Acting on reconsideration, the FCC amended and clarified parts of its 800 MHz rebanding rules. The Commission restated its challenged authority to grant Nextel spectrum rights to 10 MHz in the 1.9 GHz band as part of reconfiguring the band. It declined to change its valuation of spectrum rights in the 1.9 GHz and 800 MHz bands, especially in light of Nextel’s recent merger with Sprint.

The U.S. is 6 years behind Europe in wireless broadband, despite Continental economic controls, because FCC policy creates “tremendous artificial scarcity of spectrum,” said Analysis Group Vp David Sosa. There are “vast stretches where there’s little or no activity” because spectrum is locked up for govt. use or licensed on terms that make exploitation uneconomic, he said. Many 2.5 GHz license holders are nonprofits that aren’t getting clear signals about what their spectrum is worth, “so they've reluctant to participate in the process,” Sosa said. The situation costs industry and consumers tens of billions of dollars in lost value, he said.

SBC, in comments on a video report, asked the FCC to examine cable programming deals and whether competition is being thwarted. Access to popular shows including sports programming “remains a troublesome problem,” SBC said in response to an annual FCC inquiry in the market for delivering video. The filing is the latest salvo by SBC in its effort to argue cable has an unfair advantage in selling pay-TV services and that Bells shouldn’t be subject to all Title 6 cable rules. The NCTA asked whether all Title 6 obligations are necessary. “It is reasonable to reconsider whether the social obligations continue to make sense,” the group said.

Europe should move quickly to set specifications for ultrawideband (UWB) makers to foreclose a risk of many devices meeting only U.S. specifications, the U.K. Office of Communications (Ofcom) said Mon. Next month, the Electronic Communications Committee of the European Conference of Postal & Telecom Administrations (CEPT) is to publish draft indoor UWB communications regulations. To aid CEPT, Ofcom offered ideas based on its own UWB studies. These included: (1) FCC current “mask” limits - - upper ranges on how much power UWB devices may radiate at any particular frequencies -- don’t adequately protect incumbent services in Europe. (2) European industry will benefit substantially from a UWB rollout, provided the right mask is picked -- and picked soon, to allow regulators worldwide to adopt European rather than U.S. rules. (3) A detect & avoid (DAA) mechanism must cover the 3.1 GHz-4.2 GHz band, searching automatically for nearby broadband wireless services and switching frequency to avoid interference. (4) UWB transmitters should have transmit power control to cut interference with other services. (5) UWB device use should be banned on ships, aircraft and for fixed out-of-doors systems. (6) Rules for UWB devices shouldn’t be product- or application- specific. Ofcom also recommended the European Commission conduct a mandatory review 3 years after introduction of UWB to assess spectrum noise and potential interference from the technology and to gauge its market success.

The WiMAX Forum joined the opposition to a Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) petition seeking reconsideration of the 3.6 GHz order to protect Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) networks in the adjacent 3700-4200 MHz band from interference (CD June 14 p2). The SIA’s proposed out-of- band emission limits and reduced power levels “overly restrictive,” the Forum said. The order establishes the out-of-band emissions limit at -43 dBW/MHz, which the SIA wants changed to -71.25 dBW/MHz. The WiMAX Forum said the limits set by the order “strike the proper balance of allowing for rapid rollout of wireless broadband solutions in the band while protecting adjacent FSS licensees.” The SIA also asked the FCC to reduce the 25 w power limit for wireless ISP devices, or to limit full-power wireless ISP transmissions to the lower half of the 3.6 GHz band to protect low-noise block-downcoverters (LNBs), which are amplification devices used in FSS earth stations. The WiMAX Forum backed a Wireless Communications Assn. (WCA) opposition, saying “ultimately satellite receiver front ends that do not provide sufficient adjacent channel rejection should not govern regulatory decisions for operation in nearby bands. Doing so would unjustly restrict transmit power levels for systems operating in 3650 MHz and severely impact the use of the band to deliver broadband services to the public.” Meanwhile, the SIA countered oppositions to its petition by WCA, Verizon and the Coalition of Champaign Urbana Community Wireless Network. The trade group said critics “ignore the basis and undeniable fact that the large power differential between immediately adjacent services authorized in the order is a recipe for disaster, particularly considering the unique sensitivity and critical importance of affected satellite operations and the novel characteristics of new operations in the 3650-3700 MHz band.” In a separate motion, BRN Phoenix asked the FCC to extend to Sept. 6 a deadline for filing a reply to Motorola, WCA and SIA oppositions to its reconsideration petition: “There is an emergency situation due to the temporary unavailability of the persons with whom BRNP must coordinate… to craft its reply.”

