Dish Networks looks to be getting out ahead of government regulators this week as it sent out a press statement condemning reported constraints being bandied about by the Federal Communications Commission regarding the company’s spectrum plans.
Dish noted in its statement that the FCC has begun circulating a proposed order that would allow the company to use the 40 megahertz of spectrum in the 2 GHz band it’s trying to gain control of, but would reduce the operating power of some of that spectrum due to potential interference concerns with adjacent spectrum. The impacted spectrum bands are in the so-called H-Band that Sprint Nextel has said it might be interested in procuring.
“While the FCC’s proposed order, based on reported accounts, does properly address some of the opportunities with this spectrum, it’s significantly flawed by introducing serious limitations that impair its utility,” said Stanton Dodge, EVP and general counsel at Dish, in a statement. “While the FCC would grant full terrestrial rights, its proposal to lower our power and emissions levels could cripple our ability to enter the business.
Dish notes that Sprint Nextel is calling on the FCC to prevent use of 25% of its uplink spectrum as well as limit another 25% adjacent to the H-Block, which is a 5-megahertz block in between Sprint Nextel’s current G-Block license used for its LTE service and Dish’s proposed 2 GHz holdings.
Sprint Nextel last month filed a petition with the FCC citing interference issues with nearby spectrum bands that might be caused by proposed rules for the 2 GHz spectrum band that was originally set aside for use by satellite-based communication services.
“Sprint’s position on the H-Block would render useless 25%of Dish’s uplink spectrum – so that Sprint is positioned to merely gain the exact same amount of spectrum,” added Dodge. “This is a zero-sum approach that does not result in a net spectrum gain for the American consumer when the wireless economy needs access to all available spectrum. Nor does this approach add jobs.”
Dish Networks has stated that it wants to enter the wireless communications space as a competitive disruptor, but was being thrwarted by government regulators. The company has reportedly been in talks with a number of partners about a possible entry, including most recently with Google, and earlier this year gained support from Qualcomm to provide chipsets compatible with the company’s planned use of 2 GHz spectrum.
Dish added that the 3GPP standards body recently approved technical support for its proposed spectrum usage as Band 23, despite protest from Sprint Nextel. The company noted that changes to its use of that spectrum band could impact the 3GPP decision and further delay rollout plans.
“If the FCC adopts this draft, the 3GPP specification will likely be reopened and an FCC rulemaking will be needed for the H-Block,” said Dodge. “Until we know how to manage issues like interference from the H-Block, we may have to put on hold activities like radio design and network build out while we wait for the H-Block rulemaking and another 3GPP process to be completed.”
The FCC earlier this year ruled that LightSquared could not have full access to its 1.6 GHz spectrum assets to launch terrestrial wireless services due to potential interference issues with ground-based GPS systems. That decision basically laid out LightSquared’s wireless ambitions, though the company continues to look for ways to gain access to its spectrum assets.
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