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 last week 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 comprised of the spectrum that is currently used as TV channels 60-69. 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.
Nextel, Pegasus and Access Spectrum were the top three bidders in the 700 MHz guard-band manager license auction held in 2000. The auction raised $519.9 million for the U.S. Treasury.
The guard-band licensees are allowed to lease the spectrum to private-wireless entities or other entities that will employ systems that will not interfere with adjacent public-safety operations. As guard-band managers, winning bidders will lease the spectrum for private internal use. Private systems equate closer to public-safety systems, so it is believed there will be less interference with adjacent public-safety systems.
