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June 20, 2008

Yesterday, the CTIA filed an ex parte letter with the FCC, repeating its numerous concerns regarding the communications' agency proposed usage rules for the AWS-2 and AWS-3 bands.

The CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association) said that it has many technical concerns, based on information regarding handset testing and filter technologies.

It's also worried that mobile transmissions in the H block and the AWS-3 block could potentially cause harmful interference to adjacent broadband PCS and AWS-1 operations.

The CTIA said if the FCC goes ahead with its proposed plan, the spectrum auction would severely harm the integrity and undermine the success of the commission’s spectrum auction process, violate section 309(j) of the act, which requires the commission to place interested bidders on notice of the characteristics of licenses.

It's also worried of some bidding rules in advance of auctions, of violations of the administrative procedure act’s prohibition on retroactive rulemaking.

The CTIA says this represent a breach of the FCC’s contractual obligation of good faith and fair dealing in the auction process.

The CTIA added that the commission’s plan to auction off the spectrum and require the winner to provide free wireless Internet access would “seriously undermine the commission’s broader goals for deployment of competitive, affordable and reliable mobile wireless broadband services.”

The ex parte letter is in direct response to the FCC’s proposed plan to auction off a swath of spectrum on the AWS-2 and AWS-3 bands, as part of a plan to provide free wireless broadband to a great majority of the U.S.

The FCC’s plan would require the winning bidder to build a wireless network that within ten years offered 95 percent of the nation’s population free wireless broadband access.

The FCC had originally planned to vote on the plan in its last meeting last week, but due to concerns voiced by wireless carriers and the CTIA, the commission had delayed a discussion of the plan.

As of yesterday, no date has been set for another meeting.

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Source: The CTIA.