Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) is a wireless

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than tha ...

spectrum band used for mobile voice and data services, video, and messaging. AWS is used in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, Colombia,

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, small ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

. It replaces some of the spectrum formerly allocated to Multipoint Multichannel Distribution Service (MMDS), sometimes referred to as Wireless Cable, that existed from 2150 to 2162 MHz. The AWS band uses

microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequency, frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different fre ...

frequencies Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from '' angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is e ...

in several segments: from 1695 to 2200 MHz. The service is intended to be used by mobile devices such as wireless phones for mobile voice, data, and messaging services. Most manufacturers of smartphone mobile handsets provide versions of their phones that include radios that can communicate using the AWS spectrum. Though initially limited, device support for AWS has steadily improved the longer the band has been in general use, with most high-end and many mid-range handsets supporting it over

UMTS The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), UMTS is a component of the In ...

, LTE and

5G NR 5G NR (New Radio) is a new radio access technology (RAT) developed by 3GPP for the 5G (fifth generation) mobile network. It was designed to be the global standard for the air interface of 5G networks. As with 4G (LTE), it is based on OFDM. Th ...

Changes

The AWS band defined in 2002 (AWS-1), used

in two segments, from 1710 to 1755 MHz for uplink, and from 2110 to 2155 MHz for downlink. The service is intended to be used by mobile devices such as wireless phones for mobile voice, data, and messaging services. Most manufacturers of smartphone mobile handsets provide versions of their phones that include radios that can communicate using the AWS spectrum. Since for downlink AWS uses a subset of UMTS frequency band I (2100 MHz) some UMTS2100 capable handsets do detect AWS networks but cannot register on them due to the difference in uplink frequencies (1710–1755 MHz for AWS versus 1920–1980 MHz for UMTS2100). Though initially limited, device support for AWS has steadily improved the longer the frequency has been in general use, with most high-end and many mid-range handsets supporting it over

HSPA HSPA may refer to: * High Speed Packet Access, a mobile broadband technology * Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Education * High School Proficiency Assessment * Humphrey School of Public Affairs, an American public policy school * Hunter Sch ...

, LTE, or both. In Canada, almost all available LTE handsets support AWS as it was the first frequency over which LTE was offered there, and was still the most commonly supported frequency for LTE in Canada as of 2014-08-21. In 2012 the CCreleased rules for the 'H' block (AWS-2), covering the frequencies 1915-1920 MHz and 1995-2000 MHz. In 2013 they regulated the AWS-3 Block, covering bands 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz and 2155-2180 MHz. In 2012 there was a proposal regarding the AWS-4 Block, which regulated use of 2000-2020 MHz and 2180-2200 MHz. These were initially proposed for use with the Mobile Satellite System (MSS), but later more uses were introduced

Canada

In Canada, Industry Canada held the auction for AWS spectrum in 2008.

Freedom Mobile Freedom Mobile Inc. is a Canadian Mobile network operator, wireless telecommunications provider owned by Shaw Communications. It has 6% market share of Canada, mostly in urban areas of Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. Freedom Mobile is th ...

(formerly Wind Mobile) had licensed AWS spectrum in every province, and began offering voice and data services on December 16, 2009. Its Saskatchewan and Manitoba spectrum was later sold off to Sasktel and MTS, respectively. Freedom only operates in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, although they have roaming agreements with Rogers, Telus and Bell at extra cost.

Mobilicity Data and Audio-Visual Enterprises Wireless, d/b/a Mobilicity, was a Canadian mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) owned by Rogers Communications. Its name was a portmanteau of the words "mobility" and "simplicity". Mobilicity was one of several ...

also used the AWS spectrum and began offering services in May 2010, operating in similar areas as Wind but with a smaller network footprint. Its AWS network was combined with Rogers when the latter company acquired Mobilicity in 2015.

Quebecor Quebecor Inc. is a Canadian diversified media and telecommunications company serving Québec based in Montreal. It was spelled Quebecor in both English and French until May 2012, when shareholders voted to add the acute accent, Québecor, in F ...

licensed AWS spectrum throughout the province of Quebec and began offering service with its

Vidéotron Mobile Vidéotron is a Canadian integrated telecommunications company active in cable television, interactive multimedia development, video on demand, cable telephony, wireless communication and Internet access services. Owned by Quebecor, it primarily ...

brand on September 9, 2010.

