LTE Options Sint Maarten

Consultation

Bureau Telecommunications & Post

Consultation DocumentSeptember 17th, 2013

Content

CONTENT.....................................................................................................................................................................1

1 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................................2

2 LTE BAND PLANS..............................................................................................................................................3

2.1 OVERVIEW OF 3GPP STANDARDISED BANDS FOR LTE....................................................................................32.2 LTE BAND PLAN USAGE: GLOBAL OVERVIEW.....................................................................................................42.3 OVERVIEW MAIN DIGITAL DIVIDEND BAND PLANS...............................................................................................7

2.3.1 North America: FCC 700 MHz band plan.....................................................................................................72.3.2 Europe: 800 MHz band plan..........................................................................................................................92.3.3 Asia: APT 700 MHz band plan......................................................................................................................92.3.4 Overview main band plans: ECTEL variant of the 700 MHz band plan.....................................................112.3.5 Overview main band plans: International/regional practice......................................................................12

2.4 INITIAL USE OF SPECTRUM FOR LTE IN LATIN AMERICA.................................................................................16

3 ROAMING ASPECTS.......................................................................................................................................17

3.1 MOBILE DEVICE CAPABILITIES......................................................................................................................173.2 ANALYSIS......................................................................................................................................................23

4 COORDINATION WITH FRENCH SAINT MARTIN AND ANGUILLA.................................................24

5 OPTIONS FOR SINT MAARTEN...................................................................................................................27

5.1 BELOW 1 GHZ...................................................................................................................................................275.2 ABOVE 1 GHZ....................................................................................................................................................305.3 RECOMMENDED APPROACH..............................................................................................................................31

6 SUBMISSION.....................................................................................................................................................35

1 Introduction

Sint Maarten Bureau Telecommunication and Post (BTPSXM) is preparing for the introduction of LTE based mobile broadband services on the island of Sint Maarten. Given the topography of the island and the close proximity to neighbouring French Saint Martin and Anguilla cooperation with the neighbouring countries is a necessity to allow for efficient use of the spectrum while avoiding major interference problems.

Global developments show a very strong growth of mobile broadband. Existing local mobile broadband networks are based on current third generation mobile technologies, such as 3G/HSPA+ and CDMA EV/DO but will require future evolution to LTE and fourth generation mobile technologies to provide enough capacity at a lower price per unit to serve the citizens and business users of Sint Maarten.

From a spectrum policy perspective there are two options, typically used both: In-band migration to newer versions of the 3GPP standards. This is for example applicable to the

850, 800, 1800, 2100, 2300 MHz bands. Vendors provide multi-technology radio basestations making this a commercially highly feasible option.

New spectrum bands. Main options for Sint Maarten involve:o 700 MHz Digital Dividend band. Internationally the Digital Dividend bands are 700 MHz in

the Americas, 800 MHz band in Europe and 700+800 MHz bands in Asia. Since the WRC 2012 potentially also Africa, Middle-East and Europe will get access to the 700 MHz band. These digital dividend bands are very suitable to wide-area coverage although the spectrum available to provide high capacity is limited. On Sint Maarten the 800 MHz band might not be near future option since this band mostly overlaps with the 850 MHz band as used on Sint Maarten. The 700 MHz band can be made available since there is no analogue TV service in that part of the UHF TV band.

o 2.6 GHz band. This band offers a lot of spectrum and is very suitable to provide additional capacity at high traffic locations. However this band is less suitable to provide wide-area coverage due to the larger number of basestation locations required to cover the same area. Reportedly MMDS use of the 2.6 GHz band on Sint Maarten has been phased out after the introduction of DVB-T but WiMAX/Wireless Broadband might still be operating in this band.

Therefore the main 700 MHz is the new band, which can be made available for mobile broadband, besides the existing 850, 900, 1800, 2100 and 2300 MHz bands. Unfortunately globally, and even within the US, there are different 700 MHz band plans. As a result of the different &00 MHz band plans there are incompatibilities with currently available devices. Contrary to the experience in other major mobile bands the current situation in the 700 MHz band is such that mobile phones and tablets are very specific for a particular (sub) band plan.

Further roaming is a key consideration given the importance of the tourism business.

This document outlines the main spectrum policy issues, the challenges and the proposed approach to provide spectrum for LTE and further 4G mobile technologies taking into account the very specific conditions of Sint Maarten and its close neighbours as well as the specific business requirements for both the local market as well as the visitors market.

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2 LTE band plans

2.1 Overview of 3GPP standardised bands for LTE

The 3GPP standard facilitates LTE technology, both FDD and TDD, in many different bands:

E-UTRA Operating

Band

Uplink (UL) operating band BS receive UE transmit

Downlink (DL) operating band BS transmit UE receive

Duplex Mode

FUL_low – FUL_high FDL_low – FDL_high

1 1920 MHz – 1980 MHz 2110 MHz – 2170 MHz FDD 2 1850 MHz – 1910 MHz 1930 MHz – 1990 MHz FDD 3 1710 MHz – 1785 MHz 1805 MHz – 1880 MHz FDD 4 1710 MHz – 1755 MHz 2110 MHz – 2155 MHz FDD 5 824 MHz – 849 MHz 869 MHz – 894MHz FDD 61 830 MHz – 840 MHz 875 MHz – 885 MHz FDD 7 2500 MHz – 2570 MHz 2620 MHz – 2690 MHz FDD 8 880 MHz – 915 MHz 925 MHz – 960 MHz FDD 9 1749.9 MHz – 1784.9 MHz 1844.9 MHz – 1879.9 MHz FDD 10 1710 MHz – 1770 MHz 2110 MHz – 2170 MHz FDD 11 1427.9 MHz – 1447.9 MHz 1475.9 MHz – 1495.9 MHz FDD 12 699 MHz – 716 MHz 729 MHz – 746 MHz FDD 13 777 MHz – 787 MHz 746 MHz – 756 MHz FDD 14 788 MHz – 798 MHz 758 MHz – 768 MHz FDD 15 Reserved Reserved FDD 16 Reserved Reserved FDD 17 704 MHz – 716 MHz 734 MHz – 746 MHz FDD 18 815 MHz – 830 MHz 860 MHz – 875 MHz FDD 19 830 MHz – 845 MHz 875 MHz – 890 MHz FDD 20 832 MHz – 862 MHz 791 MHz – 821 MHz 21 1447.9 MHz – 1462.9 MHz 1495.9 MHz – 1510.9 MHz FDD 22 3410 MHz – 3490 MHz 3510 MHz – 3590 MHz FDD 23 2000 MHz – 2020 MHz 2180 MHz – 2200 MHz FDD 24 1626.5 MHz – 1660.5 MHz 1525 MHz – 1559 MHz FDD 25 1850 MHz – 1915 MHz 1930 MHz – 1995 MHz FDD 26 814 MHz – 849 MHz 859 MHz – 894 MHz FDD 27 807 MHz – 824 MHz 852 MHz – 869 MHz FDD 28 703 MHz – 748 MHz 758 MHz – 803 MHz FDD 29 N/A 717 MHz – 728 MHz FDD2 30 2305 MHz – 2315 MHz 2350 MHz – 2360 MHz FDD 31 452.5 MHz – 457.5 MHz 462.5 MHz – 467.5 MHz FDD ... 33 1900 MHz – 1920 MHz 1900 MHz – 1920 MHz TDD 34 2010 MHz – 2025 MHz 2010 MHz – 2025 MHz TDD 35 1850 MHz – 1910 MHz 1850 MHz – 1910 MHz TDD 36 1930 MHz – 1990 MHz 1930 MHz – 1990 MHz TDD 37 1910 MHz – 1930 MHz 1910 MHz – 1930 MHz TDD 38 2570 MHz – 2620 MHz 2570 MHz – 2620 MHz TDD 39 1880 MHz – 1920 MHz 1880 MHz – 1920 MHz TDD 40 2300 MHz – 2400 MHz 2300 MHz – 2400 MHz TDD 41 2496 MHz – 2690 MHz 2496 MHz – 2690 MHz TDD 42 3400 MHz – 3600 MHz 3400 MHz – 3600 MHz TDD 43 3600 MHz – 3800 MHz 3600 MHz – 3800 MHz TDD 44 703 MHz – 803 MHz 703 MHz – 803 MHz TDD

Note 1: Band 6 is not applicable. Note 2: Restricted to E-UTRA operation when carrier aggregation is configured. The downlink

operating band is paired with the uplink operating band (external) of the carrier aggregation configuration that is supporting the configured Pcell.

LTE 1800

LTE 2600

LTE 900

FCC lower 700 A, B & CFCC upper 700 C, “Verizon”FCC upper 700 D, Band 14

FCC lower 700 B & C, “AT&T”

APT 700

LTE 2300 TDD

LTE 2600 TDD

LTE 800

LTE 2600 TDD, Sprint

LTE in PCS band

LTE in AWS band

ESMR-800, “Sprint”

LTE in extended PCS band

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Source: 3GPP 36.104 v12.0.0

However at this point in time it is impossible for mobile device manufacturers to cost-effectively produce devices capable to support all bands. It can be observed the 3GPP standard has 5 different FDD band plans just in the 700 MHz band. The FCC alone is using 4 different FDD 700 MHz band plans in the US while Asia Pacific has selected just one 700 MHz band plan.

