WASHINGTON-The Rural Cellular Association has asked the Federal Communications Commission to change the band plan for the 700 MHz spectrum that is expected to be made available with the transition to digital TV.
“RCA asks that the FCC make portions of the spectrum that is yet to be auctioned available according to smaller service areas than are presently planned. Such action will facilitate and accelerate the availability of competitive broadband services in rural areas of the country. It will also yield, by all reasonable expectations, increased participation in the auctions and increased revenues for the U.S. Treasury,” said David Nace, RCA outside counsel. “The most effective means by which the FCC can foster the prompt availability of competitive wireless broadband services to rural markets is to make available more licenses in the upper and lower 700 MHz bands with service areas no larger than rural service areas and metropolitan service areas.”
In 2002, the FCC held an auction for 700 MHz licenses designed for rural carriers. The rest of the licenses are expected to be auctioned by economic areas, which allows for only six licenses per block in the nation.
At the time the FCC designed the band plan, nationwide licensees were thought to be the most successful. “Five years ago when the FCC adopted a band plan for the upper 700 MHz channels, it did not anticipate that these channels could effectively be utilized to offer competitive broadband services, and that demand for such services in rural areas of the country would be as compelling as it is today,” said Nace.
The 700 MHz band is being made available with the transition to DTV.
In 1997, Congress said that in 2007, broadcasters would have to return the extra 6 megahertz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band given to TV broadcasters to facilitate the DTV transition. But TV broadcasters could keep the spectrum if more than 15 percent of the homes in their viewing areas could not receive digital signals. Removing the caveat has become known as establishing a hard date and has been widely encouraged by the wireless industry, which wants access to some of the spectrum.
Congress has to decide what to do with 48 megahertz of unallocated spectrum that will be available once broadcasters return the channels to government. Congress already dictated that 24 megahertz be given to public safety and 36 megahertz be auctioned to commercial services.
