EWA Opposes Consideration of the 450-470 MHz Band for IMT-2000
During planning sessions in advance of the World Radio Conference set for 2007, technology companies, manufacturers, licensees and other interested parties gather and eventually adopt positions that result in official United States international allocation recommendations. In one of these working groups, Lucent and Qualcomm proposed that the United States pursue identification of 450-470 MHz as a global IMT-2000 band, which would include the United States as well.
In official correspondence to the working group contemplating this U.S. position, EWA noted the heavy utilization of the band by public safety, business, industrial and transportation companies and that current technologies in use are not compatible with IMT-2000. EWA also stated “the United States should consider the interests of developing countries and support internationally the interest of those countries to use bands that have already been identified for IMT-2000 when practical, but that objective should not be pursued at the expense of incumbent 450-470 MHz licensees in the United States. For emphasis, EWA noted further that the “United States is not a developing country and the 450-470 MHz band is an unacceptable home for consideration of deploying IMT-2000 in the United States”.
The proponents agreed to table the proposal at a March 1, 2006, planning meeting, but the issue may resurface. EWA will continue to monitor events and act accordingly to protect this critical band.
800 MHz Wave 1, Stage 1 Alternative Dispute Resolution Achieves Results
With the 800 MHz reconfiguration mediation period for Wave 1, Stage 1 (Channels 1-120) completed, the Transition Administrator has reported that 172 out of 369 negotiations between Nextel and incumbents were referred for Alternative Dispute Resolution and 152 were resolved. Another 14 negotiations were granted additional time to complete negotiations and 6 cases have been referred to the FCC. These numbers were reported in the TA’s latest Quarterly Progress Report as of December 31, 2005. In other information:
The freeze has been lifted on 800 MHz applications for sites in Wave 1 markets that are at least 70 miles from the borders of Waves 2 and 3;
Waves 2 and 3 (Channels 1-120) voluntary negotiation periods are still underway.
Wave 1 NPSPAC voluntary negotiation period began on February 1; and
The Wave 4 start date was extended from April 3, 2006, to July 3, 2006, in light of “ongoing discussions” with both Canada and Mexico concerning border issues.
EWA provides updates on 800 MHz reconfiguration and other regulatory matters on its bi-weekly conference call as well as on our website. The next EWA regulatory conference call is scheduled for March 21st at 11:00 a.m. (EST).
The TA Releases Revised Handbook
The Transition Administrator’s Reconfiguration Handbook has been updated to reflect the FCC’s October 5, 2005, Memorandum Opinion and Order with, most notably, modifications to the Atlanta area band plan and additional information on Non-Enhanced Specialized Mobile Radio Economic Area (EA) licensees. It also contains a more complete discussion of the Payment Process, the modified Request for Planning Funding (RFPF) process and the Reconfiguration Implementation Phase, along with a new section on Fraud, Waste and Abuse.
EWA Again Enters Continental v. MassPort Wi-Fi Dispute
Recently the national association that represents airport authorities, the Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA) visited the FCC and asserted that airports are “unique and highly complex entities” and should be afforded an exception to the FCC’s OTARD rules. Essentially, ACI-NA and its member MassPort are basically attempting to control unlicensed spectrum at Logan International Airport in Boston.
In a joint response filed by EWA, UPS, T-Mobile, Air Transport Association and Continental Airlines, the parties noted that ACI-NA and MassPort are ignoring the fact that the unlicensed bands are shared bands and that users of Part 15 devices that operated in those bands do not have priority over any other user. The Commission has previously rejected ACI-NA’s argument, holding that the consumer protections for the installation and use of fixed wireless antennas under the OTARD rules apply to unlicensed devices, regardless of venue. An exception based on the alleged “unique” and “complex” nature of airports would launch the Commission down a slippery slope by inviting every landlord in a multi-tenant environment (e.g., hotels, conference and convention centers, industrial parks and shopping centers) to try to obtain an exclusive spectrum license within its premises for spectrum that the Commission has expressly designated for unlicensed use.
Finally, EWA and its allies noted that ACI-NA’s arguments completely ignore the Commission’s spectrum management approach for unlicensed frequencies and would transfer to airport managers the spectrum management role that Congress has delegated to the Commission.
Public Safety/Homeland Security Bureau Proposal Moves Forward
According to reports in Communications Daily and from other sources, the creation of an FCC Homeland Security and Public Safety Bureau appears to be back on track. The scope of the Bureau appears to have been carved back from initial 2005 reports, but there is no solid information with respect to the timing or scope of this new bureau’s operations and responsibilities. FCC Chairman Martin recently reported to Congress that his proposal for the new bureau has been circulated to the other FCC Commissioners for their review and approval.
FCC To Release Rule Making on Public Safety Broadband Needs at 700 MHz
It has been many years since the FCC allocated 24 megahertz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band for public safety, but system deployment has been substantially limited due to TV incumbents in virtually every major metropolitan area. Now that TV stations must vacate the band on or before February 17, 2009, there are heightened expectations for use of this band by public safety entities for a variety of technologies, including broadband. The trouble is, the channel band plans adopted by the public safety community were adopted for narrowband voice and wideband applications, not broadband applications. Consequently, the FCC will be releasing a new rule making proceeding next week seeking comment on how best to make available broadband within public safety’s 700 MHz allocation.
In a related news story, TR Daily reports that the Rural Telecommunications Group has supported a letter Sen. Conrad Burns (R. Mont.) sent to FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin asking the FCC to reexamine its commercial 700 megahertz band plan to ensure that there are smaller geographic licenses auctioned to assist rural providers.
CPNI Rule Making Introduced
The FCC has adopted a Notice of Proposed Rule Making to determine whether more stringent rules are needed to protect Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI). These rules were spurred by the problem of companies selling cellular call records, and the FCC is looking to ensure that this personal information remains confidential.
EWA believes the key question that must be answered is to whom these rules should be applied. Specifically, should the CPNI rules be applied to all telecommunication carriers, or just those that have systems interconnected with the public switched telephone network (CMRS operators). EWA will attempt to secure an FCC position that limits the application of the CPNI rules to only CMRS licensees.
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