Shaw Communications Shaw Communications Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications company which provides telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Shaw provides home telecommunications services primarily in Alberta and Br ...

licensed AWS spectrum in western Canada and northern Ontario, began to build some infrastructure for providing wireless phone service, but subsequently decided to cancel further development and did not launch this service. The licenses were eventually sold to Rogers, with some transferred to Wind. Shaw re-entered the mobile services market when it acquired Wind Mobile in 2016. Halifax-based EastLink obtained licenses in eastern Canada, with a small amount of spectrum bought in Ontario and Alberta, and is currently building up infrastructure to launch mobile phone and data services in Nova Scotia and PEI in 2012. This Service has since launched and is available in numerous markets around Atlantic Canada with roaming through Rogers and Bell.

Rogers Wireless Rogers Wireless Inc. is a Canadian wireless telephone company headquartered in Toronto, providing service nationally throughout Canada. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The company had revenues of just under $15.1 billio ...

Bell Mobility Bell Mobility Inc. is a Canadian wireless network operator and the division of Bell Canada which offers wireless services across Canada. It operates networks using LTE and HSPA+ on its mainstream networks. Bell Mobility is the third-largest wir ...

Telus Mobility Telus Mobility (normally typeset as TELUS Mobility) is a Canadian wireless network operator and a division of Telus Communications which sells wireless services in Canada on its numerous networks. It operates 5G, LTE and HSPA+ on its mainstr ...

SaskTel Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corporation, operating as SaskTel, is a Canadian crown-owned telecommunications firm based in the province of Saskatchewan. Owned by the provincial government, it provides wireline and wireless communicat ...

, and Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS) all received licenses for AWS spectrum, which they are now using for their LTE networks. Freedom Mobile has subsequently refarmed some spectrum in their UMTS network and deployed LTE on bands 4, and 66.

United States

In the United States, the service is administered by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisd ...

. The licenses were broken up into 6 blocks (A-F). Block A consisted of 734 Cellular Market Areas (CMA). Blocks B and C were each divided into 176 Economic Areas (EA), sometimes referred to as BEA by the FCC. Blocks D, E, and F were each broken up into 12 Regional Economic Area Groupings (REAG), sometimes referred to as REA by the FCC. Bidding for this new spectrum started on August 9, 2006 and the majority of the frequency blocks were sold to

T-Mobile USA T-Mobile US, Inc. is an American wireless network operator headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas and Bellevue, Washington, U.S. Its largest shareholder is a multinational telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG, which , holds 48.4 per ...

to deploy their 3G wireless network in the United States. This move effectively killed the former MMDS and/or Wireless Cable service in the United States.

Operators

The following mobile network operators are known to use AWS. Indicated in the list are the launch dates and city.

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two ...

* FLOW – November 2014 *

Digicel Digicel is a Jamaican and Caribbean mobile phone network and home entertainment provider operating in 33 markets worldwide. Digicel has operated in several countries, including Guyana, Fiji, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, Suriname, and ...

Argentina

Movistar Movistar () is a major telecommunications provider owned by Telefónica, operating in Spain and Hispanic American countries. It is the largest provider of landline, broadband, Mobile telephony, mobile services, and pay television (Movistar+) in ...

– December 2014 *

Personal Personal may refer to: Aspects of persons' respective individualities * Privacy * Personality * Personal, personal advertisement, variety of classified advertisement used to find romance or friendship Companies * Personal, Inc., a Washington, ...

– December 2014 * Claro Argentina – June 2015

Canada

Primary network (UMTS) *

– September 9, 2010 in Montreal and Québec City, QC

and LTE *

– December 16, 2009 (primary) and December 2016 in Toronto, ON. * Eastlink Wireless – Feb 2013 (primary) in Halifax, NS. LTE only *

– July 2011 *

– November 2011 *

– February 2012 * MTS Wireless – September 2012 * SaskTel Wireless – January 2013

Chile

* Nextel Chile – April 2012 to June 2015 * WOM Chile – July 2015

Colombia

Tigo Millicom International Cellular SA (NASDAQ U.S.: TIGO, NASDAQ Stockholm: TIGO_SDB) is a Luxembourgish fixed line and mobile telecommunications services provider dedicated to emerging markets in Latin America operating under the Tigo brand. As o ...

