Policy: WiMAX Forum against portion of CBRS plan; FCC to investigate T-Mobile US

The Federal Communications Commission’s attempt to create the Citizen Broadband Radio Service that would include 150 megahertz of spectrum between the 3550-3700 MHz bands has run into opposition from the WiMAX Forum, which claims some of that spectrum was already populated with thousands of users.
The WiMAX Forum, which is a trade group representing products based on the 802.16 standard, said the 3.65 to 3.7 GHz bands currently have more than 2,000 registrants in the FCC database, including more than 100 utilities as incumbents in those bands. The trade group argues that including that 50 megahertz of spectrum with the 100 megahertz initially proposed for the CBRS band could prove difficult in a real-world environment.
“The FCC is embarking on an innovative, but untested plan for spectrum sharing through dynamic spectrum management and the auctioning of one-year licenses for the 3.55-3.65 GHz CBRS band,” said Declan Byrne, president of the WiMAX Forum. “Incumbent users in the 3.65 GHz band salute the FCC for this creativity and for wisely recognizing that additional spectrum is needed, particularly for small cell applications. However, the FCC has suggested including an additional 50 megahertz from the 3.65 GHz band, which is replete with incumbent operators, in this radical new plan. This is simply a bad idea, at least until the proposed new rules and processes are implemented and tested in real market conditions.”
The FCC earlier this year offered up a notice of proposed rulemaking to provide a “three-tiered access and sharing model comprised of federal and non-federal incumbents, priority access licensees and general authorized access users.” Access would be under a flexible model taking advantage of technology to reduce interference between users.
“Federal and non-federal incumbents would be protected from harmful interference from [CBRS] users,” the FCC explained. “Targeted priority access licenses would be made available for a variety of uses, including mobile broadband. General authorized access use would be permitted in a reserved amount of spectrum and on an opportunistic basis for a variety of consumer or business-oriented purposes, including advanced home wireless networking.”
The FCC’s initial proposal released in 2012, looked at whether it will be feasible to open up approximately 100 megahertz of spectrum in the 3550-3650 MHz bands for small cell technologies, possibly on an unlicensed basis. At that time, the FCC said it was looking at potentially extending the spectrum allocation an additional 50 megahertz up to the 3700 MHz band, which is currently used by the federal government in just a few locations.
AT&T in late May offered up cautious approval of the proposal, noting that the FCC needs to ensure the licensed aspect of its 3.5 GHz plans are protected if it wants wireless carriers to move forward with investing in new small cell deployments designed to take advantage of that band.
“AT&T recommends a transitional, phased-in, interim approach to deployment of ‘PAL’ and ‘GAA’ operations,” explained Stacey Black, assistant VP of federal regulatory at AT&T. “First, we recommend dividing the band into PAL-only, shared use and GAA-only sub-bands. This will allow PAL and GAA service providers to develop their products for initial deployment in a familiar environment, such as in our case, licensed geographic areas with a five-year license term and a renewal expectancy coupled to build-out requirements.”
Black added that separating PAL and GAA sub-bands would remove interference concerns and allow wireless carriers to immediately begin working on equipment and deployments. The carrier also called for a “shared-use sub-band as the development space” for the FCC’s spectrum access system database.
–The FCC said it was investigating a Federal Trade Commission complaint against T-Mobile US that the wireless operator had profited from fraudulent premium SMS services charged to its customers. The claim states that the operator received up to 40% of such charges that typically cost up to $10 per month, and raked in “hundreds of millions of dollars” from the practice.
The FCC noted that T-Mobile US subscribers had filed similar complaints with the commission of unwanted charges that “included billing for ringtones, wallpapers and text message subscriptions to services providing horoscopes, flirting tips and celebrity gossip.”
“Consumers should not be charged for services that they did not order,” said Travis LeBlanc, acting chief the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, in a statement. “We will coordinate our investigation with the FTC, and use our independent enforcement authority to ensure a thorough, swift and just resolution of the numerous complaints against T-Mobile.”
–The FCC this week also released a report providing a state-by-state “breakdown of the estimated number of additional students, schools and libraries that would gain E-rate funding needed for Wi-Fi upgrades over the next five years under the proposal by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.”
The FCC has proposed a modernization of the federal E-rate program designed to expand broadband connectivity to schools and libraries using Wi-Fi technology. The commission noted that three out of five schools lack broadband compliant Wi-Fi services. The E-rate program was established in 1996.
“Technology has changed. The needs of schools and libraries have changed. The E-Rate program must reflect these changes.” said Wheeler. “Modernizing E-Rate to expand Wi-Fi connectivity in schools and libraries will empower students and library patrons to use the latest education technology to access new learning opportunities and infinite worlds of information.”
The FCC is scheduled to vote on the proposal July 11.
Make sure to keep up-to-date on policy news by visiting RCR Wireless News’s Policy page.
Bored? Why not follow me on Twitter?