTE. And by faster speeds, we mean 30 Mbps, which many people do not achieve with their wire-based broadband connections. Clearly, not all LTE is created equal.” DT uses the 1.8-GHz band for the service in Cologne, but is expected to use the 2.6-GHz band as it rolls out service in other German cities and fills the 1.8 GHz spectrum, he said. DT will offer 10 X 10 LTE in the 800 MHz band outside urban areas. Piecyk asks if U.S. carriers will follow. AT&T, for example, could use its 1.9 GHz holdings, he wrote. “In addition, AT&T’s 10 MHz of AWS (2.1 GHz) spectrum will become more useful when combined with the 25 MHz of AWS spectrum that T-Mobile controls,” if the merger is allowed to move forward. Clearwire is the only U.S. operator with a “meaningful spectrum position” in the 2.5/2.6 GHz band, where it controls some 150 MHz of spectrum, he noted. “We believe it would cost Clearwire $600 million to convert its existing WiMax markets to a 20x20 LTE system,” Piecyk said. “We believe Clearwire could start to launch most markets with LTE within six months and could convert all of the pops within a year."