2.2 LTE band plan usage: global overview

The 3GPP standards do allow for a lot of different bands to be used for LTE. Unfortunately the device market, and in particular the smartphone market until now, focuses on supporting a handful of the most popular LTE bands. As can be seen from the GSA data the number of networks supporting LTE 1800 MHz is the highest making this almost a de-facto roaming band. The number of networks operating in the digital dividend bands such as 800 MHz in Europe (band 20) and the 4 different FCC 700 MHz bands (12, 13, 14 and 17) in North America is growing gradually. Typically operators already have existing 1800 MHz spectrum holdings and use these to quickly launch LTE 1800 while analogue to digital TV migrations and subsequent auctioning or other methods of spectrum allocation do take time.

Source: GSA Global LTE Market Update, 1 August 2013

Considering the actual subscriber base it can be observed that North America and some particular Asian countries have been leading in terms of subscribers. This has mainly been driven by CDMA operators lacking a competitive proposition to compete with 3G/HSPA+ operators. These operators, such as

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Verizon in the US, had a very strong business motivation to migrate to LTE quickly. The 3G/HSPA+ operators had, and still have, ample room in the HSPA+ technology roadmap to increase the capacity of their HSPA+ networks and tend to introduce LTE more gradually. Over time the distribution should be expected to return to the more general distribution of the global mobile subscriber base with about 6% in North America, 50% in Asia Pacific, 18% Europe and 11% in Latin America.

Source: GSA Global LTE Market Update, 1 August 2013 Source: 4G Americas

From a global perspective the LTE 1800 band is the most popular spectrum for LTE deployments

Source: GSA Status of the LTE ecosystem, 25 August 2013

In terms of the support for different LTE bands in devices similarly the prominence of LTE 1800 capable terminals is evident but it should also be observed that 2600 MHz seems to be broadly supported in devices even though network deployment in this very high band is far more limited:

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Source: GSA Status of the LTE ecosystem, 25 August 2013

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The number of LTE subscribers is increasing rapidly and by May 2013 the 100 million level has reportedly been exceeded. Many projections, such as the Ericsson projection and the projection used by 4G Americas below, show a gradual migration from GSM to 3G/HSPA to LTE. Even though LTE is of critical importance and shows strong growth it should still be anticipated that the majority of the global mobile subscribers is most likely still using 3G/HSPA by 2018. Like with previous mobile technologies it does take time for ecosystems to develop, to mature and to reach the right price point for different market segments.

Source: 4G Americas Source: Ericsson Mobility Report, June 2013

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2.3 Overview main digital dividend band plans

2.3.1 North America: FCC 700 MHz band plan

In North America the LTE market has initially started in the 700 MHz band. Operators continued to use the CDMA and the 3G/HSPA networks for fall back and to complete their coverage footprint. Recently LTE deployments have started to utilise more inband migration options as well.

The FCC 700 MHz band plan is based on two main sub-bands with different duplex arrangements: Lower 700 MHz band (BTS TX high, BTS RX Low) Upper 700 MHz band (BTS TX low, BTS RX high)

Within each of those bands there are FDD allocations and unpaired/TDD allocations. In the upper 700 MHz there is also a special allocation just for public safety applications.

Source: wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/data/bandplans/700MHzBandPlan.pdf

The main winners of the 700 MHz auction have been: AT&T, Lower 700 MHz block B and C in the so-called band 17 Verizon, Upper 700 MHz block C in the so called band 13

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Further there are the “Lower 700 MHz A Band operators”, mostly smaller regional operator using, or planning to use, the Band 12 plan. Some blocks, such as the Upper 700 MHz D block associated with the adjacent Public Safety block, were not sold in the auction due to lack of interest.

Uplink Unpaired Downlink Downlink Uplink806

Band 12 Band 12

Uplink DownlinkUnpaired Downlink Uplink

775 776 787 788 793 805734 740 746 757 758 763698 704 710 716 722 728

B C A D Public Safety BB C C A D Public SafetyA B C D E A

788 793 805 806

Band 17 AT&T

Band 17 AT&T

Band 13 Verizon

Band 13 Verizon

Band 14 Band 14

757 758 763 775 776 787

B

698 704 710 716 722 728 734 740 746

Public Safety B C A D Public SafetyA B C C A DA B C D E

In the US there are specific reasons, due to some high power broadcasting immediately below the 700 MHz band, why mobile devices for Band 12 have to meet much stricter filtering requirements than Band 17 mobile devices.

Most of the current LTE 700 MHz users in the US use either Band 17 or Band 13 mobile devices but it isn’t common for mobile devices to be usable all over the 700 MHz band. For example Apple has launched two different iPad and two different iPhone 5 models: one compatible with AT&T Band 17 and another version compatible with Verizon Band 13.

Notes on subsequent developments on use/allocation of the FCC 700 MHz band plan blocks: Early 2012 a bill has been approved allocating the Upper 700 MHz band D Block to Public Safety as

well. Qualcomm’s holding of unpaired Lower 700 MHz band blocks D and E has been sold to AT&T. This

seems to be linked to the 3GPP Release 11 functionality “New Band LTE Downlink FDD 716-728 MHz UID_510028” supported, among others, by AT&T.

March 21, 2012, the FCC issued a “Notice of proposed rulemaking on Interoperability in the 700 MHz Commercial spectrum” focussing on reducing the mobile device incompatibilities in particular in the lower 700 MHz band. This was based upon a 2009 “Petition for rulemaking regarding the need for 700 MHz mobile equipment to be capable of operating on all paired 700 MHz frequency blocks” submitted by the “Counsel for700 MHz Block A Good Faith Purchasers Alliance”. This process is still on-going with many recent filings. For example a major operator such as AT&T in their latest FCC filing at 26 June 2013 was clearly against any mandate to facilitate band 12 capability for mobile devices as well in lower 700 MHz given cost and complexity.

As of August 2013 the FCC 700 MHz band plan is a fragmented band plan with 4 different FDD band plans, some TDD/unpaired allocations and a Public Safety block. A device/smartphone which works on one FCC 700 MHz network typically doesn’t work at the 700 MHz network of another major mobile operator. Device manufacturers have to provide different models for the North American market to cater for the different LTE band plans used by each of the mobile operators such as AT&T (lower 700 MHz band 17 completed with other in-band migrations, mostly AWS), Verizon (lower 700 band 13 completed with other in-band migrations, mostly AWS), Sprint (via Clearwire 2600 MHz TDD, PCS 1900 and ex-Nextel 800 MHz spectrum), T-Mobile (AWS) and the smaller regional operators (lower 700 MHz band 12 and other in-band migrations). Of course this has many other far reaching consequences for customers as well since mobile devices are more or less operator specific.

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2.3.2 Europe: 800 MHz band plan

The European operators typically focus initially on 800 MHz (band 20) as Digital Dividend band for coverage and 1800 MHz (band 3) and 2600 MHz (band 7) as capacity bands. The band plan provides 2 x 30 MHz with BTS TX low and BTS RX high (inverse duplex compared to typical mobile bands):

The 850 MHz band as used in the US and many Caribbean islands is typically not used in Europe and therefore this spectrum could be allocated as Digital Dividend without any conflicts. For the same reason the 900 MHz is 2 x 35 MHz while on Sint Maarten only the original 2 x 25 MHz is used.

The European plan is of additional importance since the France Oversees Territories, including Saint Martin, typically use the same frequency plan.

In the WRC 2012 also Europe, Africa and the Middle East also decided to make the (part of) the 700 MHz band available for mobile broadband. Although the full 700 MHz band overlaps with the 800 MHz band one of the more likely band plans for ITU Region 1 could be to adopt the APT 700 MHz band plan and only use the lower 2 x 30 MHz thereof. This is currently under study.

2.3.3 Asia: APT 700 MHz band plan

The Asia-Pacific Telecommunity has not embraced the FCC plan but agreed on a fundamentally different band plan, without fragmentation and more in line with the band plans used in other mobile bands:

Source: APT/AWG/REP-24

This plan offers the full 2x45 MHz capacity of the band with just a 10 MHz duplex gap in the middle. To avoid/reduce complications with users in adjacent bands a 5 MHz guard band on the lower end and a 3 MHz guard band on the higher-end have been included in the band plan.

The APT 700 MHz plan was agreed upon in September 2010. Report 24 outlining further guidance was issued in September 2011 and the ITU incorporated the APT 700 MHz plan in the March 2012 M.1036-4. 3GPP incorporated the APT 700 MHz band plan in Release 11 (Band 28).

