WASHINGTON-The Personal Communications Industry Association said last week the PCIA Microwave Clearinghouse had identified more than $100 million in reimbursable costs for microwave relocation.
Additionally, the Microwave Clearinghouse signed an agreement with the unlicensed personal communications services ad hoc committee for 2 GHz microwave transition and management (UTAM). The agreement clarifies the rules for cost-sharing between the unlicensed and licensed PCS bands.
Commenting on the success of the clearinghouse, which was created in 1996, PCIA President Jay Kitchen said, “$100 million is not pocket change and we are pleased about that.”
The agreement between the clearinghouse and UTAM took 18 months to complete but represents industry members working together instead of regulators having to step in to solve problems, said both Kitchen and Thomas Sugrue, chief of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.
The agreement is “a good example of a situation where it was appropriate for the [Federal Communications Commission] to give the industry flexibility to come up with creative solutions. Both industries were able to work together to reach a solution that will best serve both licensed and unlicensed PCS providers as well as the microwave licensees,” Sugrue said.
Representatives of the clearinghouse held meetings with staffers of the FCC Aug. 1-2 to inform them of the agreement.
The PCIA Microwave Clearinghouse is a subsidiary of PCIA, but functions with a separate board of directors.
