@CTIA: Broadband plan gets a lot right

LAS VEGAS—Even if the Federal Communications Commission didn’t give the wireless industry everything it wanted in the National Broadband Plan, panelists at “The Evolving Wireless Ecosystem—What’s Next in Wireless Law, Policy and Technology,” are excited about the plan.
The Monday event, sponsored by CTIA in conjunction with the Federal Communications Bar Association, featured a session on industry reactions to the broadband plan. Overall, panelists from the chip sector, the device sector, the infrastructure sector and the carrier sector said they were pleased with the plan. The Federal Communications Commission last week presented Congress with the National Broadband Plan, a 300-plus page document that outlines what could be the national framework to spur broadband adoption across the United States. Michelle Farquhar, an attorney with Hogan & Hartson, and Brian Josef, director of regulatory affairs at CTIA, outlined the wireless initiatives included in the plan, including:
–National benchmarks for broadband speeds, including a wireless benchmark of 100 megabits per second speeds;
— A transitioning of the Universal Service Fund to new funding for broadband connectivity, including creating a Mobility Fund;
–New policies and tools to encourage broadband adoption;
–New policies that encourage competition among broadband providers;
–New policies including freeing up 500 megahertz of spectrum that can be used for mobile broadband in the next 10 years, with 300 megahertz to be made available in the next five years;
–And using broadband facilities to encourage innovation in other sectors, including healthcare, smart grid, public safety, government and other users.
The FCC’s recommendation to free up spectrum is great, and will be done in conjunction with technological changes that the industry is implementing, said Dean Brenner, VP, government affairs, at Qualcomm. Wireless carriers continue to invest billions of dollars in their networks to make them faster and be able to handle more traffic on the network. Carriers are also addressing network topology, bringing the network closer to the end user through the use of repeaters and femtocells, he said. “All of this has to happen simultaneously,” since it will be awhile before extra spectrum is commercially available. However, Brenner — who noted he tells his kids he “is the only person in the history of the world to bid on the D-block” auction – said the FCC’s plan is “state of the art.” Other countries will look to the FCC plan as they begin to address broadband issues in their own countries.
Panelists agreed that the 100 Mbps speed listed in the plan is “aspirational.” Ericsson’s Barbara Baffer, VP of public affairs and regulations, said large chunks of spectrum are needed to try to achieve those speeds. TeliaSonera is rolling out an LTE network in Stockholm, Sweden, and today is seeing about 20 Mbps on its network.
Research In Motion Ltd. wants the FCC to ensure that existing spectrum is used efficiently, said Praveen Goyal, senior director, corporate and government relations, at RIM. Goyal said the BlackBerry operating system can run an application more efficiently than some other platforms. Carriers have to add capacity and promote efficiency on their networks. AT&T Mobility has noted that 3% of its customers accounted for 40% of data use on its network, which impacts the rest of the users on the network.
Panelists generally did not openly advocate transitioning some underused Mobile Satellite Services spectrum, but said the spectrum should be studied to see if it is being used efficiently.
Panelists also were cautious about the D-Block spectrum that could be some of the first spectrum up for bid. Qualcomm’s Brennar noted that the FCC proposal seems to advocate using the LTE protocol, but said the FCC should not dictate a certain technology, adding that Qualcomm’s very existence is due to earlier FCC policy that did not dictate technology. While panelists agreed a robust public-safety network is laudable, Ericsson’s Baffer said there were questions surrounding if public-safety users should be able to roam across the entire swath of 700 MHz spectrum.
Regarding USF and broadband funds, Sprint proposed giving low-income customers the funding directly and let them pick their broadband access provider. “Give the money to consumers and let them drive where it goes,” said Charles McKee, VP, government affairs at Sprint Nextel Corp.