There is also a TDD arrangement of the APT plan (Band 44) but the main trend seems to focus on the FDD version with the possible exception of China.

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The status in Asia is as follows: Korea allocated Japan adopted the APT 700 MHz 2x45 MHz plan and auctioned 3 pairs of 2x10 MHz FDD in mid-

2012 even though actual availability is taking time due migration to Analogue Switch Off and migration to Digital TV.

Australia adopted the APT 700 MHz 2x45 MHz plan and already auctioned the band in early 2013 even though actual full availability might take until 2015

Taiwan has adopted APT 700 MHz and announced the auction for late 2013. New Zealand adopted the APT 700 MHz 2x45 MHz plan and has scheduled the auction for late 2013 India adopted the APT 700 MHz 2x45 MHz plan and plans auction only in 2014 China, reportedly the 700 MHz only becomes available in 2015 Papua New Guinea, adopted the APT 700 MHz 2x45 MHz plan and reportedly already allocated

spectrum (including 2 x 22.5 MHz to Digicel PNG). Tonga adopted the APT 700 MHz 2x45 MHz plan Many other countries committed to the APT 700 MHz 2 x 45 MHz plan but have to complete

Analogue Switch Off (ASO) before the spectrum is available for mobile broadband. For example Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore confirmed their commitment in June 2013

Many Latin American countries are adopting the APT 700 MHz band plan instead of the FCC 700 MHz ban plan. The status in Latin America is as follows: Mexico committed to APT 700 MHz and intends to auction 3 blocks of 2 x15 MHz each. This is spite

of being a neighbour of the US with obvious issues in first about 60 km from the US border Ecuador committed to APT 700 MHz Colombia committed to APT 700 MHz Panama committed to APT 700 MHz Chile committed to APT 700 MHz Argentina committed to APT 700 MHz Brazil committed more or less to APT 700 MHz Uruguay committed to APT 700 MHz Bolivia committed to APT 700 MHz Costa Rica, the regulator advised APT 700 MHz

At the latest WRC 2012 (part of) the 700 MHz has also been made available to Europe, Middle-East and Africa. Although the 700 MHz band overlaps with the 800 MHz one of the more likely band plans for ITU Region 1 could be to adopt the APT 700 MHz band plan and only use the lower 2 x 30 MHz thereof. However mid-2013 there is no known firm commitments in Europe with respect to the future band plan to be used in the 700 MHz band.

The United Arab Emirates are probably the first country announcing adoption of a combination of the full 800 MHz and 700 MHz (lower 2 x 30 MHz of the APT 700 MHz band plan) Digital Dividend bands. This strategy is likely to gain traction in countries which adopted already the 800 MHz (band 20) for LTE.

Overall the prospect of very large economies of scale for the APT 700 MHz band plan are promising but although there is great momentum, the actual development of the eco-system is still in its early years since ASO is taking time in many countries.

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2.3.4 Overview main band plans: ECTEL variant of the 700 MHz band plan

Besides the two main FCC and APT plans within the Caribbean region ECTEL had prepared a specific variant of the FCC 700 MHz plan, published in 2009. This plan overlaps in some aspects with the FCC plan (Lower 700 band and upper 700 MHz Band) but in the lower band the FCC C block is not by definition offered as a FDD block. In the Upper 700 MHz the 1 MHz channels have been eliminated, all blocks are 6 MHz and Public Safety has been reduced.

Source: ECTEL “Policy on the allocation and assignment of frequencies in the 700 MHz band”, Approved in April 2009

Operators (like Lime and Digicel) have demanded closer alignment with the FCC 700 MHz plan and the final determination of ECTEL shows the following band plan:

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Source: FINAL DETERMINATION PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON A PROPOSAL FOR ASSIGNMENT OF SPECTRUM IN THE 700 MHZ BAND, March 2013

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2.3.5 Overview main band plans: International/regional practice

GSM AssociationThe GSM Association provided a “Draft Draft Position paper for Latin America on Digital Dividend/UHF band plans” May 2011:

Globally, the GSMA favours the harmonisation of frequency bands used for mobile broadband services. With particular reference to the 698-806 MHz band, the GSMA supports two band plan options, namely:

Option 1. The Optimised “2 x 45” MHz conventional FDD band plan in 698-806 MHz, agreed within the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity’s Wireless Forum (AWF) for Region 3 (Asia Pacific)1; and

Option 2. The US band plan in 698-806 MHz as specified by 3GPP for the USA2.

Option 1 (the Asian band plan) may be an option that some countries wish to consider. It has the advantage that it has been designed assuming the spectrum is clear of other users, and therefore does not need to support US specific legacy issues. The Asian band plan could also offer significant benefits from economies of scale (with over 50% of the world’s population in Asia Pacific). However the adoption of the band plan by Asian countries is still work in progress although a large market like India and mature markets and early movers like Australia and New Zealand have indicated they will implement the Asia band plan. The on-going process of countries considering to adopt the Asia band plan mean that the availability of devices for this band will likely lag behind that of option 2 (US band plan).

Option2, the US band plan has the obvious attraction in terms of equipment and device availability that it has been deployed in the USA.

Conclusion Since use of the 698-806 MHz band is the alternative for Latin America band plan options 1 and 2 are the candidates to be considered in Latin America.

Option 1 is likely to be better for those administrations that prioritize making maximum bandwidth available and that can align with the Asian Pacific countries on timing regarding release of the band and deployment of mobile broadband technology.

Option 2 (US band plan) is likely to be better for those Administrations that prioritize releasing the band for mobile broadband deployments within a short timeline.

Source: Draft Draft Position paper for Latin America on Digital Dividend/UHFband plans, May 2011

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CITEL

CITEL’s recommendation (November 2011) for the 700 MHz band plan allows for two main options, FCC 700 MHz plan or APT 700 MHz plan:

Source: XVIII MEETING OF PERMANENT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE II: RADIOCOMMUNICATIONS INCLUDING BROADCASTING, November 28 to December 2, 2011, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Final report

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CanadaThe Canadian Regulator has proposed 3 different potential band plans for the 700 MHz band including the FCC plan and the APT plan:

Source: “Consultation on a Policy and Technical Framework for the 700 MHz Band and Aspects Related to Commercial MobileSpectrum”, November 2010

The conclusion of the Canadian consultation has resulted in option 1; harmonize with the US band plan:

Source: www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf10122.html, March 2012

Mexico

Even though Mexico has a long border with the US it seems Mexico has selected the APT 700 MHz plan. In a press message (www.bnamericas.com/news/telecommunications/cofetel-plans-tender-for-700-mhz-band-confirms-will-opt-for-asia-pacific-standard) on June 13, 2012, is stated “Cofetel plans tender for 700 MHz band, confirms will opt for Asia-Pacific standard” and “Mexican telecoms regulator Cofetel is considering tendering blocks of 15 MHz for three operators, Cofetel’s General Director…..”

Chile

Similarly a press message (www.bnamericas.com/news/telecommunications/govt-adopts-asia-pacific-standard-for-700-mhz-band1) of April 24, 2012, states “Government adopts Asia-Pacific standard for 700 MHz band – Chile”. The justification offered is clearly related to the better economies of scale anticipated for the APT 700 MHz band plan.

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Bahama’s

On January 16, 2012, URCA, the Telecom Regulator for the Bahama’s issued a consultation on the “Draft Policy for New Spectrum Bands – 700 MHz, 11 GHz, 12 GHz and 42 GHz”, ECS 1/2012 and on March 23, 2012 the “Policy for New Spectrum Bands – 700 MHz, 11 GHz, 12 GHz and 42 GHz” was issued.

The 700 MHz band plan adopted is as follows:

Source: URCA “Policy for New Spectrum Bands – 700 MHz, 11 GHz, 12 GHz and 42 GHz”, March 2012

This plan could be characterized as a modified FCC 700 MHz band plan, eliminating the 1 MHz bands, reducing the Public Safety allocation and harmonizing all blocks with the existing 6 MHz TV channels. Some of the aspects, like the elimination of the 1 MHz channels and all 6 MHz blocks are similar to the ECTEL 700 MHz plan.

Virgin Islands

The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission Virgin Islands has issued “Spectrum Management Framework – Final Statement including report on Public Consultation”, November 2011. In this report the options for the 700 MHz band plan are discussed and the usual arguments in the FCC APT band plan are reviewed:

Operators who wish to launch in the short-term might prefer the FCC 700 MHz band plan and specifically Band 13 (Verizon) and band 17 (AT&T) given the mobile device availability and roaming with the US

The FCC 700 MHz plan is not ideal The APT 700 MHz plan is more spectrum efficient, not only thanks to its 5 MHz channels but

also because it may permit more efficient LTE deployments in wide channel widths In the long-term the APT plan may prove to be more economical.

