NEW YORK-Cox Enterprises Inc. and Omnipoint Corp. seem likely to meet their December 1999 deadlines to deploy new technologies, a condition of their Federal Communications Commission pioneer’s preference licenses for 2 GHz broadband personal communications services.
“Cox has said it will be operational by the end of 1996, and we still believe that to be the case,” said Marty Zajik, director of public affairs for Cox California PCS. “At that time, we will be able to share more information about our cable-based personal communications services.”
Cox Enterprises, headquartered in Atlanta, received a pioneer’s preference award in late 1994 for the San Diego-Los Angeles major trading area. Its new technology is designed to integrate PCS technology into the cable television infrastructure in order to deliver personal communications services over cable television networks.
Omnipoint Corp., headquartered in Arlington, Va., won a pioneer’s preference for the New York MTA late in 1994 for Interim Standard 661. IS-661 is a hybrid Code Division Multiple Access/Time Division Multiple Access air interface. It offers the promise of high quality voice and high speed data rates for multimedia and wireless local loop applications. It also will require small base stations the size of a knapsack that can be mounted easily in various locations.
“IS-661 wireless local loop is working here (in New York), and there will be a rollout within a year,” said George Schmitt, president of Omnipoint Communications Inc., Wayne, N.J. “But it will take two years to develop a handset.” Omnipoint launched service last month using Global System for Mobile communications technology, which has roots in TDMA.
In granting pioneer’s preferences, the FCC imposed “a substantial use condition … which entails a judgment as to the nature and degree of deployment,” said Ron Small, an economist in the FCC’s Spectrum Policy branch, which deals with pioneer’s preferences. But the FCC didn’t define substantial use because of the difficulty of doing so. Nor did it require immediate deployment of a pioneer’s preference technology as a condition of licensing because it did not want to delay PCS network buildout.
In August, he said, the FCC issued an opinion order stating that the substantial use condition doesn’t apply until the five-year buildout date specified in the pioneer’s preference award. The order came in response to a January challenge to Omnipoint’s pioneer’s preference issued by the Wireless Communications Council of Washington, D.C., an organization formed by GSM opponent James Valentine.
The WCC was indirectly involved in complaints earlier this year that stalled tower acquisition attempts by Pacific Bell Mobile Services in San Diego. Pacific Bell Mobile has since launched a GSM system.
“The Wireless Communications Council didn’t believe Omnipoint plans to use the (IS-661) technology anytime soon,” Small said. “WWC asked what is meant by substantial use.”
The signatory on the complaint was Michael Ruger, an attorney with the Washington law firm of Baker & Hostetler, which represents the WCC. Because WCC did not list an address, Omnipoint countered that the council hadn’t properly identified itself, he added.
“Paragraph eight of their complaint alleged potential harm, but didn’t say specifically how they would be harmed,” Small said. “One of our reasons for rejecting the claim was that they didn’t have standing to challenge because they aren’t a party in interest.”
However, if a pioneer’s preference award winner tries to transfer its license before it deploys the new technology it has promised, that would be grounds for a serious challenge, Small said.
Meanwhile, the pioneer’s preference program itself could face congressional challenges to its existence in the new year. U.S. Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., the new chairman of the House Telecommunications Subcommittee, has indicated he will reintroduce a bill to downsize the FCC that Congress didn’t consider before it adjourned its 1996 session. The new FCC downsizing bill may contain similar language as in the old version to eliminate the pioneer’s preference program.
