AT&T, per an article in the Dallas Business Journal, named Kay Kaypoor president of AT&T’s new Global Public Sector organization, which now includes the FirstNet build out. I didn’t expect to read the nitty-gritty details about how they plan to monetize the 20 Mhz of spectrum they were awarded by FirstNet, but it cleary indicates again that any and all spectrum remains an incredibly valuable commodity for the carriers.
The mechanism of this network is essentially that it services First Responders on a priority basis – when spectrum is not in use, it can serve commercial customers. The CBRS shared spectrum approach has a similiar 3 tier mechanism that provides priority service for the incumbent (the military) and then two lower levels of users based on availability. This so-called Shared Spectrum model is continuing proof that any-and-all idle spectrum is ripe for refarming and reuse. Stay tuned for more