The overall conclusion for the Virgin Islands was in favour of the FCC 700 MHz band plan:

Source: “Spectrum Management Framework – Final Statement including report on Public Consultation”, November 2011

Turks & Caicos IslandsThe regulator has adopted and through a kind of beauty contest process awarded 700 MHz spectrum based on the FCC 700 MHz band plan early 2013. The spectrum was clearly divided in “Prime” spectrum and “Non-Prime” spectrum. Prime spectrum was basically the AT&T band 17 and the Verizon band 13 blocks while the rest was considered “Non-Prime”.

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2.4 Initial use of spectrum for LTE in Latin America

The initial deployments of LTE in Latin America are distributed over many different bands including the 700 MHz Digital Dividend but also in-band 850 MHz, 1800 MHz, PCS 1900 MHz, AWS and 2600 MHz.

Source: 4G Americas

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3 Roaming aspects

Roaming is of critical importance for the mobile operators on Sint Maarten given the large numbers of tourists. The majority of the tourists are coming from North America although there is also a significant percentage of European roaming.

First of all it is important that roaming does not necessarily require the visited network to use the same band as in the home country. This is a common misunderstanding. What is essential is that the mobile device brought along by the visitor supports the frequency band used on Sint Maarten.

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3.1 Mobile Device capabilities

This can be illustrated based on the capabilities of one of the popular phone models used in the US, the iPhone5:

Source: http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html

IPhone models: The first model, the “AT&T” version supports LTE bands 2 (PCS 1900), 4 (AWS), 5 (850 MHz)

and 17 (lower 700 MHz B & C as used by AT&T) and 5 bands 3G/HSPA+ and quad-band GSM. The second model, the “Verizon“ version supports LTE bands 1 (2100 MHz), 3 (1800 MHz), 5

(850 MHz), 13 (upper 700 MHz band C as used by Verizon) and band 25 (extended PCS 1900) and quad band 3G/HSPA+ and quad-band GSM and tri-band CDMA.

The third model used internationally supports LTE bands LTE bands 1 (2100 MHz), 3 (1800 MHz), 5 (850 MHz) and quad band 3G/HSPA+ and quad band GSM.

Other popular devices, like Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTCOne support again a different mix of LTE band combinations depending on the country and the operator:

Samsung S4 for AT&T: LTE: Bands 1/4/7/17; HSPA+/UMTS: 850/1900/2100MHz; GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz. So this version also has band 7 (LTE 2600)

Samsung S4 for Verizon: LTE: Bands 4/13; CDMA 1x/EVDO Rev.A: 800/1900MHz; HSPA+/UMTS: 850/900/1900/2100MHz; GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz.

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Samsung S4 for Sprint: LTE: Band 25; CDMA 1x/EVDO Rev.A: 800/850/1900MHz; HSPA+/UMTS: 850/900/1900/2100MHz; GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz. So this version seems to have activated only the LTE capability in the extended PCS 1900 band even though Sprint’s network has become tri-band LTE (EMSR-800 band 26, extended PCS 1900 band 25 and LTE TDD 2600, band 41) in 2013.

Samsung S4 for T-Mobile: LTE: Bands 1/2/4/5/7/17; HSPA+/UMTS: 850/AWS/1900/2100MHz; GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz. So this particular version supports 6 different LTE bands including the “AT&T” 700 MHz version

Samsung S4 for US Cellular: LTE: Bands 2/4/5/12; CDMA 1x/EVDO Rev.A: 800/AWS/1900MHz Samsung S4 for other US carriers: LTE: Bands 2/25; CDMA 1x/EVDO Rev.A: 800/1900MHz Samsung S4 for the Netherlands (typical European): LTE B1(2100), B3(1800), B5(850),

B7(2600), B8(900), B20(800) and quad band 3G/HSPA and GSM HTC One AT&T: LTE 700/850/AWS/1900 MHz HTC One T-Mobile: LTE 700/AWS MHz HTC One European: LTE 800/1800/2600 MHz

Sources: Samsung website for US and the Netherlands, HTC website

How would this apply to a Sint Maarten based operator using LTE in particular band?Band 17 (“AT&T” 700 MHz)

Band 13 (“Verizon” 700 MHz)

Band 3(1800 MHz)

Band 7(2600 MHz)

Band 5(850 MHz)

Verizon iPhone 5 No (3G fall-back) Yes Yes No (3G fall-back) YesAT&T iPhone 5 Yes No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) YesEurope iPhone 5 No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) Yes No (3G fall-back) YesAT&T Sams. S4 Yes No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) Yes No (3G fall-

back)Verizon Sams. S4 No (3G fall-back) Yes No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-

back)Sprint Sams. S4 No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-

back)T-Mobile Sams. S4 Yes No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) Yes YesUS Cellular S4 ? (supports band

12)No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) Yes

Other US carrier S4

No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back)

European Samsung S4

No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) Yes Yes Yes

AT&T HTC One Yes No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back)

T-Mobile HTC One Yes No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back)

European HTC One

No (3G fall-back) No (3G fall-back) Yes Yes No (3G fall-back)

As can be observed from the table above any choice of FCC 700 MHz frequency band for LTE will exclude a lot of roamers:

Selection of the “AT&T” band 17 results in AT&T and some T-Mobile roamers but excludes Verizon, Sprint, US Cellular and European roamers.

Similarly the choice for Verizon band 13 results in Verizon roamers but no one elseSelecting one of the popular in-band migration options results in a mixture of roamers:

The increasingly popular 1800 MHz band does result in most European roamers but also the Verizon iPhone 5’s.

The 2600 MHz band results in some devices from AT&T, T-Mobile and many European roamers. The 850 MHz band results in all iPhones from Verizon, AT&T and Europe as well US Cellular, T-

Mobile Samsung and European Samsung S4’s. With the current ecosystem of mobile devices/smartphones there is no optimum band to get all roamers. Since the US market is fragmented the result of US roaming will be fragmented as well. The

22

European/Asian/Rest of the World roamers can be captured using one of the internationally most popular bands such as LTE 1800 but other bands but also 850 and 2600 MHz bands do offer increasing roaming opportunities.

This fragmented LTE spectrum in the US is a major barrier for development of the LTE roaming market. However it should be observed that all those terminals come with extensive 3G/HSPA capability as well so visitors to Sint Maarten can always fall-back to 3G/HSPA+ for voice and data services in case their device does not support the local LTE band.

Looking forward there are strong reasons to expect the situation to improve. An important reason is the fact that smartphone vendors do not like to make so many different models. In most of the word they can provide just one and the same model but for the US they need several different versions. Chipset developers are addressing the issue to support more LTE bands in one smartphone:

Intel plans to provide a chip supporting up to 15 LTE bands:

Source: August 2013 filing at FCC in response to Notice of Ex Parte Presentation, Promoting Interoperability in the 700 MHz Commercial Spectrum

Even more ambitious is the RF360 chipset of Qualcomm offering support for up to 40 LTE bands between 700 MHz and 2600 MHz. This chipset is due for late 2013 and is anticipated to enable a single mobile phone for the global market.Qualcomm RF360 Front End Solution Enables Single, Global LTE Design for Next-Generation Mobile DevicesNew WTR1625L and RF Front End Chips Harness Radio Frequency Band Proliferation, Enable OEMs to Develop Thinner, More Power-Efficient Devices with Worldwide 4G LTE MobilitySAN DIEGO – February 21, 2013 – Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., introduced the Qualcomm RF360 Front End Solution, a comprehensive, system-level solution that addresses cellular radio frequency band fragmentation and enables for the first time a single, global 4G LTE design for mobile devices. Band fragmentation is the biggest obstacle to designing today’s global LTE devices, with 40 cellular radio bands worldwide. The Qualcomm RF front end solution comprises a family of chips designed to mitigate this problem while improving RF performance and helping OEMs more easily develop multiband, multimode mobile devices supporting all seven cellular modes, including LTE-FDD, LTE-TDD, WCDMA, EV-DO, CDMA 1x, TD-SCDMA and GSM/EDGE. The RF front end solution includes the industry’s first envelope power tracker for 3G/4G LTE mobile devices, a dynamic antenna matching tuner, an integrated power amplifier-antenna switch, and an innovative 3D-RF packaging solution incorporating key front end components. The Qualcomm RF360 solution is designed to work seamlessly, reduce power consumption and improve radio performance while reducing the RF front end footprint inside of a smartphone by up to 50 percent compared to the current generation of devices. Additionally, the solution reduces design complexity and development costs, allowing OEM customers to develop new multiband, multimode LTE products faster and more efficiently. By combining the new RF front end chipsets with Qualcomm Snapdragon all-in-one mobile processors and Gobi™ LTE modems, Qualcomm Technologies can supply OEMs with a comprehensive, optimized, system-level LTE solution that is truly global.

As mobile broadband technologies evolve, OEMs need to support 2G, 3G, 4G LTE and LTE Advanced technologies in the same device in order to provide the best possible data and voice experience to consumers no matter where they are.

