T-Mobile expands 1900 MHz HSPA+ service to 10 more markets
T-Mobile USA launched HSPA+ service in its 1900 MHz spectrum in 10 additional markets including Miami; Phoenix; San Francisco; Mesa and Tucson, Ariz.; Modesto, Oakland, San Jose and Stockton, Calif.; and Fort Lauderdale …
Context & Ripple Effects
T-Mobile USA has been on the HSPA+ frontier before — it was the first US carrier to deploy HSPA+ back in January 2010 — but its 3G service has lived in AWS spectrum that many popular handsets, notably ones sold for AT&T's network, never supported. The 1900 MHz refarm underway here reuses spectrum long tied up in 2G GSM service for HSPA+, which is why the news traveled well beyond telecom trade press to Apple-focused outlets like 9to5Mac and Mac Weekend.
The expansion lands at a fraught moment: new CEO John Legere took over in September 2012, Q3 revenue came in at $4.9 billion, down 6.4 percent year-on-year, and the carrier has committed its $2.4 billion Crown Castle tower-lease proceeds to fund exactly this kind of network modernization ahead of LTE — all while the MetroPCS merger awaits shareholder approval.
First-order effects
- Customers in Miami, Phoenix, San Francisco, Fort Lauderdale, Mesa, Tucson, Modesto, Oakland, San Jose and Stockton with devices lacking AWS-band 3G support gain HSPA+ data speeds on T-Mobile's network for the first time, widening the pool of phones the carrier can serve without subsidies.
Second-order effects
- AT&T and Verizon face sharper competition in those ten metros from a carrier whose value pitch no longer hinges on handset selection, pressuring T-Mobile's churn problem directly as it fights the revenue decline reported in Q3 2012.
Third-order effects
- The refarm points to a structural playbook for mid-tier carriers: extract incremental capacity from existing licensed holdings rather than buy new spectrum, using the 1900 MHz HSPA+ layer as a bridge while the MetroPCS deal and LTE buildout reshape the network underneath.
The trend: US carriers are increasingly meeting demand by refarming legacy 2G spectrum for mobile broadband, stretching existing licenses as a stopgap between 3G economics and the coming LTE buildout.