- ETB – December 2013 in Bogotá, Medellín, Barranquilla, Cali, Pereira, Manizales, Armenia *

– December 2013 in Bogotá, Medellín, Barranquilla, Cali, Pereira, Bucaramanga, Cartagena * Avantel

Dominican Republic

Claro República Dominicana Claro (formerly CODETEL) is the largest telecommunications company in the Dominican Republic and provides local, long-distance, and wireless voice services, as well as Internet and IPTV services, to approximately four million customers. History U ...

– July 2014

Ecuador

CNT EP The Corporación Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, CNT EP is the public telecommunications company in Ecuador that offers fixed telephony services local, regional and international, Internet Access (Dial-Up, DSL, mobile Internet), satellite televi ...

– Fall 2013 starting in

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

and

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, Pichincha ...

Jamaica

- 2019. * FLOW - December 2016.

Mexico

* Nextel Mexico – September 2012 *

Telcel Telcel is a Mexican wireless telecommunications company, owned by América Móvil. Founded in 1984 and based in Mexico City, Telcel is the leading provider of wireless communications services in Mexico. As of December 31, 2006, Telcel's cellular ...

– November 2012 *

– September 2014, (moved to B2/PCS 1900MHz) *

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

– September 2015

Paraguay

* VOX Copaco – February 2012 * CLARO - was assigned with 1700/2100 AWS spectrum in 2015 * Tigo Paraguay

Perú

* Entel Perú * Movistar Perú

Trinidad and Tobago

- August 2019 * bmobile - November 2022

United States

T-Mobile US T-Mobile US, Inc. is an American wireless network operator headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas and Bellevue, Washington, U.S. Its largest shareholder is a multinational telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG, which , holds 48.4 p ...

– May 1, 2008 in New York City *

Big River Telephone Big River Telephone Company, LLC is a full-service telecommunications company located in the Midwestern United States. Big River Telephone is classified as a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) and is a wholesale digital provider of voice ov ...

– 2007 in Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Madison, Perry, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, Washington and Wayne Counties Missouri. *

i wireless Iowa Wireless Services LLC, doing business as iWireless, was a mobile network operator founded in 1997, not related to Kroger's service. Headquartered in Urbandale, Iowa, iWireless was a partnership between T-Mobile US, Inc. and Iowa Networ ...

* AWN Alaska * Mosaic Telecom * Cricket Wireless *

Metro by T-Mobile Metro by T-Mobile (formerly known as MetroPCS and also known simply as Metro) is an American prepaid wireless service provider and brand owned by T-Mobile US. It previously operated the fifth largest mobile telecommunications network in the ...

– March 31, 2008 in Las Vegas *

Verizon Wireless Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the divi ...

– Fall 2013 starting in New York City. *

AT&T Mobility AT&T Mobility LLC, also known as AT&T Wireless and Trade name, marketed as simply AT&T, is an American telecommunications company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T, AT&T Inc. and provides wireless services in the United States. AT&T Mobi ...

Uruguay

Antel ANTEL ( es, Administración Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, lit=National Administration of Telecommunications) is Uruguay's government-owned telecommunications company, founded in 1974 as a separate legal entity after spinning off the telecommun ...

– 2013

Venezuela

, February 2015 *

Movilnet CANTV () is the state-run telephone and internet service provider in Venezuela. It was one of the first telephone service enterprises in the country, founded in 1930. The largest telecommunications provider in Venezuela, it was privatized in 19 ...

, January 2017

References

{{Reflist

External links

FCC: Advanced Wireless Services
* PhoneScoop'
Visual Guide to AWS
Mobile technology

Changes

Canada

United States

Operators

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two ...

Argentina

Canada

Chile

Colombia

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Jamaica

Mexico

Paraguay

Perú

Trinidad and Tobago

United States

Uruguay

Venezuela

See also

References

External links