“The wide range of radio frequencies used to implement 2G, 3G and 4G LTE networks globally presents an ongoing challenge for mobile device designers. Where 2G and 3G technologies each have been implemented on four to five different RF bands globally, the inclusion of LTE brings the total number of cellular bands to approximately 40,” said Alex Katouzian, senior vice president of product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Our new RF devices are tightly integrated and will allow us the flexibility and scalability to supply OEMs of all types, from those requiring only a region-specific LTE solution, to those needing LTE global roaming support.”

23

Source: www.qualcomm.com/media/releases/2013/02/21/qualcomm-rf360-front-end-solution-enables-single-global-lte-design-next

GSMA is also assessing the issue of many LTE spectrum bands.

Is a ‘world’ LTE smartphone on the horizon?Achieving global economies of scale for LTE remains a challenge

The mobile industry has made good progress in ensuring LTE spectrum harmonisation on a regional basis. However, it has only recently started tackling the challenge of developing an LTE smartphone that works worldwide. Such a device would improve economies of scale for both device manufacturers and operators, while nurturing global LTE roaming and triggering the faster adoption of LTE services. There are currently close to 200 commercial LTE networks operating worldwide, running on 12 different FDD/TDD frequency bands. About 30% of global LTE deployments are supported by the 1800 MHz band, while the 2600 MHz band makes up a quarter of deployments and the digital dividend bands a further 21%. But the dominance of these existing LTE bands is likely to lessen in the medium to long term as more countries allocate LTE spectrum and additional bands are introduced.

In Europe, LTE spectrum has been harmonised around the 800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz bands. Meanwhile, many markets in Asia and Latin America are adopting the APT700 band plan, and other operators – notably across the Americas – are considering the use of AWS 1700 MHz/2100 MHz band for roaming purposes. These are the key bands that are core to a ‘world’ LTE smartphone today, along with 2100 MHz and 2300 MHz/2500 MHz for TDD.Nevertheless, handset manufacturers’ choices as to which LTE bands they support have typically been driven by market demand at the domestic or regional level, with LTE smartphones designed to support operators’ immediate spectrum requirements. Samsung chose to support six LTE frequency bands on the Galaxy S4, compared to five for recent devices produced by Apple, Nokia and Huawei.

One large Asian handset manufacturer recently told us that supporting multiple LTE bands is likely to remain a compromise between cost and demand, as defined by the operators' requirements. The manufacturer went on to say that at present, China Mobile is the operator that requires its OEM partners to support the most complex LTE band portfolio in a single device, with up to 13 bands.

The LTE specifications set by 3GPP, the telecoms standardisation body, reflect the fact that the technology can be deployed in any of the 44 licensed bands worldwide, a consequence of a general trend towards ‘technology-neutral’ licensing. It is unlikely that an operator would require a handset vendor to support all 44 bands in a single device, but developing a smartphone capable of supporting the core LTE bands would effectively create a ‘world’ LTE smartphone.

With the recent introduction of its RF360 front-end solution, Qualcomm has potentially opened the door for a ‘world’ LTE smartphone that fully enables global LTE roaming. The chipset vendor explained recently that the new technology is capable of supporting 700 MHz to 2700 MHz LTE bands worldwide in a single device, and could generate economies of scale in “the same way that quad-band did for GSM and penta-band did for 3G”.

Qualcomm expects RF360 to be commercially available in the second half of 2013, initially targeting high-end devices. However, the large Asian handset manufacturer we talked to explained that it will take time for such technical improvements to reach the mass market, and smartphone vendors are therefore likely to continue selecting LTE bands according to immediate domestic and regional market demand – and, of course, cost of production - for some time to come.

Interestingly, Qualcomm has been addressing the ‘real estate’ challenge within smartphones’ printed circuit boards (PCB) whereby supporting more LTE bands demands more discrete radio frequency (RF) front-end components, which are placed between the antenna and the digital modem. The chipset vendor explained that with its RF360 solution, “instead of needing up to ten different designs to competitively support the required LTE band combinations around the world, an OEM may only need three, or even fewer, and the differences across those can be addressed without a change in board layout, or an increase in board space”.

This is a particularly relevant challenge considering the increasing demand for bigger screens, faster processors and connectivity, and better battery life, which means that today’s sleek smartphone designs leave little room to expand the PCB space required for further front-end components should manufacturers want their devices to support more LTE bands.

Thus we would expect Qualcomm’s RF360 solution to have a similar impact to its Snapdragon chipsets in the medium to long term. In October last year, US operator MetroPCS explained that the “availability of lower-cost 4G LTE

24

smartphones is in part due to an increasing number of handsets utilising the Qualcomm 8960 (Snapdragon) chipset family. This standardisation is a major positive as it will enable decreasing unit costs over time and we believe lower subsidisation levels in the future”. % frequency bands (MHz) used in global LTE deployments, as of July 2013Source: GSMA Intelligence, August 2013

The recent launch of the iPhone 5s and 5c has shown already that all new iPhones support many more LTE bands, besides quad band GSM and quad/penta-band 3G. Also all models are supporting LTE 1800 which strengthens the use of LTE 1800 as key band for LTE roaming since subscribers using the latest Iphones from all networks around the world would be able to roam on a LTE 1800 network in Sint Maarten. Also band 20 (LTE 800) is supported on all models which looks promising towards the future use of that band as well.

The US specific bands 13 and 17 (part of FCC 700) would only be supported by 2 out of the 4 models and contrary to general expectation offers therefore less potential for roaming by recent high-end devices.

Ultrafast LTE. Available here. With LTE on iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s and iPhone 5, you can browse the

web, stream content, or download a movie at blazing-fast speeds. To see if your iPhone works with LTE networks in your country, refer to the

chart below.1 For more details, contact your carrier.

iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s Model Number2 LTE Band Support3 Country Supported LTE Networks

iPhone 5c Model A1532

iPhone 5s Model A1533

1 (2100 MHz) 2 (1900 MHz) 3 (1800 MHz) 4 (AWS) 5 (850 MHz) 8 (900 MHz) 13 (700c MHz) 17 (700b MHz) 19 (800 MHz) 20 (800 DD) 25 (1900 MHz)

United States AT&T T- Mobile Verizon

Canada Bell (including Virgin) Rogers (including Fido) Telus (including Koodo)

Puerto Rico AT&T T- Mobile

iPhone 5c Model A1456

iPhone 5s Model A1453

1 (2100 MHz) 2 (1900 MHz) 3 (1800 MHz) 4 (AWS) 5 (850 MHz) 8 (900 MHz) 13 (700c MHz) 17 (700b MHz) 18 (800 MHz) 19 (800 MHz) 20 (800 DD) 25 (1900 MHz) 26 (800 MHz)

United States Sprint

Japan KDDI Softbank

Puerto Rico Sprint

25

iPhone 5c Model A1507

iPhone 5s Model A1457

1 (2100 MHz) 2 (1900 MHz) 3 (1800 MHz) 5 (850 MHz) 7 (2600 MHz) 8 (900 MHz) 20 (800 DD)

France Bouygues Orange SFR

Germany Deutsche Telekom Vodafone

United Kingdom EE Vodafone

iPhone 5c Model A1529

iPhone 5s Model A1530

1 (2100 MHz) 2 (1900 MHz) 3 (1800 MHz) 5 (850 MHz) 7 (2600 MHz) 8 (900 MHz) 20 (800 DD) 38 (TD 2600) 39 (TD 1900) 40 (TD 2300)

Australia Optus (including Virgin) Telstra Vodafone

Hong Kong CSL Hutchison SmarTone

Korea KT SK Telecom

New Zealand Vodafone

Singapore M1 SingTel StarHub

Source: www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/

26

3.2 Analysis

As described in the introduction of the Roaming chapter the capability to roam does not require the use of the same frequency band as in the home country but it requires the use of frequency band supported by the device/smartphone. Most modern high-end device support at least quad-band GSM and quad/penta band 3G/HSPA+ and up to 5-6 different LTE bands. While the quad band/penta band capability is sufficient for GSM and 3G/HSPA it isn’t for LTE given the proliferation of more bands.

At this point in time the 1800 MHz band seems to have the broadest acceptance globally and therefore rapidly increasing support for LTE 1800 in devices/smartphones can be anticipated. A LTE 1800 network layer would be beneficial to support a wide range of roamers from most of the Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle East, and to some extent from the US and Latin America.

Selection of a particular FCC 700 MHz band offers a roaming opportunity but also carries a major risk of dependency on one single major roaming partner while that partner might be able to use another operator on Sint Maarten as well. This negotiation position can be difficult for a local Sint Maarten based operator:

Band 17 in lower 700 MHz: dependent upon AT&T for most of the inbound roaming revenues. Most devices, except some T-Mobile devices, of other US operators do not support band 17 and cannot be offered LTE roaming.

Band 13 in upper 700 MHz: dependent upon Verizon for most of the inbound roaming revenues. Most devices of other US operators do not support band 17 and cannot be offered LTE roaming.

