A confidential Request for Information (RFI) issued in June by DirecTV and EchoStar and obtained by Communications Daily posits 2006 creation of a national wireless broadband network. DirecTV, when queried, called the document “indicative of one of the many areas we've been exploring in the broadband arena.” But the firm has made no commitments “to EchoStar or to anyone else, regarding the contents of the RFI or other broadband plans,” DirecTV said. EchoStar didn’t comment by our deadline. No information was immediately available on who responded to the RFI, or what information was provided.

A roadmap to identify uses for spectrum recovered from analog TV cut-off has begun in the U.K., and will proceed aggressively to publish final proposals by this time next year so new services can prepare for the DTV switchover that begins in 2008, telecom regulator Ofcom said. Although new wireless and mobile services are the expected beneficiaries of the spectrum auction, at least some of the frequencies surrendered will be considered for terrestrial HDTV channels, as requested by the BBC and other broadcasters, Ofcom said.

By the end of the year, the FCC is expected to resolve several wireless proceedings, agency and industry sources said. The Commission is close to acting on a Remington Arms Co. petition and an air-to-ground (ATG) proceeding, plus 2GHz MSS spectrum reallocation, E-911 waiver petitions, designated entities, broadband radio service (BRS) and educational broadband service (EBS) rules. “Remington will be the first, and then ATG, then it’s up in the air,” an FCC source said.

Hurricane season may be waning, but the 2 GHz proceeding, now with a post-Katrina spin, is growing stormier. The race for Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) spectrum in the S-band has brought several issues to the fore. They include TerreStar charges that Inmarsat is trying to hamstring MSS competitors in the proceeding, anxiety about L-band congestion and curiosity about the future of MSS.

Sprint Nextel is now about 6 months into the Bcst. Auxiliary Service (BAS) relocation process, and officials gave a progress report at the MSTV conference Wed. The firm is charged with relocating electronic newsgathering (ENG) services in order to clear out the 2 GHz swath of the S-band for awaiting Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) operators as part of the FCC’s omnibus 800 MHz order -- which adds up to 1,051 BAS, LTSS and CARS licensees for Sprint Nextel to reequip in 31.5 months. Panelists called it “the other digital transition.” It doesn’t get the coverage the DTV transition gets, said moderator Matthew DelNero, an attorney working on the project: “But it could be similarly mammoth.”

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.”