In an unexpected twist, chipmaker giant Intel Corp. urged the Federal Communications Commission to keep intact proposed interference safeguards that T-Mobile USA Inc. insists are inadequate to prevent interference from wireless broadband operations in the advanced wireless services-3 band.
Moreover, Intel warned the stakes are potentially far bigger than those involved in an AWS-3 proceeding in which the war-of-words between T-Mobile USA and startup M2Z Networks Inc. has grown increasingly caustic as the FCC moves closer to a decision.
In an FCC filing summarizing a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate, Intel said any furthering tightening of device-to-device interference limits “could have global implications in the deployment of new services using TDD technology such as WiMAX.”
The Intel filing comes as major marketplace and regulatory developments are unfolding in the emerging WiMAX space, one in which the chipmaker king has a huge vested interest and where questions remain whether the wireless broadband technology can coexist competitively with four national cellphone operators whose wireless pipes are getter fatter and faster. As such, the tensions between high-tech giants, like Intel, and service providers (Sprint Nextel Corp. being the exception in light of ambitious WiMAX plans) are palpable. Meanwhile, the FCC is expected to rule on the proposed WiMAX union of Sprint Nextel and Clearwire Corp. by year’s end.
The agency’s planned 700 MHz D-Block re-auction could also produce a wireless broadband player, but sour market conditions and other factors appear to conspire against next year’s auction producing a new market entrant for a national public-safety/commercial license with lots of strings attached.
Stakes high on the hill
In that mix is FCC Chairman Kevin Martin’s effort to foster wireless broadband by auctioning the 2155-2180 MHz band – AWS-3 – in hopes of seeing a national player emerge to compete against telephone and cable giants that dominate the broadband market. The plan has sparked intense controversy at the FCC and on Capitol Hill. Some lawmakers have grumbled about a provision that would require the winning AWS-3 bidder to offer the option of free wireless broadband. But other lawmakers are keen on the idea.
T-Mobile USA, which spent $4.2 billion on 120 AWS-1 licenses at an auction two years ago and is banking on big holiday sales with the rollout of 3G service in more than two dozen markets by year’s end, argues testing – past and present – point to interference from AWS-3 transmissions.
M2Z backed by Silicon Valley investors and foiled in its initial attempt to obtain an AWS-3 national license before the FCC decided to auction the spectrum, argues T-Mobile USA is exaggerating the interference threat and is trying to secure government cover for a business decision to buy filters that allegedly makes its 3G handsets more susceptible to interference. “It [interference] is a low probability event,” said John Muleta, CEO of M2Z.
M2Z said testing proves Martin’s proposed AWS-3 plan is governed by solid technical guidelines that safeguard against interference to others on the same frequency band.
As such, the debate appears to boil down to just how big a risk harmful interference is in the real world and which tests carry the most weight.
Interference interpretations
Intel agrees with M2Z that the chances of AWS-3 interference are minor, a conclusion they say is shared by government experts in Europe.
“Although a simple . analysis using a worse-case scenario may indicate the need for stringent limits, the probability of this situation happening is very low, accordingly burdening all operators and equipment with a stringent limit would be a mistake,” Intel stated.
Not so, argues T-Mobile USA, which submitted a statistical analysis conducted by Optimi Corp. on the likelihood of interference by permitting TDD devices to operate in the AWS-3 band. “Indeed, the probability of call failure is greater than 60% for AWS-1 users with AWS-3 routers in their homes and nearly 30% if their neighbor is operating an AWS-3 router,” the carrier stated.
T-Mobile USA took aim at M2Z test results previously submitted to the FCC, saying data showing a low-probability of interference from AWS-3 devices is unreliable because analysis did not incorporate characteristics and vagaries of actual networks.
T-Mobile USA now says it wants FCC engineers to weigh in on recent AWS-3 testing at Boeing Corp.’s labs near Seattle, essentially putting FCC officials on the spot insofar as whether they believe “tests show that the proposed rules will create harmful interference and why or why not.” In addition, T-Mobile USA suggested the public should have a chance to comment on FCC engineers’ conclusions before the agency rules on the AWS-3 matter.
Cellular industry association CTIA threw its weight behind T-Mobile USA by warning the FCC that moving forward with the current AWS-3 plan poses grave, far-reaching dangers.
“If the commission is free to sell spectrum, and then to adopt rules undermining the stated purpose of the band, the lack of certainty would clearly present a risk that capital markets would not be able to reliably assess foreseeable risks associated with future auctions and with investment in existing spectrum assets,” CTIA told the FCC. “The net result would be seriously depressed auction valuations and the failure to obtain the full value of the spectrum for the American public.”