The local operator might be the preferred partner for AT&T or Verizon but the dependency also carries a major risk of marginalisation. If the local Sint Maarten operator does not agree with their terms and conditions they might get almost no LTE roamers while the US operator could enable roaming in another band to another Sint Maarten operator and for those users without the right LTE band support just fall-back to 3G/HSPA+. A Sint Maarten operator offering LTE 1800, LTE 850 or LTE 2600 would be able to offer roaming to most US based operators but not all devices/smartphones used in the US do offer support for these bands.

Looking forward towards the future the chipset industry, such as Intel and Qualcomm, are in the process of solving this issue and making the local spectrum choice more a decision focused on the optimum local spectrum allocation instead of on roaming. Launch of the first generation of chipset capable to support a much wider range of LTE bands is due in 2013 and smartphones with those chipsets are likely to follow shortly afterwards.

It might be more important to focus initially on an internationally popular band in which a Sint Maarten operator can make a lot capacity cost efficiently. Providing capacity with 2 x 20 MHz of spectrum in the 1800 MHz band might be more attractive and the better coverage but much lower capacity of 2 x 10 MHz in one of the FCC 700 MHz bands. Once the anticipated growth of the APT 700 MHz band plan ecosystem takes of it might be attractive to add 2 x 20 MHz in the APT 700 MHz band.

27

4 Coordination with French Saint Martin and Anguilla

Given the close proximity of French Saint Martin/Saint Barthélemy (France) and Anguilla coordination is essential. Coordination is already crucial if the same band plans are being used but if incompatible band plans will be used it becomes even more critical.

Historically the spectrum policy of French Saint Martin has been more closely aligned with the spectrum policy and band plans used in France. On the other side Anguilla has followed more closely the North American spectrum plans. Sint Maarten has always opted for a mixture of both taking the best from each side and cater for multiple markets. In the past, in the period before formal coordination between the 3 countries, this has already resulted in incompatible use of spectrum bands such as basestation transmit in the upper part of the 850 MHz band being at the same frequency as basestation receive in the 900 MHz band in a neighbouring country. Thanks to coordination most of these issues have been resolved over time.

Since 2006 a frequency coordination agreement between Anguilla, French and the Netherlands Antilles (now Sint Maarten and BES) has been in place to resolve such issues. In 2010 also broadcasting in the FM band and DVB-T in the UHF band (including the 700 MHz band) has been coordinated.

The deployment of LTE is raising new issues and potentially incompatible band plans. At 17 July 2013 ARCEP launched a public consultation on mobile spectrum allocation in overseas territories. In this consultation the complexity of the international coordination around Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy is mentioned. The existing allocation of mobile spectrum is as follows:

Source: ARCEP Public consultation on mobile spectrum in overseas territories, July 2013

The overall France approach is centered around the following bands: 800 MHz (European Digital Dividend): band 20 (incompatibilities with the 850 MHz band and 700

MHz band) (Extended) 900 MHz band: band 8 (incompatibilities with the 850 MHz band) 1800 MHz band, band 3 (incompatibilities with PCS 1900 band) 2100 MHz band, band 1 (incompatibilities with the PCS 1900 band) 2600 MHz band, band 7 (2x70 MHz) and band 38 (up to 50 MHz TDD)

28

Future plans for the 700 MHz band are not formal yet but a band plan comparable to the lower 2 x 30 MHz of the APT 700 MHz band plan would be a likely scenario.Anguilla on the other hand is fully focussed on:

700 MHz band according to FCC 700 MHz band plan (incompatibilities with APT 700 MHz and 800 MHz band)

850 MHz band (incompatibilities with the 800 MHz band and the extended 900 MHz band) 1900 MHz band (incompatibilities with the 1800 and 2100 bands)

The figure below highlights the main incompatibilities:

Source: List of incompatibilities as presented between the Administrations

Incompatibilities between BTS TX and BTS RX at the same frequency are very hard to resolve at the small distances between the three countries. These incompatibilities should be avoided. Similar use, both uplink or both downlink also requires coordination but is more manageable through signal levels, antenna patterns, use of different codes, etc.

Specifically for the 700 MHz band the incompatibilities between FCC 700 and APT 700 would result in achieving only 2x20 MHz of spectrum instead of 2x30 MHz or up to 2x45 MHz depending on the use of the 800 MHz band. A realistic scenario for a division of the 700 MHz band would focus on band 12/17 for the FCC 700 country. To achieve an equitable division band 13 would only have 2x5/6 MHz.

29

Band 13 DL Band 13 UL

788

APT 700 UL APT 700 DL

698 788

Band 17 UL Band 17 DLBand 12 UL Band 12 DL

703 733 758

Coordination for 3G/HSPA+ and LTE can no longer rely on the approach of preferential non-preferential frequencies as used for GSM given the large channel bandwidth required. Already 3G/HSPA+ introduced a possibility to have two networks at similar signal level at the border using different preferential and non-preferential codes. These codes are divided over 4 country numbers and this has been implemented previously for 3G/HSPA+ in the 2100 MHz band frequency coordination between Anguilla, France and Sint Maarten. For LTE a similar approach is possible based on preferential and non-preferential PCI’s (Physical layer Cell Identity).

On top of the preferential non-preferential PCI’s more options to improve LTE coordination are described in ECC Recommendation 08(02), April 2012:

Demodulation Reference Signal (DM RS) coordination Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) coordination

These aspects could potentially be coordinated between the operators to improve the performance.

30

5 Options for Sint Maarten

Taking into considerations the specific local conditions on Sint Maarten, the coordination with the neighbouring countries, the roaming requirements and international trends then a number of main options emerge.

5.1 Below 1 GHz

In the bands below 1 GHz the main issues are:1 900 MHz band, include the extended 900 MHz band (880-890 MHz, 925-935 MHz)2 Use of either the 850 MHz band and its future extensions (like band 26 used in the US by Sprint) or

the 800 MHz band (band 20, European Digital Dividend)3 Band plan for the 700 MHz band: FCC 700 MHz APT 700 MHz

Option 1: "North-American plan + 2x25 MHz of 900 MHz"

Option 2 "Maximum 900 MHz band, APT 700 and 850 MHz for US compatibility"

Option 3, "Both Digital Dividend options full European 800 MHz and 2x30 MHz of APT 700; maximum 900 MHz"

Option 4, "Full APT 700 band, 2x15 MHz European 800 MHz; maximum 900 MHz"

Option 5A, "Both Digital Dividend options, full European 800 MHz and 2x30 MHz of APT 700; maximum 900 MHz; small roaming slot in 850 MHz"

Option 5B, "Both Digital Dividend options, full European 800 MHz and FCC 700 MHz Band 12, 17 and 13; maximum 900 MHz; small roaming slot in 850 MHz"

698 788960

Band 12 UL Band 12 DLBand 17 UL Band 17 DL

Band 13 DL Band 13 UL 862 869 877 880 915 925

900 MHz 900 MHz791 821 824 832

800 MHz 850 MHz 800 MHz 850 MHz

832 862 880 915 925 960869 877703 733 758 788 791 821 824

APT 700 APT 700 800 MHz 800 MHz 900 MHz 900 MHz850 MHz850 MHz

Band 13 ULBand 14 DL Band 14 UL

Public Safety Public Safety

800 MHz

698

Band 12 UL Band 12 DLBand 17 UL Band 17 DL

Band 13 DL

862 880 915 925 960847703 748 758 821803 806

APT 700 APT 700 900 MHz 900 MHz800 MHz

832 862 880 915 925 960703 733 758 788 791 821

APT 700 APT 700 800 MHz 800 MHz 900 MHz 900 MHz

869 877 880 915 925 960814 824 832 852 859

850-Ext 850 MHz 900 MHz 900 MHz703 748 758 803 807

887 890 915 935 960

APT 700 APT 700 850-Ext 850 MHz

824 842 852 859 869

850-Ext 850 MHz 900 MHz 900 MHz703 748 758 806 807 814

FCC 700 or APT 700 FCC 700 or APT 700 850-Ext 850 MHz

Band 26 UL Band 26 DLBand 5 UL Band 5 DL

Band 27 UL Band 27 DL

Band 8 UL Band 8 DLBand 20 DL Band 20 UL

France would typically be following option 3 while Anguilla would most likely opt for something closer to Option 1 with the FCC 700 MHz band plan in the 700 MHz band.

Extended 900 MHz band (880-890 MHz, 925-935 MHz)?Sint Maarten might consider sacrificing some spectrum in the 850 MHz band to gain 2x10 MHz in the 900 MHz band. This offers a number of important benefits.Pro

Allows Sint Maarten operators to benefit from more bandwidth in the 900 MHz. This would allow them to use multi-technology/Single RAN equipment to provide GSM/3G/HSPA/LTE in the 900 MHz band with one and the same radio basestation. Cost-effective approach.

Synchronises the extended 900 MHz band between French Saint Martin and Sint Maarten Con

If Anguilla continues with large scale use of the 850 MHz band plan at the same frequencies French Saint Martin will face major uplink interference problems. Also basestation on Sint Maarten with line of Sight to Anguilla might suffer from high interference levels requiring proper antenna radiation patterns to bring the interference levels down to acceptable levels.

