DENVER, United States-The United States’ official position going into the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) supports designating three frequency bands-1710 MHz to 1885 MHz, 2500 MHz to 2690 MHz and 698 MHz to 960 MHz-from which to allocate additional third-generation spectrum for terrestrial services. It remained uncertain at Global Wireless press time, however, what the government’s position will be on U.S. industry access to that spectrum following the conference.
The country is supporting a multiband approach because it wants the most flexibility possible in allocating third-generation (3G) spectrum. The U.S. wireless industry believes such a scheme would enable global roaming and lower costs for wireless firms and consumers.
“I think this is a good proposal. It’s a very strong proposal. It bridges a lot of gaps,” said Ambassador Gail Schoettler, head of the U.S. delegation to WRC-2000. Part of the proposal’s strength is its flexibility, she added.
“I clearly think that a single-band approach would be difficult for any country in the world that was seeking to harmonize allocation bands,” said Brian Fontes, senior vice president for the U.S. Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association. “The more options a country has in terms of available … bands … the easier it will be to find the appropriate spectrum in the appropriate bands for alignment both regionally and globally.”
The problem, however, is that the United States seems to be standing alone in the Americas region with this particular multiband position. A March meeting of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL), made up of regulators and industry officials from North America, Central America and South America, did not result in a consensus for the Americas overall. CITEL favors identifying a single band: 1710 MHz to 1850 MHz.
Schoettler, in the weeks following the CITEL meeting, has been trying to drum up support elsewhere, including in the Middle East, for the U.S. proposal. Schoettler said the Arab countries tend to support the U.S. position.
In addition, although U.S. government officials and the U.S. mobile wireless industry reached a consensus for this multiband proposal in February, doubt lingered at the end of April as to what the government would do with those band allocations in the United States if they were designated at WRC. The uncertainty comes from the fact that there are existing users in the United States on the primary bands being considered. The 1700 MHz band has military and Federal Aviation Administration users; the 2500 MHz band has existing commercial users.
“The United States is the largest user of spectrum in the world,” said Schoettler. “Wherever you look, we have existing users (on spectrum bands). … We can free up portions of each of the bands. We will be looking at that right after the WRC.”
“The U.S. has not made a decision about which bands it would like to use, so it has said it would be studying that,” explained Steve Sharkey, director of telecommunications regulation for Motorola and one of the organizers for a loosely knit U.S. group called the Wireless Spectrum Coalition. The coalition began meeting with U.S. Congress members in April to educate them on what will happen at WRC and what the industry would like to see follow in the United States after WRC.
Sharkey explained that before the government-industry multiband consensus, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission had established a policy statement that laid out its plan for accommodating 3G mobile services. Part of the plan was to identify and auction 90 megahertz of paired spectrum in the 1710 MHz to 1755 MHz, 2110 MHz to 2150 MHz and 2160 MHz to 2165 MHz bands. “(But) that’s not good enough,” said Sharkey. “Harmonized spectrum is very important to the industry. Before auctioning, we want them to fully evaluate the other options.”
“From our perspective, we think the studies have already been done … [and] that [the three bands being proposed at WRC] are excellent candidate bands,” said Stephen Blust, director of technology strategy and standards for BellSouth Wireless Services. “We don’t think the additional issues need to be delayed any further … We’re concerned that the United States for whatever reason from an official perspective winds up not in alignment either with regard to frequency bands or … timing.”
RCR Washington Bureau Chief Jeffrey Silva contributed to this story.
