We are moving towards the availability of the digital dividend 700MHz spectrum with the restacking of the UHF TV channels on Band IV channels on or below TV Channel 51. Telstra and Optus are now rolling out APT700 Band 28 capable infrastructure on their base stations.
The APT700 Band 28 spectrum was auctioned in May 2013 and can be used from January 2015 by Telstra who licensed 2X20MHz for $1.24Bn and Optus who acquired 2X10MHz for $622M.
At present there are only a few devices which operate on the APT700 LTE band however this is expected to change as more countries adopt, license and deploy equipment in the band. At present according to Ericsson’s APT700 Market Update 27 countries with combined population of 2.2 billion have adopted APT700. Along with Australia and New Zealand these include the large markets in India, Pakistan, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia and Japan. Both the new Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8 sold in Australia do support Band 28. We will have to wait until August/September to see if the new iPhone 6 will follow with APT700 support.
The Ericsson chart below shows the way in which the APT700 can be deployed along with the current 1800MHz and the other Optus and Telstra licensed 2600MHz spectrum to provide LTE with wider and deeper coverage. The adoption of LTE Advanced 3GPP Release 10 channel aggregation will provide far greater capacity than exists today on either 4G LTE or 3G HSPA networks.
Telstra is in the box seat with this LTE Advanced deployment having 2X20 at 700MHz, 2X15MZ (2X20MHz outside Sydney and Melbourne) at 1800MHz along with 2X40MHz of 2600MHz. Optus is well placed with 2X10MHz of APT700, 2X20MHz of 1800MHz in capital cities except Canberra and 2X20 MHz of 2600MHz. Optus has other attractive capacity and speed options with LTE TDMA. Vodafone, which did not participate in the May 2013 4G spectrum auction, has good holdings of 2X25 MHz of 1800MHz spectrum in the capitals but will lack depth and range of 4G which Telstra and Optus can offer using the “waterfront” APT700 spectrum.
There is an excellent Wiki on the APT700 band here.
Source Ericsson APT700 Market Update
Interesting to see the outcome of the unsold – some say overpriced at $933M – 2X15MHz of APT700 spectrum. Emergency services are making a strong push to be given this spectrum which would be a tragic outcome.