The Wireless Communications Assn. (WCA) countered the arguments of WCS Wireless, which sought a waiver of the wireless communications service (WCS) power limits in the 2.3 GHz band as part of proposed merger of WCS Wireless License Subsidiary with XM Radio. WCS Wireless had asked the FCC to dismiss WCA’s “unfounded and wholly speculative concerns” and grant the waiver. But the trade group said WCS Wireless’s response to merger oppositions filed by WCA (CD Aug 22 p9) “cannot deny that grant of its waiver request will subject other WCS licensees to a 6 dB increase in adjacent channel interference.” WCA said contrary to WCS Wireless claims, the company “has never conducted any field trials in which the potential for interference to an adjacent WCS licensee has been evaluated.” WCA also countered WCS Wireless claims that it still planned to implement its datacasting plan using WCS spectrum: “How, pray tell, is WCS Wireless going to be implementing its datacasting plan when WCS Wireless has decided to transfer control over WCS Wireless License Subsidiary -- which holds the WCS licenses -- to XM?… It is now incumbent upon XM to demonstrate why it requires” the waiver.

The FCC Mon. posted 2 GHz comments filed after our Tues. deadline that included submissions by CTIA, T- Mobile, Sprint Nextel, Sirius, Inmarsat, Globalstar and SkyTerra (CD Aug 17 p4). CTIA again argued that Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) licensees TMI/TerreStar and ICO haven’t proven they need more spectrum. And because the MSS licensees have said they would use the extra spectrum they seek for terrestrial ATC operations, CTIA said, the FCC should reallocate spectrum to terrestrial use and auction it: “Reallocating abandoned spectrum to flexible, terrestrial use and making the spectrum available at auction avoids unjust enrichment, creates a level playing field, and ensures the spectrum will be put to its highest and most effective use for the benefit of the public.” Further, CTIA said, the spectrum should be reallocated because it should be made available to systems that are operational; the MSS systems vying for it won’t be operational until 2007 and 2008. Sprint Nextel agreed, saying competitive bidding is the answer to the question of what to do with the extra 13.3 MHz of spectrum: “Market forces, not government regulators, will best decide what services consumers want.” Sprint Nextel also said the spectrum shouldn’t go to the MSS licensees for the homeland security reasons they've offered: “TMI does not explain what these homeland security wireless applications are, when -- if ever -- it will deploy them, or how these services would differ from the low-cost and extensive suite of services that commercial terrestrial carriers offer today without billions of dollars in new spectrum subsidies.” T-Mobile said it needs the spectrum to be a competitive wireless provider. In the last year, the ranks of nationwide wireless providers have shrunk from 6 to 4, T-Mobile said: “In an environment of increasing wireless consolidation, mid-sized and smaller wireless providers such as T-Mobile need additional spectrum to effectively compete in the mobile telephony market.” T-Mobile said the 2 GHz spectrum would be ideal for Advanced Wireless Services (AWS), since it could be used “easily in conjunction with the J block (or other PCS/AWS bands) or on a stand-alone basis.” MSS competitor Inmarsat said it’s well-qualified to deploy a 2 GHz MSS system, and that the commission should have at least 3 MSS competitors at 2 GHz. Providing for 3 MSS competitors instead of 2 would “ensure that the MSS industry will have the opportunity to play a vital role in the wireless broadband revolution,” Inmarsat said. MSS competitor Globalstar also said it wants to deploy a 2 GHz system, again asking for an FCC decision on the status of its 2 GHz application, which it said was “erroneously cancelled” in 2003. Sirius said MSS and terrestrial wireless both have enough spectrum to satisfy current demand. The commenters “fail to present a public interest reason to bestow additional spectrum to any mobile telephony service,” Sirius said, declaring it would use the spectrum for video and broadband offerings and telematics. SkyTerra, with ownership interests in TerreStar, and ICO advocated granting the 2 GHz spectrum in its entirety to ICO and TMI/TerreStar.

The FCC approved the acquisition of Nextel by Sprint Wed., without requiring any divestitures in individual markets but with a more significant condition on 2.5 GHz spectrum than expected. The action came after the 2 companies committed a day before to service implementation milestones. The companies had agreed to offer service within 6 years in the 2.5 GHz band to at least 30 million Americans in at least 20 BTAs, at least 2 of which are rural communities outside the nation’s top 200 most populous BTAs.

Demand is certainly high for 24 MHz of mobile satellite service (MSS) spectrum at 2 GHz, at least based on filings at the FCC in its proceeding (IB 05-221). Despite the fact that the MSS spectrum is available because 3 MSS firms gave up their licenses rather than launch service, at least a dozen major firms filed comments in the proceeding -- all indicating that the spectrum should be made available to them.

An FCC vote on the proposed Sprint-Nextel merger is expected as soon as this week, after the 2 companies committed Tues. to certain service implementation milestones in the 2.5 GHz band and provided details on the spin-off of Sprint’s incumbent local telephone operations, several sources said. FCC Comr. Adelstein has worked with the 2 companies to secure the 2 commitments, a knowledgeable source said.