FCC Proposes Rules for Terrestrial Use of S-band MSS Spectrum

The buildout requirements, as proposed, would likely fall in between what Dish has said it was comfortable with and requirements similar to those on LightSquared, which AT&T said was appropriate, said agency officials. There’s also an interim buildout proposal of reaching 30 percent of the populations within 3 years. Dish has said it would commit to buildout schedules like those in the Sprint/Nextel and Sprint/Clearwire deals -- somewhere around 30 million Americans within 6 years. LightSquared agreed to build out to 260 million Americans within 5 years and nine months of the transfer of control from SkyTerra to Harbinger Capital Partners, the transaction that created LightSquared.

The proposal, approved during the commission meeting, to increase the terrestrial capabilities within the band was expected after the agency declined to give Dish terrestrial access through a waiver of the MSS rules. Dish completed its purchase of the two S-band licensees, TerreStar and DBSD, earlier this month. The agency also asked for insight on unforeseen interference issues, similar to those that have plagued LightSquared.

"With this item, we are moving to free up 40 MHz of 2 GHz spectrum for mobile broadband -- a significant step in the Commission’s spectrum agenda,” said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.The NPRM and NOI allow for “substantial progress” in opening the 40 MHz of spectrum for terrestrial wireless, said Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. Clyburn said she was glad the other offices agreed to include questions on how to ensure interoperability within the spectrum. Commissioner Robert McDowell said the NPRM “liberating the 2 GHz band” for possible terrestrial use is a “step in the right direction.” All three commissioners voted for the items.

As expected (CD March 21 p1), the proposal would enable stand-alone terrestrial service in the 2000-2020 MHz and 2180-2200 MHz spectrum bands. A 2010 FCC order set the stage for the agency’s proposal when it added terrestrial services as a co-primary allocation in the band. The FCC will begin to call the spectrum AWS-4, due to the proximity to other AWS spectrum, and apply Part 27 wireless spectrum rules to the band, said Wireless Bureau aide Jeremy Marcus at the FCC meeting. The FCC also proposed to adopt a band plan “that would maintain the existing spectrum pairing and uplink downlink configuration of the spectrum” and include “paired 10 MHz blocks” and to use geographic area licensing approach, said Marcus. The agency proposed to assign AWS-4 licenses to the 2 GHz licensees but also sought comment on “alternative assignment approaches, said Marcus.

Dish said it was ready to work with the FCC to make use of the spectrum. “The rules proposed today advance some of President Obama’s and the FCC’s highest priorities — namely freeing up additional spectrum for commercial use while introducing new mobile broadband competition,” the company said in an emailed statement. “DISH looks forward to working with the Commission on this critical NPRM, and we hope the process will move forward expeditiously so that more wireless innovation can be introduced to American consumers.”

The FCC also asked for comment on a notice of inquiry on a variation of the AWS-4 plan within the NPRM, he said. The inquiry asks about using the 1695-1710 MHz band NTIA has proposed moving from federal use to non-federal use, said Marcus. The NOI’s proposed spectrum concept would potentially result in existing AWS-1 and PCS bands and extending them with 65 MHz of usable bandwidth, he said.

It remains unclear how the NOI will impact Dish and “if the FCC could eventually propose (via an NPRM) that DISH be partially ‘rebanded’ to this spectrum,” said Credit Suisse analyst Stefan Anniger in a note to investors. Anniger expects the NPRM process to last through the summer while the NOI is likely to take “significantly longer to complete,” he said.

AT&T, which has been viewed as interested in making use of the Dish spectrum, voiced support for the FCC’s efforts. “The events of the last two years have made clear that the challenges associated with finding additional spectrum for commercial use are significant,” said AT&T Senior Vice President Bob Quinn in a blog post (http://xrl.us/bmy2i7). “Yet there is no goal more important to the millions of customers who depend on the mobile internet. Without additional spectrum in the hands of internet infrastructure companies, consumers will not be able to realize all the mobile internet has to offer. It is therefore imperative that the Commission expeditiously work to free up additional spectrum and unlock the value in bands that are currently under-utilized because of interference or service rule limitations."

CTIA also said it was happy with the proposal. “While we have not yet had an opportunity to review the details of the FCC’s proposal, CTIA has long called for the FCC to open a rulemaking as the next step in determining how the 2 GHz spectrum should be most effectively deployed,” it said in an emailed statement. “CTIA and our members look forward to working with the Commission to find ways to harness this underutilized spectrum to benefit the nation’s wireless consumers.”