FCC and Device Inter-Operability in Lower 700MHz Bands

Last week the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) in WT Docket No 12-69, the topic is "Interoperability of Mobile User Equipment Across Paired Commercial Spectrum Blocks in the 700 MHz band".

The FCC wants discussions to determine if interoperability between devices in 3GPP Bands 17 and Bands 12 should (or could) be interoperable.  These bands overlap ("17" is a sub-set of "12").

This would facilitate roaming between small wireless carriers with the Lower "A" block, and the AT&T network with its LTE deployments in Band 17 (Blocks "B" and "C"). Currently there are no devices for the Lower "A" block, but of course there are many devices for blocks "B" and "C".

See the FCC document here

FOREIGN OWNERSHIP RULES FOR TELECOM

FOREIGN OWNERSHIP RULES

Before the spectrum auctions take place in 2013/2014 the Canadian Government intends to remove all foreign ownership requirements from wireless companies that have less than a 10% share of the mobile wireless subscribers in Canada.

Since the current “new entrants” have around 4% of the subscribers (taken all together), this means that WIND Mobile is legitimized, and any other “new entrant” can seek foreign investment (or an outright sale) with a foreign investor (or wireless operator).

Also Industry Canada has not yet defined “associated” entities that may get created to simultaneously build urban and rural footprints.

The next year will seek some interesting “merger and acquisition” activities in Canada!

Perhaps some global telecom operators will seek to enter the Canadian market?

US Public Safety awarded 20MHz LTE at 700MHz

In arguably one of the most significant events in U.S. public-safety communications history, both houses of Congress today passed payroll-tax legislation to reallocate 700 MHz D Block spectrum to first responders and provide $7 billion in federal grant money for the deployment of a dedicated nationwide LTE network.

“This is going to transform public-safety communications the same way that two-way radio did in the 1930s,” said Charles Dowd, deputy chief for the New York City Police Department. “That’s how big of a change this is going to be.”

This morning, the House of Representatives voted 293-132 in favor of the measure, followed shortly by a 60-36 vote in the Senate to approve the bill, which was the product of House-Senate conference committee negotiations during the last two months. President Barack Obama has vowed to sign the legislation into law shortly after returning from a West Coast trip.

While the focal point of the legislation is to extend the payroll-tax cut and unemployment benefits, the measure includes spectrum-policy language designed to make more airwaves available to commercial wireless operator via FCC auctions — a significant revenue source for the bill — and to address public-safety broadband needs. 

With the reallocation of the D Block — the 10 MHz swath of spectrum adjacent to the airwaves licensed to the PSST — first responders will have 20 MHz of contiguous spectrum on which to deploy the proposed LTE network. The buildout of the network will be funded largely by the $7 billion in federal grants that the legislation dedicates for the task, $2 billion of which will be available before any auction proceeds are realized.

AT&T Mobility supports new HTML5 API's

AT&T Mobility has launched a new API platform with tools intended to help developers create HTML5 mobile apps that will run more efficiently and save battery life. In addition, the API platform will make in-app billing possible so that developers can receive payment for their apps through AT&T's customer bill.

AT&T is promoting HTML5 as a strategy to support apps that operate in a cross platform manner.

The new API platform, which is powered by Apigee, will give developers access to all the company's APIs in one place, allowing them to write applications quickly instead of having to access the APIs separately and develop different business arrangements for each API.  In addition, the API platform will allow developers to incorporate the APIs and other network services directly into their HTML5 apps and let customers access them across multiple operating systems and even different devices such as smartphones or e-readers.

News from CES - TD-LTE Seminar

During the show, GTI, Clearwire and China Mobile will jointly organize a Seminar on the TD-LTE Device Ecosystem, in Las Vegas from 9:00 to 17:30 on January 11 at the Wynn Hotel. The workshop will mainly invite some important leaders and TDD operators from the global TD-LTE market to discuss the development strategy of the mobile broadband ecosystem. The following organizations and enterprises will give speeches on the topic: Chipset and Platform providers such as Qualcomm, MTK, Sequans; RF solutions providers such as Fujitsu, Avago, RFMD, Skycross; Device OEM/ODM such as Huawei, HTC and ZTE. The seminar will create a developing commercial environment for TD-LTE. 

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UK Broadband plans 3.5 Ghz LTE for Olympics

The UK fixed wireless operator is planning the deployment of a 3.5 GHz band LTE system in time for the 2012 Olympics to be held this summer in England.


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First TV White Space spectrum licensed in the US!

In December 2011, the FCC approved the first application for the use of TV "White Space" spectrum in Wilmington, Delaware.

Equipment approval was given to KTS Wireless Systems of Florida for the use of their equipment. This is the first application of what could be a multi-billion industry over the next 10 years, since industry heavy weights Google, Microsoft and Intel are behind this initiative.

The incredible demand for mobile internet access will be behind this industry.