WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission has been dragged into a dispute with potentially far-reaching implications between a major airline and one of the nation’s busiest airports over an issue that has less to do with flying than it does with the use of airwaves by people who want Internet access at airports, hotels, convention centers, colleges and other venues.
Continental Airlines Inc. has asked the agency to rule whether the Massachusetts Port Authority can force the airline to remove a Wi-Fi antenna at its President’s Club frequent-flyer lounge at Boston-Logan International Airport.
Continental’s filing states Logan charges $7.95 for 24-hour Internet access at Logan. There is no hourly rate.
“It is pretty clear that Massport’s agenda under the guise of security is to maintain a monopoly on Internet access at Logan to the detriment of travelers. Clearly, they don’t want any competition,” said A. Giovinazzo, of East Arlington, Mass., in comments filed with the commission.
The controversy centers on the interpretation of an FCC rule governing over-the-air reception devices, or OTARD. The rule is an outgrowth of the 1996 telecom act and originally was aimed at video transmissions before being expanded to cover fixed wireless signals in 2000.
Continental argues Massport’s lease provisions prohibiting the airline from offering free Wi-Fi service to travelers and employees violate OTARD and FCC Internet policy. Moreover, the airline carrier said Massport’s restrictions do not fall within the central antenna or safety exceptions in the OTARD rule.
Massport argues, among other things, the existence of an airport-wide Wi-Fi system at Logan allows it to forbid Continental from installing its own antenna. Massport also claims Continental’s Wi-Fi antenna interferes with the central Wi-Fi antenna at Logan and could undermine airport safety.
“Massport believes that the unique nature of Logan’s environment requires a single, common-use infrastructure with radio-frequency management and load balancing to provide maximum spectrum utilization, optimal control over traffic priority, and the best-available method of maximizing throughput,” the Massachusetts agency told the FCC.
Continental said no safety-related interference complaints have been filed with Logan authorities.
A lot more than airport Wi-Fi may be at stake, however.
“I think it raises new issues the FCC did not see in the residential context. It is the kind of case that has implications for other Wi-Fi services in commercial properties. It is a case people should be watching carefully,” said Robert Primosh, a communications lawyer with expertise in fixed-wireless regulation.
Continental agreed, saying a resolution of dispute favoring Massport could impact other Logan tenants and other airports, as well as various multiple tenant environments across the country. “Such results would thwart competition among service providers, and Continental would lose the flexibility to responsibly and safely deploy wireless solutions at Logan Airport for the benefit of the flying public,” stated the airline.
Continental’s petition has drawn support from T-Mobile USA Inc., the smallest national mobile-phone carrier but major Wi-Fi service provider; the Air Transport Association of America and others.
Massport is backed, among others, by the Manchester Airport in New Hampshire, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and the Airports Council International-North America.
This is not the first time the FCC has been asked to mediate a disagreement over the scope and limit of the OTARD rule to unlicensed Wi-Fi operations. A few years ago, a wireless Internet firm asked the FCC to declare that local antenna restrictions being enforced by local officials in Needham, Mass., were illegal and federally pre-empted. The FCC never ruled because the warring parties came to an agreement, and the wireless Internet service provider, UniiGo Communications Inc., eventually went out of business.
Primosh, who represented UniiGo at the time, said the Continental-Massport battle is more complicated and the outcome could be far-reaching.
