T-Mobile’s plan to deploy the newly acquired LTE network in the 600MHz spectrum at a lighting fast speed has created a lot of buzz of late. The company has gone live with its first 600MHz site within months of acquiring the new spectrum and plans to extend it to a 1.2 million square mile area by the end of this year. A lot of things are working in its favor right now – it has made a good start and has the resources and finances needed to fortify its network. All in all, the plan looks good on paper. However, there is one small bottleneck that could potentially derail the entire project – lack of trained manpower.
An Inside Towers report recently made available in the public space states that there just aren’t enough trained technicians to do the necessary legwork required to maintain T-Mobile’s ambitious timeline. According to the report, there are estimated 14 technicians qualified for the job. Given the mammoth scale at which T-Mobile intends to expand its new spectrum, it will take these technicians five to seven years to complete the job. And. that’s a huge deviation from the three-year timeline for deploying necessary equipment for nationwide 600MHz coverage.
As per the company’s strategy, 5G coverage will take off by then and it’ll require minimal equipment upgrade to move from LTE 600 MHz network to 5G. If that plan goes haywire, it could cost T-Mobile dearly. However, the company seems to have anticipated these bottlenecks and taken pre-emptive measure to deal with them. BGR quoted a T-Mobile spokesperson as saying, “We have over 1.2M square miles clear and we continue to remain bullish around clearing. We’ve already begun to enter into agreements with broadcasters to accelerate clearance timelines from the FCC mandated dates.”
The company has already inked a deal with antenna manufacturer ERI to boost its productivity by a whopping 800 percent over the next years. Besides this, it has also partnered with PBS to speed along the shifting of its regional broadcast stations. The company has also been aggressively chasing the 39-month timeline to get the 600MHz network clear.
T-Mobile’s move is being anticipated as one of the biggest shake-ups that could revolutionize the wireless industry for the better. Will a small technicality hold that to ransom or does T-Mobile have its plan as well figured out as it makes it out to be?
