MetroPCS: AWS Could Be 4G Roaming Choice

Network SVP Ed Chao likes the AWS spectrum MetroPCS's on for 4G LTE roaming options between carriers in the future

Dan Jones, Mobile Editor

August 21, 2012

2 Min Read
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NEW YORK -- MetroPCS Inc. (NYSE: PCS) believes the advanced wireless service (AWS) radio waves it is riding on could give it more options for roaming between carrier 4G networks in the near future.

MetroPCS has deployed 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) on its AWS (1700/2100MHz) and PCS (1900MHz) bands in 14 areas in the U.S. "All our phones are on AWS," said Ed Chao, senior vice president of engineering and network operations at MetroPCS, at a 4G launch event in midtown Manhattan Tuesday.

Chao believes that MetroPCS's support for the AWS spectrum could open up opportunities for its users to get access to more 4G cities through roaming agreements in the future.

"It seems like AWS is becoming the roaming band," Chao told Light Reading Mobile.

T-Mobile US Inc. and Cricket Communications Inc. are both deploying LTE on the AWS band. T-Mobile is expected to launch in 2013, and Cricket has started launching in cities like Tucson, Ariz.

Chao hopes to see the building blocks of 4G roaming agreements in place within the next 12 to 18 months.

Verizon Wireless has also said it will allow roaming on its planned LTE network on AWS if the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approves its $3.6 billion deal to buy AWS licenses from four cable companies.

Chao stressed that he hasn't seen the wording of Verizon's AWS roaming concession but suggested that any opening up of AWS mobile broadband should be "good for us."

Verizon, for its part, has said in a filing that it has already offered to talk AWS roaming with MetroPCS without a response from the smaller carrier.

For more

  • 5 Ways the Verizon Spectrum Deal Could Affect You

  • MetroPCS's Sells First VoLTE Handset

  • US Wireless Operators' Q2 2012 Scorecard

  • MetroPCS: LTE Will Bring Subscribers Back

  • Will 4G Voice Silence Indie Talk Apps?



— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile

About the Author

Dan Jones

Mobile Editor

Dan is to hats what Will.I.Am is to ridiculous eyewear. Fedora, trilby, tam-o-shanter -- all have graced the Jones pate during his career as the go-to purveyor of mobile essentials.

But hey, Dan is so much more than 4G maps and state-of-the-art headgear. Before joining the Light Reading team in 2002 he was an award-winning cult hit on Broadway (with four 'Toni' awards, two 'Emma' gongs and a 'Brian' to his name) with his one-man show, "Dan Sings the Show Tunes."

His perfectly crafted blogs, falling under the "Jonestown" banner, have been compared to the works of Chekhov. But only by Dan.

He lives in Brooklyn with cats.

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