WASHINGTON-Using FCC Chairman Kevin Martin’s goal of universal broadband access as a jumping-off point, a group of 700 MHz guard-band licensees asked the Federal Communications Commission to reband the commercial spectrum set aside to protect public safety in the 700 MHz band.
“Although the upper 700 MHz A and B blocks theoretically are available for a range of commercial uses today, in practice those uses are restricted by the band plan and service rules the FCC adopted five years ago. The current upper 700 MHz band plan maximizes neither public utility nor economic value as it effectively constrains the A and B blocks to narrowband uses. This constraint is increasingly burdensome and ironic in an environment characterized by growing demand for broadband services that lack licensed spectrum suitable for deployment,” said the licensees. “Rebanding the A and B blocks to better enable broadband will permit licensees to establish an early proving ground for broadband services at 700 MHz in advance of later auctions in the band and prior to the clearing of the lower 700 MHz band.”
The white paper was submitted to the FCC by Access Spectrum L.L.C., Pegasus Guard Band L.L.C., Columbia Capital Equity Partners III L.P. and PTPMS II Communications L.L.C. Another 700 MHz guard-band licensee, Nextel Communications Inc., agreed to return its 700 MHz B-block spectrum as part of the FCC’s plan to solve public-safety interference in the 800 MHz band.
The upper 700 MHz band is composed of the spectrum that is used today as TV channels 60-69. The 700 MHz band is being made available with the transition to DTV.