Reduces the 850 MHz band which might be required for US roaming purposes. Basically only spectrum for one 2x5 MHz 3G/HSPA+ 850 MHz network would be available when taking a guard band into consideration.

31

Overall the benefits seem to outweigh the disadvantages for Sint Maarten but this solution might fail without real support from Anguilla.

32

850 MHz band and its potential future extensions (band 26) 800 MHz band? Sint Maarten could consider the adoption of the European 800 MHz band (band 20) to align spectrum usage with French Saint Martin.Pro

Allows Sint Maarten operators to benefit from the 800 MHz band and aligns spectrum usage with French Saint Martin.

Con The remainder of the 850 MHz downlink band will be difficult to use. A small part of the band

might still be possible to deploy if used with appropriate filtering (824-832 MHz, 869-877 MHz duplex). It would be possible to trade-off some 800 MHz band spectrum against 850 MHz band spectrum if needed.

The use of the 800 MHz band does impact the 700 MHz band. In case the FCC 700 MHz plan is used this would affect the band 14 and public safety bands. There would still be 4 MHz guard band left between the 800 MHz band and band 13 (Verizon) so with good filtering this could be realised. In case of the APT 700 MHz band plan it would reduce the band from 2x45 MHz to 2x30MHz

Results in a significant reduction of 850 MHz spectrum and also blocks the use of the 850 MHz extension through band 26 (and/or band 27). Since the 850 MHz is likely to continue to be important for US roaming this will be reducing compatible bands with the US.

Anguilla is likely to follow the US 850 MHz band plans.The preferred solution would be coordinated use of the (extended) 850 MHz (including band 26) in all three countries. However preliminary discussions with France have revealed that the likelihood of allowing 850 MHz (band 5 and 26, 27) on Saint Martin is very small. Alignment with the French side is very important to avoid incompatibilities in the 800/850 MHz band so the overall advantages of aligning with French Saint Martin seems to outweigh the disadvantages for Sint Maarten. At this moment the 800 MHz band (band 20) spectrum is not used by any of the mobile networks. Continued use of the band 5 (existing 850 MHz band) by Anguilla should be anticipated. As long as the lower 2x10 MHz is being used on Anguilla there would be neither incompatibility with the 800 MHz (band 20) nor the extended 900 MHz band. This would still require cooperation of Anguilla.

It is still anticipated that with a bit of filtering/antenna coordination effort and a 3 MHz guard band it would also still be possible to use lowest part of the existing 850 MHz band (band 5) on Sint Maarten (869-877 MHz). This could be used for a small roaming network. Anguilla might be able to extend use of the 850 MHz band with a part of band 26 (866-880 MHz) since a guard band would not be required given that there will always be at least 7 km physical separation.

33

FCC 700 MHz APT 700 MHz?

Given the global and regional developments in the 700 MHz band Sint Maarten has two main options: Option 1: Adopt the FCC 700 MHz plan Option 2: Adopt the APT 700 MHz plan

The Pro’s and Con’s can best be summarised by the following table:FCC Plan APT Plan

Pro’s Short-term mobile device availability

Aligned for inbound roaming with AT&T and Verizon

Allows for a quick launch and an existing ecosystem

Aligned with Anguilla

Single band plan More spectrum efficient Allows for wider LTE channels (such as 2 x 20

MHz), better throughput and more cost-efficient In the long–term likely to achieve the better

economies of scale (Asia is 50% of global terminal market, North America about 6%)

In the long-term more likely to have a broader range of low-cost mobile device given the market requirements and volumes in Asia

Likely to be aligned with French Saint Martin for the lower 2x30 MHz

Use of FCC 700 band 17 on Anguilla would still be possible but limits APT 700 to 2x30 MHz for French Saint Martin and basestations on Sint Maarten with Line of Sight to Anguilla

Con’s The FCC plan is unique for the US situation, not really applicable or necessary for the Sint Maarten situation

Less spectrum efficient Does not allow for wide channels

(in practice up to 2 x 10 MHz, in theory up to one channel of 2 x 15 MHz)

Fragmented spectrum resulting in several sub-bands with limited spectrum

Due to several sub-bands the mobile devices are sub-band specific

In the long-term this plan may have lower economies of scale

Not aligned with French Saint Martin

Although the prospect for adoption is quite encouraging the actual eco-system is still in the early days

Initially a more limited availability of mobile devices until more major Asian and Latin American countries have launched the service

Roaming with the US depends on terminal capabilities to use US spectrum bands

Not aligned with Anguilla

The benefits of the FCC 700 MHz band plan are certainly not obvious, in spite of some short-term roaming opportunities with AT&T and Verizon. Roaming is not really requiring use of the same band but requires support of the necessary bands in the mobile device/smartphone. The disadvantages of the fragmented spectrum, less efficient networks and in the mid-term potentially a less developed (in particular in lower cost smartphone segment) ecosystem of devices/smartphones. Most of the Latin America region has adopted the APT 700 MHz band plan instead of the FCC 700 MHz for very good reasons and also the GSMA advice tends towards the APT 700 MHz band plan for countries which are not in a rush. Sint Maarten could initially launch LTE in other bands, such as the 1800 MHz, and gain a bit of time before taking a final decision on the FCC 700 MHz APT 700 MHz band plan issue to see if the APT 700 MHz band plan indeed continues to gain traction globally.

34

5.2 Above 1 GHz

The spectrum above 1 GHz is mainly used to provide a lot of capacity cost-efficiently. Lower frequency bands are typically too small to provide enough capacity. Reportedly PCS 1900 (band 2) use has already been phased out on Sint Maarten and PCS 1900 does not play a significant role anymore in International roaming since US GSM terminals are typically at least tri-band and else quad-band GSM and multi-band 3G/HSPA. With PCS 1900 use eliminated on Sint Maarten the following benefits are available:

The full 2x75 MHz of the 1800 MHz band becomes available and therefore allows 2x20 MHz LTE deployments per operator.

The full 2x60 MHz of the 2100 MHz band becomes available allowing operators to grow to 4 channel 3G/HSPA+ or more in this band and potentially also in a later stage offering in-band migration to LTE.

The resulting spectrum allocation in these bands would become as follows:Band 3 1800 MHz DL

1800 MHz1805 1880

Band 1 ULBand 2 DLBand 2 UL

1920 1980

DECT

Band 33 UMTS/LTE TDD

Band 33

1900

2100 MHz

Further there is the 2300 MHz band, currently used for WiMAX. In-band migration to LTE-TDD would be a logical scenario. Similarly in the 2600 MHz band introduction of LTE-FDD (2x70 MHz) and LTE-TDD (2x50 MHz minus guard bands) in the gap between the FDD slots would be possible.

The 3500 GHz band could potentially also be used for LTE in the mid- to long-term.

35

5.3 Recommended approach

Take key decisions: Preference for use of the extended 900 MHz band. This adds 2x10 MHz in the 900 MHz and

allows cost-efficient 2G/3G/4G networks for the local mobile operators.

Aligned use of the 850 MHz band (band 5, 26, 27) in all 3 territories does not seem to be a very realistic option. Therefore it is recommended to align with France and instead use the 800 MHz (band 20) for LTE. A small block of remaining 850 MHz spectrum (2x7 MHz and 3 MHz guard band) can still be used on Sint Maarten with appropriate filtering/antenna spacing effort. The full use of the 800 MHz band provides 2x30 MHz of attractive LTE spectrum even though it does block the upper part of the 700 MHz band.

Seriously consider APT 700 instead of FCC 700 MHz. In the mid-term APT 700 MHz band plan is very likely to offer a better proposition to local Sint Maarten citizens (faster service, lower cost of service and a better ecosystem including more low cost smartphones). The short-term roaming benefit are not as significant and most of the revenues can be captured in the short-term with 3G/HSPA+ in 2100/900/850 MHz and LTE 1800 and in the mid- to long- term the device/ smartphone ecosystem is likely to resolve the major LTE spectrum fragmentation.

France indicates the expected adoption of APT 700. Alignment would allow the use of most of the band. Non-alignment with France (opting for FCC 700) would result in major incompatibilities and in such a case band 12/17 might still be usable but band 13/14/Public Safety would face uplink interference caused by APT 700 BTS downlink. Realistically any coordination between France and Dutch Sint Maarten in such a situation would likely result in only band 12/17 (2x15 MHz) and half of band 13 (2x5/6 MHz) for Dutch Sint Maarten and 2x20 MHz for French Saint Martin instead of anywhere from 2x30 to 2x45 MHz depending on the 800 MHz band use.

If required relocation of spectrum from the 800 MHz to the APT 700 MHz band plan would be possible. Making each 2x30 MHz would be reasonable. But it is possible to increase APT 700 up to 2x45 MHz while at the same time reducing 800 MHz to 2x15 MHz. For example 2x40 MHz APT 700 and 2 x 20 MHz 800 MHz would give three operators access to 2x20MHz LTE below 1 GHz.

