WASHINGTON-Another unexpected snag has further complicated industry’s chances for securing military spectrum for third-generation wireless services, with the powerful broadcast lobby claiming new studies-conducted in the absence of technical guidance promised by the Bush administration-show frequencies earmarked for the Pentagon in return for surrendered 1700 MHz channels could disrupt critical video links used for breaking news
The development-brought to light by broadcasters in a filing at the Federal Communications Commission-adds more uncertainty to a Bush plan that reserved the 1710-1755 MHz and 2110-2155 MHz bands for data-rich and Internet-friendly applications key to the mobile-phone industry’s future.
Because other countries plan to use 1700 MHz frequencies for 3G, the band is prized by wireless firms because it will enable global roaming and lower manufacturing costs.
On another front, wireless carriers are battling to get a controversial amendment stripped from a bill that would create a fund into which billions of dollars in 3G license sales would be deposited. The money would underwrite the cost of relocating Department of Defense radio systems in the 1710-1755 MHz band to other frequencies. The FCC has proposed the 2025-2110 MHz band for that purpose.
The National Association of Broadcasters and the Association of Maximum Service Television say it is a bad idea. The two trade groups blame the National Telecommunications and Information Administration-the administration’s government spectrum manager-for not yet disclosing technical parameters of 11 DoD ground systems being moved to radio channels occupied by the broadcast auxiliary service.
As such, broadcasters took matters into their own hands and commissioned two studies. “The studies reveal the commission seriously underestimates the impact that DoD facilities will have on BAS licensees … BAS represents a vital method for delivering breaking news and emergency information to the public,” broadcasters told the FCC.
In a 2002 report, NTIA said the 2025-2110 MHz band could be shared by broadcasters and DoD through careful frequency coordination. The FCC, say broadcasters, appears to agree with that assessment.
Broadcasters say that approach amounts to hopeful thinking, saying they “fail to see how it will be possible to prevent or resolve many of the inevitable interference problems that will surely arise between the proposed DoD facilities and BAS operations,” the broadcasters said.
In its July proposal on 3G replacement spectrum, the FCC said it asked NTIA for technical information on the 11 DoD facilities slated for relocation. “In response, NTIA said the information has not yet been developed,” the FCC stated. But the agency said NTIA told it DoD was willing to assume the full burden of coordinating the 11 military satellite earth stations and broadcast auxiliary service.
NTIA spokesman Clyde Ensslin offered a similar response to questions for this story. He added: “The technical issues raised in the NAB/AMST studies will be considered during the coordination of any DoD systems with existing systems.”
However, NTIA did not comment on the status of the technical analysis the administration is supposedly conducting to determine if military-broadcast sharing is feasible.
FCC officials declined a request for comment, saying the agency does not comment on pending proceedings.
The broadcast filing came out of the blue and appears to have surprised a mobile-phone industry otherwise preoccupied with DoD relocation fund legislation and other issues.
“We have not yet had the opportunity to review NAB’s technical filings,” said Travis Larson, a spokesman for the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association.
While the broadcast issue appears small compared to overarching policy and technical matters that have dominated the 3G spectrum debate in recent years, it has the potential to delay efforts to get 1700 MHz frequencies in wireless carrier’s hands. The FCC also has not settled on where to move licensees being uprooted from 2110-2155 MHz.
The spat could prove embarrassing to an administration that has invested considerable political capital to get mobile-phone carriers spectrum it believes is key to economic growth in an important industry sector.
