A few years ago it was widely assumed that the 900MHz and 1.8GHz GSM bands, widely used in Europe and other regions, would automatically be used for HSPA expansion when the time came to refarm the spectrum. In the past couple of years, the sentiment surrounding 1.8GHz has changed significantly, with many operators planning to use it to add LTE rather than HSPA capacity. This reflects a general acceleration of wide scale LTE roll-out plans even in regions, like Europe, where there will still be heavy reliance on HSPA+ expansion for the next five years or more. The change of heart on 1.8GHz has reached such a level that groups such as the GSM Association now regard the spectrum as…