The two main options below 1 GHz would become:Option 5A, "Both Digital Dividend options, full European 800 MHz and 2x30 MHz of APT 700; maximum 900 MHz; small roaming slot in 850 MHz"

Option 5B, "Both Digital Dividend options, full European 800 MHz and FCC 700 MHz Band 12, 17 and 13; maximum 900 MHz; small roaming slot in 850 MHz"

698 788960

Band 12 UL Band 12 DLBand 17 UL Band 17 DL

Band 13 DL Band 13 UL 862 869 877 880 915 925

900 MHz 900 MHz791 821 824 832

800 MHz 850 MHz 800 MHz 850 MHz

832 862 880 915 925 960869 877703 733 758 788 791 821 824

APT 700 APT 700 800 MHz 800 MHz 900 MHz 900 MHz850 MHz850 MHz

Above 1 GHz the full 1800 MHz (2x75 MHz), 2100 MHz (2x60MHz) and the 2600 MHz (2x70 MHz) would be available for FDD as well as the 2300 MHz and up to 50 MHz of 2600 MHz spectrum for TDD. This should provide ample spectrum to cater for near future mobile data traffic growth. Next steps would be:

Negotiate the sharing and coordination with France and Anguilla at the band plan level. Try to convince each other to avoid the use of incompatible band plans as much as possible.

Make specific arrangements within each band plan to coordinate use within each band plan on both sides of Sint Maarten and where applicable also with Anguilla. For new 3G/HSPA+ bands and LTE based on equal signal levels and preferential codes (3G/HSPA) or PCI’s (LTE).

36

Below 1 GHzIn the 900 MHz band there will be capacity for the existing 15 MHz of GSM spectrum being used as well as 4 x 2x5 MHz carriers 3G/HSPA+ or 2 x 2x10 MHz LTE. This facilitates large-scale 3G/HSPA+ (dual-carrier) in the 900 MHz band to provide better 3G/HSPA+ coverage and additional capacity.Sint Maarten

Saint Martin

Anguilla (as is and assuming North American approach)850 MHz 900 MHz 900 MHz

869 915 960887 890 935814 824 842 852 859

850-Ext 850-Ext807

850 MHz

Op 1 3G

Op 1 GSM

Op 2 3G

Op 2 3G

Op 2 GSM

Op 2 GSM

Op F 3

Op1 3G

Op 1 3G

Op 1 GSM

Op 2 3G

Op 2 3G

850 MHz 850 MHz 900 MHzOp F 1 Op F 2 Op F 3 Op F 1791 821 915 925 960824 832 862 869

925 960832 862 869 877 880 915791 821 824

850 MHz 850 MHzOp 1 Op 2 Op 3

900 MHz877 880

Op F 2

Op 1 Op 2 Op 3 Op 2 GSM

Op 2 GSM

Op1 3G

Note: If Anguilla would continue to use the 880-890 MHz part of the 850 MHz band this would imply a spectrum incompatibility. Anguilla 2010 data shows allocation only up to 881 MHz. Basestations sectors with line of sight to Anguilla could suffer uplink interference and might require special antenna arrangements to suppress this interference. Anguilla would suffer similar uplink interference when introducing services in band 26/27. Special measures will be required to mitigate these incompatibilities. The frequency coordination can initially be based on mix of GSM and 3G/HSPA. For the GSM parts the preferential non-preferential frequency approach can be sustained. For 3G/HSPA the preferential codes non-preferential codes approach is recommended while if migration to LTE is due preferential non-preferential PCI’s solution can be applied.

In the 800 MHz band 2x30 MHz of prime LTE spectrum, aligned with the Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy spectrum use becomes available. The 800 MHz frequency coordination can be based on LTE, preferential non-preferential PCI’s and further optimisation can be arranged between the operators.

A small 2x7 MHz block in the 850 MHz will be available to support some (US roaming focussed) mobile network. Initially this could be used by the existing CDMA 850 MHz network but migration to 3G/HSPA+ or LTE would be possible.

The decision with respect to FCC 700 APT 700 MHz could be postponed to later point in time once the development of the two ecosystems has matured further. In the short-term LTE 1800 and LTE 800 provides enough spectrum for 3 major mobile operators to offer a dual-band LTE network.

37

Above 1 GHzBoth the 1800 MHz band (2x75 MHz) and the 2100 MHz band (2x60 MHz) will be utilised to the full extend. PCS 1900 is no longer an issue on Sint Maarten although continued use of PCS 1900 on Anguilla is anticipated.

Refarm RefarmSint Maarten

2030-2100

Saint Martin2030-2100

Anguilla

? ? 1930 1990

Web links

1710 1910

WeblinksWeb links

1805

WeblinksDigicelC&WC&W Digicel

Op 1 3G

Op 1 3G

Op 1 3G

Op 2 3G

Op 2 3G

Op 2 3G

Op 4 3G

Op 4 3G

Op 4 3G

Op 3 3G

Op 3 3G

Op 3 3G

Op 3 3G

Op 3 3G

Op 3 3G

Op 4 3G

Op 4 3G

Op 4 3G

Op 2 3G

Op 2 3G

Op 2 3G

Op 1 3G

Op 1 3G

Op 1 3G

Op 1 GSM

Op 2 LTE

Op 2 GSM

Op 2 GSM

Op 2 LTE Op 3 LTE/GSM

2010 2025 2110 2170

Op 1 GSM

Op 1 GSM

Op 1 LTE Op 2 GSM

Op 2 GSM

Op 2 LTE

1880 1900 1920 19801710 1785 1805

2170

1800 MHz 1800 MHz DECT Band 33 2100 MHz Band 34 2100 MHz

1900 1920 1980 2010 2025 211018801710 1785 1805

DECT Band 33 Band 34Op 2 LTE

Op 3 LTE/GSM Op 1 GSM

Op 1 LTE

Note: Assuming Anguilla would continue to use (part of) the PCS 1900 band this would imply spectrum incompatibilities. This is already the case today as well but increased use of bands could worsen the interference issues. Basestations sectors with line of sight to Anguilla could potentially suffer uplink interference and might require special antenna arrangements to suppress this interference. Anguilla would suffer similar uplink caused by 1800 MHz basestations on Sint Maarten/Saint Martin. Special measures will be required to mitigate these incompatibilities.

LTE 1800 would be the main initial LTE band capable to provide high capacity mobile broadband cost-efficiently and offers excellent roaming opportunities given increasing global support for LTE 1800 as the main roaming band.

The frequency coordination can initially be shifting from preferential frequencies non-preferential frequencies towards: For 3G/HSPA the preferential codes non-preferential codes approach LTE preferential non-preferential PCI’s approach

Further there are two more important mobile bands: 2300 MHz band, currently used for WiMAX but offering potential for LTE-TDD 2300 2600 MHz band, offering 2x70 MHz for LTE 2600 FDD and up to 50 MHz for LTE 2600 TDD

In these bands frequency coordination for LTE use can be based on the preferential non-preferential PCI’s approach

Conclusions: Short-term the 1800 MHz band offers 2x75 MHz and allows 3 major

mobile operators to deploy up to 2x20 MHz high capacity LTE networks cost-efficiently

Short-term the 800 MHz band offers 2x30 MHz and allows 3 major mobile operators to deploy 2x10 MHz LTE networks with good coverage characteristics

Short-term 3 full dual-band LTE networks could be deployed

Short-term additional 900 MHz spectrum could be released allowing 2 major mobile operators to add a dual-carrier 3G/HSPA+ network layer at a below 1 GHz band with good coverage to complete 2 dual-band dual-carrier 3G/HSPA+ network

Short-term additional 2100/1900 spectrum could be released to allow 2 major mobile operators up to 3 carrier operation in 2100 MHz. Also spectrum for 1 or 2 new mobile operators could be released

Additional LTE spectrum for very high capacity would be available in the 2300 MHz and 2600 MHz band. Since there is enough spectrum below 1 GHz and in the 1800 MHz band this spectrum is anticipated to be reserved for future allocation

The decision with respect to the 700 MHz band plan (FCC 700 APT 700) will be postponed to a later point in time and after assessing the actual LTE market developments. This spectrum could be used to add capacity to networks or to provide more than 3 operators with good LTE spectrum below 1 GHz.

6 Submission

Sint Maarten Bureau Telecommunications and Post requests submissions to be provided as soon as possible. The closing time for submissions is 5.00pm, Friday November 1st, 2013. Sint Maarten Bureau Telecommunications and Post requests that submissions are provided electronically to giovanni.king@sxmregulator.sx in either Word or PDF format.

Sint Maarten Bureau Telecommunications and Post intends to publish the responses to the consultation on the BTPSXM website. If a respondent considers certain information provided to be confidential then this information should be clearly marked as such allowing Sint Maarten Bureau Telecommunications and Post to handle the information accordingly.