AirCell hopes for final clearance at the FCC this summer, with FAA approval to follow, as it works through assorted regulatory issues on the way to offering wireless broadband on commercial flights. Rollout of the service is expected in Aug. 2007. AirCell was the high bidder for a 3 MHz license to offer broadband on planes, in an auction that ended in early June. AirCell beat, among others, Verizon Airfone, which subsequently announced it would pull its phones from commercial airplanes by the end of the year. AirCell just completed an FCC-imposed “quiet period,” which followed the auction, and company officials are now free to discuss their plans in more detail.
Howard Buskirk
Howard Buskirk, Executive Senior Editor, joined Warren Communications News in 2004, after covering Capitol Hill for Telecommunications Reports. He has covered Washington since 1993 and was formerly executive editor at Energy Business Watch, editor at Gas Daily and managing editor at Natural Gas Week. Previous to that, he was a staff reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Greenville News. Follow Buskirk on Twitter: @hbuskirk
The FCC late Fri. dispatched 3 petitions for reconsideration that clear a path for companies to make use of 255 MHz of 5 GHz spectrum first allocated for unlicensed use 3 years ago. The decision was essentially a clean up document after the FCC and NTIA agreed in Feb. (CD Feb 10 p1) on criteria under which unlicensed devices will make use of dynamic frequency selection (DFS) technology allowing coexistence with military radars.
Paging leader USA Mobility sees paging, which received several mentions in the Independent Panel on Hurricane Katrina, as poised for a breakthrough as an aid in emergency communications, as the FCC contemplates an EAS order later this year. USA Mobility sees emergency use as a possible growth engine for what has been a shrinking market. “Paging is excellent for emergency alerting,” USA Mobility Gen. Counsel Scott Tollefsen said in an interview. “It’s an excellent technology for backup communications because it is so inexpensive and so easy to use.”
An FCC order on Emergency Alert Systems (EAS) may be off the table for the summer after President Bush signed an executive order last week instructing the Dept. of Homeland Security to submit a plan for reorganizing EAS to the White House within 90 days. Meanwhile, telecom and satellite interests continue outreach at the FCC on EAS, based on ex parte filings made at the Commission in recent days.
Preventing interference at 2.5 GHz, especially in light of growing satellite activity in that band in Asia and the Middle East, is likely to be one of the biggest topics during WRC 2007 when it gets under way next Oct., speakers agreed during a panel discussion Thurs. at the Wireless Communications Assn. conference. Industry officials said the U.S. appears to be making progress in protecting the band, which is a priority of the U.S. high tech sector.
The 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia, Thurs. rejected a call by Council Tree, Bethel Native Corp. and the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council to halt a coming advanced wireless services auction. The court ruled only a day after oral arguments, setting the advanced wireless services auction back on track for its scheduled Aug. 9 start.
PHILADELPHIA: Judges gave mixed signals in their questions and reactions to attorneys as the 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia, Wed. heard oral arguments on the FCC’s designated entity order. Arguments unfolded over nearly 90 minutes in a case that will determine whether the long-awaited advanced wireless services auction will begin as expected Aug. 9. Lawyers watching the proceedings said the court’s direction was difficult to augur.
Nextel cofounder Morgan O'Brien, chmn. of recently formed Cyren Call, accused the CTIA of “baloney” Tues. in a debate on Cyren Call’s push to dedicate 30 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum to a nationwide wireless network for public safety rather than sell the spectrum at auction. Carriers need the 700 MHz spectrum and have shown they are the nation’s most efficient users of spectrum, CTIA Asst. Vp Paul Garnett retorted.
Wireless carriers using traffic studies as an alternative to paying USF safe harbor percentages must submit the studies to the Commission, the FCC decided. There was doubt last week as to whether the FCC would toughen its stance in this area, when the Commission approved a report and order and NPRM addressing interim steps the agency is taking to shore up the USF. Text of the order was released at our deadline. “We take an additional step to ensure the accuracy of reported revenue data,” the FCC said: “Mobile wireless providers have incentives to bias any traffic studies to minimize their amount of interstate and international end-user revenues and thereby minimize their fund contributions; there are no countervailing market forces to offset these incentives. Consequently, we now require any mobile wireless provider that uses a traffic study to determine its interstate end-user revenues for universal service contribution purposes to submit the study to the Commission and to USAC for review.” In the order the Commission also raised the wireless safe harbor from 28.5% to 37.1%. Carriers are allowed to submit traffic studies to show the actual percentage of interstate calls versus intrastate calls made by subscribers falls below the safe harbor.
Comr. Adelstein said Tues. he is “troubled” by several decisions the FCC made as it established rules for Aug.’s advanced wireless services auction (AWS), which could potentially “undercut” the auction. Adelstein called special attention to a decision requiring blind bidding, under which bidder identity likely won’t be known as the auction progresses, unless the auction meets a test for competitiveness.