With the shutdown of their FLO TV service, Qualcomm will make available the spectrum that the service once used and AT&T is on the prowl for extra room to spread their wings into for the development of 4G. October, Qualcomm told the media that they intended to suspend FLO TV, which delivered video to cell phones using a broadcast network, but that programming would continue until March of 2011.

Forbes brings us some details on this deal:

Subject to regulatory approvals, the deal is expected to close in the second half of 2011. AT&T says it expects to begin deploying the spectrum, which will "deliver substantial capacity gains" in areas where the coverage extends, which includes areas where iPhone service has been reported to be spotty such as New York and San Francisco, "once compatible handsets and network equipment are developed."

The 700 MHz band spectrum was left open by television stations in the U.S. as they switched to all-digital over the last five years (Congress voted to require the switch to digital in 2005).

The deal provides an opportunity for AT&T to strengthen its 4G network plans on handheld devices and products like the iPad in areas that may have had customer complaints about coverage issues.

With the deal closing in the second half of 2011, AT&T is jumping on buying the spectrum from Qualcomm before any other wireless provider can get at it. There’s no analysis right now about the price the licensing is going for but it seems significant. Of course, AT&T looks to make huge gains from this region of spectrum and with the LTE network race heating up, and numerous phones and devices coming to market, the first people to pull customers in will surge ahead of competitors. And while AT&T prepares a 4G tablet, Sprint may actually beat them to it.

The wireless spectrum opened up by the switch from analog to digital TV has become an extremely useful source leveraged by the FCC for new technologies like FLO TV, public wireless, data, and now even 4G networks.

But exactly as the article says, even the networks themselves aren’t 4G yet and most upcoming devices are bridges to support the upcoming developments. The use of a different spectrum will mean totally different hardware as well, meaning that AT&T will likely be rolling out with phones just for this new network.