NTIA’s Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee’s working group on enforcement identified a series of key questions that should be asked as CSMAC takes a deeper dive on enforcement issues. NTIA posted a report from the group prior to CSMAC’s meeting Friday (http://1.usa.gov/1o53e3I). “What proof would a potential victim system have to supply in making an interference complaint?” the group asked. “How would (harmful?) interference be defined and who would specify the measurement process? ... How would the cost of detecting and mitigating the interference be distributed?” Enforcement issues loom large as the administration pushes spectrum sharing, CSMAC officials said at the group’s December meeting (CD Dec 12 p2).
The FCC Wireless Bureau formally sought comment on a request by designated entity (DE) Grain for clarity on whether the attributable material relationship rule applies to spectrum deals in the secondary market (CD March 6 p14). Grain was part of a multiparty spectrum deal also involving AT&T and Verizon Wireless last year. Grain asked for clarity on how a sale of the spectrum it obtained would affect its status as a DE. Comments are due April 25, replies May 9 (http://bit.ly/1jasgtx).
Sprint warned the FCC of possible “interconnection and/or interoperability” issues between the two major text control center providers, as it and other carriers work on making it possible for subscribers to send emergency text messages. “In Sprint’s view, this could potentially represent an obstacle to wide-scale deployment and availability of text-to-911 service at public safety answering points nationwide and across the wireless industry,” Sprint said in a filing reporting on calls carrier representatives held with Public Safety Bureau officials (http://bit.ly/1hYGquZ). Sprint said it has to date received “approximately 20 requests to implement text-to-911 service” from various PSAPs.
The FCC proposed a fine of $29,250 against R & N Manufacturing of Houston for allegedly jamming cellphone signals at its manufacturing facility. “This illegal operation caused actual interference to cellular and Personal Communications Service (PCS) communications in the surrounding area, creating potential public safety risks,” the FCC said (http://bit.ly/1iBi6RT). Signal jammers “have been marketed with increasing frequency over the Internet” but “with limited exceptions inapplicable in this case, they have no lawful use in the United States,” the FCC said. While a relatively small fine, the FCC posted the notice prominently on its main website Wednesday.
US Cellular filed a petition Tuesday asking the FCC to issue a declaratory ruling that unclaimed Mobility Fund Phase I support should go to next-in-line bidders. The FCC should also say the Wireless Bureau can take this step “on an expedited basis” acting on delegated authority, said the carrier. “More than a year after completion of Auction 901, more than $68 million of the $300 million originally made available for funding mobile broadband investments in unserved areas remains unclaimed due to winning bidders defaulting on their bids,” US Cellular said. “These defaulted amounts can and should be awarded to the next-in-line bidders who remain ready, willing, and able, to meet the goals of the program and expand the reach of mobile broadband into areas that remain un-served and which were eligible for funding under the rules of Auction 901.” The auction was Sept. 27, 2012. Thirty-three winning bidders were awarded just under $300 million total (http://fcc.us/1hWi19B).
Smaller 5 x 5 MHz licenses are far preferable to bigger licenses in the AWS-3 auction, said Michael Calabrese of the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute, in a meeting with various FCC offices, according to an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/QchLvN). Most public interest groups “strongly oppose a band plan with block sizes premised on more than one 10 x 10 MHz license, particularly if both 10 x 10 MHz licenses use Economic Areas (EAs) as the geographic unit,” Calabrese said. “This would be a recipe for acquisition of 40 MHz by the two dominant national carriers, leaving one 5 x 5 license for all the rest of the industry to fight over.” Calabrese also supported Dish Network arguments that the FCC should extend the interoperability requirement in the AWS-3 band to cover the AWS-4 band at 2180-2200 MHz. “I asserted that it would damage the public interest if the AWS-4 band became ’stranded’ with respect to interoperability and access to the LTE devices otherwise available to carriers operating on 2110-2180 MHz post-auction,” said Calabrese.
