WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission will auction 30 megahertz of spectrum being made available with the transition to digital TV for advanced fixed and mobile wireless services, but is looking for more advice on what to do with the six megahertz of spectrum set aside to protect public safety.
The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association said it found the decision troubling.
The government is transitioning channels 60-69 (746-806 MHz) from TV use to other areas. Twenty-four megahertz was allocated for public-safety uses and 36 megahertz was set aside for commercial purposes. The 100 broadcasters still in this band will be protected from interference until the transition to digital TV is complete.
The auction is set to begin April 25.
Since the 60-69 spectrum is considered prime real estate by the wireless industry, every sector has tried to convince the FCC to give it a piece of the pie.
Proposals have included everything from using all of the spectrum for third-generation wireless to setting aside some spectrum for private wireless uses. The FCC said its decision will allow for commercial uses including 3G and fixed wireless.
“Our rules allow auction winners to take advantage of technological advancements in providing a wide variety of new wireless services-from the next generation of mobile services to new fixed broadband services that could become the third Internet pipe into homes across America,” Kennard said.
CTIA disagreed. “It is not technically possible to offer 3G in 10 megahertz of spectrum. This is in addition to the problems associated with providing 3G services given the protection criteria afforded public safety services,” said CTIA President Thomas E. Wheeler.
There will be two licenses in six economic area licenses in the commercial band. One license will be a block of 20 megahertz of spectrum (a pair of 10 megahertz blocks), and one block of 10 megahertz (a pair of five megahertz blocks). The FCC will allow bidders in the auction to win both licenses in each area.
The FCC also is creating two guard bands to protect public safety from interference. One license will be four megahertz (a pair of two megahertz blocks) and one license will be two megahertz (a pair of one megahertz blocks).
Motorola Inc. and the Industrial Telecommunications Association early on suggested that spectrum set aside to protect public safety could be used by private wireless users. The argument is that private wireless systems are similar to public-safety systems so interference from the private systems is less likely to be a problem.
It has not yet been decided whether private wireless will be given exclusive use of the guard bands, but at least one FCC commissioner is opposed to restricting the guard bands to private wireless.
“These guard bands should be open to all bidders willing to accept our interference limits on these bands,” said FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth.
Indeed, Furchtgott-Roth does not believe there is a need for the guard bands and especially an allocation of six megahertz of guard bands.
“Rather than the creation of so-called `guard bands,’ I would have been inclined to resolve our mandate by establishing strict interference limits with significant penalties for noncompliance … even assuming `guard bands’ are a necessary and appropriate convention, I am not convinced that a full six megahertz is necessary to protect public safety. Indeed, it appears that four megahertz or less would have provided a sufficient guard band to protect public safety licenses,” Furchtgott-Roth said.
As of RCR’s press time, the FCC had only released the press release so it was unclear exactly what additional information it believes it needs to make a decision on the guard bands. But in a letter filed last Tuesday with the FCC, ITA and PCIA said delaying the decision on the guard bands was unnecessary.
“We understand the [FCC] is considering seeking additional comment on the disposition of the six megahertz of spectrum in the proposed `guard band’ for public safety. We do not believe that this is necessary as the record is complete and any additional information submitted will simply be a reiteration of positions previously vetted before the [FCC] on this matter,” the private wireless trade groups said.
Although ITA plans to participate in this additional request for information, ITA President Mark Crosby stands by the Jan. 4 letter. “There may be new information, more commitments, more comments,” Crosby added.
Crosby hopes to bring more private wireless representatives-specifically the Land Mobile Communications Council-into the process. The LMCC executive committee meets this week and he hopes to convince them to engage in the process, he said.
The request for additional information means the private wireless community will continue to do battle with FreeSpace Communications.
FreeSpace is developing a concept that will allow high-speed wireless Internet access but it does not have the spectrum it needs. It says it can meet any technical restrictions placed on the guard bands. It does not believe it can prevail in an auction against large wireless companies vying for the other 30 megahertz.
One issue incumbent licensees will not have to deal with is the spectrum cap, which restricts a company from controlling 45 megahertz of spectrum in an urban area and 55 megahertz of spectrum in rural areas.
“The FCC stated that the spectrum cap for the existing 180 megahertz of [commercial mobile radio service] spectrum provides a sufficient safeguard against excessive consolidation of CMRS spectrum, and that refraining from extending the cap to the 30 megahertz would enable existing CMRS providers to use this spectrum for the provision of advanced services. The encumbered nature of the spectrum at this time also favors excluding this spectrum from the CMRS spectrum cap,” said the agency in its release.
