The Toronto Star had an article about a no-frills cell phone service provider that hopes to offer service in Southern Ontario and Quebec over the next few years with "orphan spectrum".

So, what is "orphan spectrum"?

Basically, it is spectrum that isn't normally used for the purpose it's planned on being used for. Kind of like driving on the shoulder, it can be done, but it isn't usually done. Of course, in many places where roads are built without shoulders/curbs, would you say that in those places it's actually proper to drive on what, to us, would be the "shoulder"?

Or think of an FM Radio. Why couldn't it go at least just a bit over 108MHz? Well it could, but the frequencies above 108MHz aren't assigned for FM Radio use.

So, when a cell phone company buys and wants to use orphan spectrum, it ends up in the unfortunate position of having to buy and develop new equipment and phones that use the new frequencies/spectrum. The unfortunate result is that their startup costs tend to be a bit higher, they're using unproven technology, and it will be difficult for them to convince some of the bigger cell phone makers, like Apple and RIM, to start up almost entirely new production lines for their special frequencies.

The upside is that the spectrum is cheap cheap cheap, and this might make all of the difference.

BMV's odds in the wireless market

I'd say that BMV Holdings has a decent chance of building a no-frills cell phone service successfully. Although most young people are all about ringtones and iPhones, I see a substantial market for cell phones that are basically landline phones (and can presumably text as well).

The only bad news I've heard about their service is that BMV DOES NOT plan on offering data. There goes laptop users thinking they'll just be able to buy a BMV dongle and a data-only plan. I would've thought such a service could make the service viable, especially in the startup stages, since data users could usually care less about their provider, as long as it works.

As much as I like their potential service (and surely, what they end up offering will likely be different than what is planned today), I doubt I'd end up being their customer, since I need the newer gadgets with the advanced high-speed data services.