Verizon proposed an alternative licensing model for the incentive TV auction, as an alternative to Partial Economic Areas (PEAs), as proposed by groups representing smaller carriers (CD March 13 p6). “Any new license areas should reflect updated geographic and population data, rather than the Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) included in the current Cellular Market Area (CMA) boundaries used by the Commission,” Verizon said (http://bit.ly/1fb6DEK). Verizon said there are problems with the PEA proposal. “First, the PEAs do not reflect current MSAs; more than 80 MSAs have been split into two or more PEAs,” Verizon said. “Second, there are no discernable objective criteria underlying the construction of some of the PEAs. Third, some of the PEAs subdivide current MSAs in unusual ways and are unnecessarily small.” Verizon said it continues to support selling the spectrum in Economic Area-sized licenses “rather than smaller license sizes because it is more efficient, will allow the spectrum to be put to use more quickly to benefit customers, and generally will produce more revenues at auction to cover the cost of clearing spectrum and fund the public safety network,” meaning FirstNet.
CTIA, NTCA and the Rural Wireless Association are pressing the FCC to move forward on a long-standing proposal to convert the licensing model for the cellular band from a site-based to a geographic-based model. “We have had constructive discussions with FCC staff in developing our proposal and now urge the Commission to promptly issue an Order adopting and codifying the Joint Proposal,” the groups said in an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1hUCUC5). “The Joint Proposal will simplify Cellular licensing while balancing incumbent and new entrant rights.” The three groups reported on a meeting with Wireless Bureau staff to discuss the plan. AT&T, US Cellular and Verizon also were represented at the meeting. “The public interest benefits of the Joint Proposal are clear, and the Commission should promptly issue an Order rejecting the overlay auction approach and adopting cellular licensing rules consistent with the Joint Proposal,” the groups said. They noted that CTIA submitted the “core elements” of the proposal submitted to the FCC in September 2010 and the commission sought specific comment on the proposal in a 2012 NPRM (http://bit.ly/1fay8OG).
Two orders on service rules for the AWS-3 auction and increased unlicensed use of 5 GHz spectrum are both important steps for the wireless industry, CTIA said in a letter to the commission. Both are teed up for a vote at Monday’s FCC meeting. “Bringing an additional 65 megahertz of licensed mobile spectrum to market will help meet the surging demand for mobile broadband services,” CTIA said (http://bit.ly/1farrfB). “Although more work remains to be done, the AWS-3 Report and Order is an important step that will allow the wireless industry to continue to invest, deploy, innovate, and create value to the benefit of consumers and our economy.” It’s also important to make more unlicensed spectrum available in the Unlicensed-National Information Infrastructure-1 (U-NII-1) band, CTIA said. “It is in the national interest to make additional spectrum available for both licensed and unlicensed services, and the 5 GHz band is particularly well suited to unlicensed use. The 5 GHz First Report and Order will foster innovation, drive investment, and increase wireless Internet connectivity for the benefit of all Americans.” Both items are scheduled for a vote based on a notice released by the FCC (http://fcc.us/1gSQ93y).
The Competitive Carriers Association asked the Supreme Court to hear T-Mobile’s appeal of a zoning decision last year by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. CCA filed an amicus brief in T-Mobile South, LLC v. City of Roswell, Georgia. The 11th Circuit instructed a lower court to hear a zoning case brought by Roswell, Ga., after the court granted T-Mobile summary judgment on the grounds that the city’s denial of a cell tower permit sought by the carrier violated the Telecommunications Act (CD Oct 2 p 12). T-Mobile sought cert in February. “At its core, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 encourages competition and the deployment of advanced services to all Americans on a timely basis. But this promise has gone unfulfilled to many rural Americans,” CCA said (http://bit.ly/PYpttn). “While over 90 percent of non-rural Americans are covered by four or more mobile broadband service providers, less than 40 percent of rural Americans have access to the same number of options,” the group said. “In states where the appellate court has adopted the ‘minority’ rule (such as in the state subject to this appeal), wireless service providers and reviewing courts are forced to trudge through whatever administrative record may or may not be available in search of an answer for why a siting application was denied. This adds needless time and expense to the process, preventing carriers from building out in a timely manner."