T-Mobile to Test the Concept of Sharing Spectrum Between Federal and Commercial Users

The FCC has granted permission to T-Mobile USA to test the concept of sharing spectrum between federal and commercial users in the 1755-1780 MHz band. This is part of a government effort to use spectrum sharing technology to help meet mobile broadband demand.

The tests are aimed at measuring the impact spectrum sharing will have on commercial carriers looking to deploy LTE, which is basically every carrier in the US. Verizon, AT&T and now Sprint has started to deploy their LTE network with T-Mobile scheduled on building out their LTE network in 2013.

In a statement, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said that by granting the authorization, the commission “hopes to facilitate commercial mobile broadband services in that band, which would significantly benefit millions of U.S. wireless consumers and help drive the mobile innovation economy.” 

“As we move forward, we will continue to collaborate closely with key government agencies, including NTIA and the Department of Defense, as well as private sector partners, to gain greater spectrum efficiency and unlock the many potential benefits of government-commercial spectrum sharing,” Genachowski said.

The CTIA has specially cited the 1755-1780 MHz band as a spectrum band that could be cleared and paired with other AWS spectrum.

Study Finds YouTube Chosen Over iTunes, Radio and CD’s for Listening to Music

A recent study by Nielsen Music 360 found that teenaged Americans will more readily turn to YouTube to listen to music than they will any other source. This includes iTunes, the radio and CD’s. 48% of respondents indicated that radio is their most prominent music discovery tool, while more teens use Youtube video streaming service to ‘listen‘ to music only 7% said they discover music most through YouTube.

This study is based on the results from 3,000 online consumer surveys Nielsen conducted in the United States.

When listening to music, 64% of respondents said they listen through YouTube the most, while 56% said they listen to music on the radio the most. iTunes was in third place at 53%, while CDs ranked fourth at 50%.

The study revealed that nearly half of teens have radio apps on their smartphones and that digital music has surpassed physical CDs in terms of perception of value. Among respondents with smartphones, 54% said they had music player apps on their devices, while 47% and 26%, respectively, said they had radio apps or music store apps on their phones. The study also revealed that recommendations from friends are the most powerful marketing tool among teens. 54% of respondents said that a positive recommendation from a friend made them more likely to make a purchase.