Advanced Wireless Services

AWS is used in the United States, Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela.

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.

Most manufacturers of smartphone mobile handsets provide versions of their phones that include radios that can communicate using the AWS spectrum.

Freedom only operates in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, although they have roaming agreements with Rogers, Telus and Bell at extra cost.

Mobilicity also used the AWS spectrum and began offering services in May 2010, operating in similar areas as Wind but with a smaller network footprint.

[4] Quebecor licensed AWS spectrum throughout the province of Quebec and began offering service with its Vidéotron Mobile brand on September 9, 2010.

[7] Halifax-based EastLink obtained licenses in eastern Canada,[8] 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.

[11][12] Bidding for this new spectrum started on August 9, 2006 and the majority of the frequency blocks were sold to T-Mobile USA to deploy their 3G wireless network in the United States.