Current National Map of T-Mobile's 700 MHz spectrum Service

[Shilohcane]

I was not going to buy a new cell phone until I found out if my area gets the 700Mhz cell towers and until the new cell phone supports that T-Mobile frequency. I am happy to find out South Florida now has T-Mobiles 700Mhz Block A cell towers which means they are adding more in my area.

The 700Mhz block A was used for UHF-TV channel 51 but the FCC is slowly moving channel 51 off that frequency since 2009. However there are still a lot of channel 51 operating their RF on UHF 51 across the nation. Many of the Channel 51 stations across the country like Miami's WSCV virtual channel 51 (UHF digital channel 30), still show 51 as their name but their true radio frequency is really using UHF 30.

Note this is the current Map below of T-Mobiles USA that shows where they have 700Mhz Block A cell towers today. Note they have only started converting their cell towers in the last three months of 2014 but tower conversion is going to be very rapid. You can click on the map for greater local detail. Red circles are TV channel 51 where the FCC hasn't moved the TV station frequency on UHF 51. The blue/purple icons show areas where T-Mobile is currently using 700Mhz Block A. Green circles are where the Channel 51 station is currently in the process of moving to a different channel.

Current National Map of T-Mobile's 700 MHz spectrum Service

 

[oscari]

Damn a TV station in Gary, IN is preventing my 700 lmao

Posted from the bando

 

[Shilohcane]

Damn a TV station in Gary, IN is preventing my 700 lmao

Posted from the bando

There is still a chance that TMO goes “concurrent operations” route like they did here

T-Mobile now free to implement 700 MHz coverage in Los Angeles

"This agreement is a first for T-Mobile. Up until this point, T-Mobile has gone the easier (and better) route of paying TV stations to move to a different channel, but because LA has no other TV channels KXLA could move to, T-Mobile has gone the “concurrent operations” route."

UHF channel 51 really uses 698 MHz but there is no guard band between UHF 51 and 700 Mhz block A (really old UHF 52). The UHF 51 exclusion zones are expected to disappear in 2016 after the FCC conducts auctions for the 600MHz band to wireless cell. The 700 MHz band is actually the set of frequencies between 698 and 806 MHz. In the United States, these were and are still used as television channels 52 through 69. On 17 February 2009, that changed as the long-used analog television channels go dark and are replaced with new digital ones. Because of the advantages gained from the switch to digital, UHF channels 52-69 will no longer be needed and can be reused for other purposes.

The spectrum in the 700 MHz band is very highly desired, in particular because of the electromagnetic properties of its frequencies. In general, the frequencies in the band, between 698 and 806 MHz, travel farther and pass through walls and other obstacles much better than existing cell phone networks do, leading to a lower required number of cells to provide the same amount of coverage.

The FCC has proposed plans to eliminate public use of frequencies between 600 MHz and 700 MHz by the end of 2014 and plan to also auction off the 600Mhz bands in 2016.

 

[Shilohcane]

The Cell Mapper App and their on-line maps shows me that T-Mobile just added their low band 700Mhz Band A tower about 1 mile from my home. Sure wish I had a Note 4 since that is currently the only phone that supports Band A but other are coming soon like a software update for the Nexus 6.

Got a laugh seeing my personal travels tracks on their map since I put this Cell Mapper App own my phone two days ago that uploads them the cell tower information that my Nexus 5 gets. So it has the tracks from me driving my car on their Map. The Cell Mapper link is set to T-Mobile in USA and this is a link from some guys in California and not mine area but you can just slide over to your part on the USA. Note click on the T-Mobile towers and it will tell you what Bands that cell Tower is using. This new 700Mhz block A is going to made a big differences as soon as I get a phone that supports it.

Note if you don't see a tower in your area it could just mean that no one has downloaded the Cell Mapper App in your area with your cell phone service. That was true for me since two days ago there was no T-Mobile towers on the map two days ago before I started testing for them using my phone.

T-Mobile USA (United States of America) - Coverage and Tower Map