BROWSING: AWS

FCC to delay AWS auction until August

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission late Friday abruptly delayed the advanced wireless services auction until Aug. 9, saying applicants needed more time to prepare for the government's sale of 1,122 wireless licenses. The FCC made no mention of a petition for expedited reconsideration of DE...

Cingular, T-Mobile USA joint venture nears finish line

The once-noble joint venture between Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and T-Mobile USA Inc. that allowed each carrier to fill in a significant coverage hole-California and Nevada for T-Mobile USA, New York for Cingular-is nearing an end as both carriers are expected to exchange a series...

FCC to delay AWS auction until August

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission abruptly delayed the advanced wireless services auction until Aug. 9, saying applicants needed more time to prepare for the government’s sale of 1,122 wireless licenses. The FCC was to have begun the AWS auction June 29, but intense controversy over...

Test and measurement space explores customer experience, new technologies

No matter what type of network technology or application the wireless industry develops, you can bet that the test and measurement providers are prepared to measure how it performs. The major players tout equipment that can test basic voice and related services as well...

Challenges continue as carriers align for AWS auction

WASHINGTON-With the advanced wireless services auction quickly approaching and companies largely silent about their bidding intentions, controversy and uncertainty are slowly beginning to dominate an event billed as one of the biggest and most import sales of public airwaves in years. Already a health-related...

CTIA protests request to reconsider DE rules, delay AWS auction

WASHINGTON—The nation’s largest mobile-phone carriers asked the Federal Communications Commission to turn back an effort to have telecom regulators set aside and reconsider changes to small-business—or designated entity—bidding rules in advance of the June 29 start of the advanced wireless services auction. "The commission...

Watchdog group piles further complaints on upcoming AWS auction

WASHINGTON—A telecom watchdog group filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and congressional committees alleging major mobile phone carriers and their small-business partners illegally pocketed billions of dollars of taxpayer money through deceptive auction practices during past auctions....

Cable companies looking at AWS spectrum; Sprint Nextel, Alltel to abstain

WASHINGTON—The Sprint Nextel Corp.-cable TV joint venture today took the first step toward competing for spectrum at the advanced wireless services auction this summer, a move with implications for the No. 3 mobile phone carrier and cable TV operators as they attempt to strengthen...

AT&T settles AWS lawsuits for $150M

SAN ANTONIO—AT&T Inc. has agreed to settle several class-action lawsuits for a sum of $150 million, according to the company’s quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The suits had been filed in response to the offering of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. tracking...

DE rule changes could draw legal challenge

WASHINGTON-Three groups this week could file a lawsuit in federal appeals court to stay the June 29 start of the advanced wireless services auction if the Federal Communications Commission does not agree by today to drop changes it recently made to the small-business bidding...

Health lawsuit seeks to delay AWS auction

WASHINGTON-A health-related lawsuit that sought to block the June 29 start of the advanced wireless services auction was abruptly withdrawn last week after the Justice Department challenged a U.S. District Court's jurisdiction to hear the case. However, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers said the...

Industry consolidation challenges carrier billing methods

Within the past two years, the number of national carriers in the U.S. has gone from six to four. Between Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Sprint Corp.'s acquisition of Nextel Communications Inc., the companies that need to have their...

Rain of gold?

The advanced wireless services auction is scheduled to begin in less than two months. The filing deadline for short-form applications is Wednesday. The upfront payments deadline is three weeks later. And yet the unknowns are many.If the objective is to create suspense in advance...

Health-related lawsuit to delay AWS auction refilled in New York

WASHINGTON—A health-related suit to block the June 29 start of the advanced wireless services auction has been re-filed at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. On Thursday, plaintiff Maria Gonzalez and her attorney Whitney North Seymour Jr. withdrew a similar...

Groups petition for AWS delay, slam new FCC auction rules as ‘incurably disruptive’

WASHINGTON—Three groups today asked the Federal Communications Commission to drop the agency’s new rule changes to the small-business bidding program and to delay the June 29 start of the advanced wireless services auction pending resolution of issues raised in their petition. Council Tree Communications,...

Vendors hope to ease AWS spectrum transition

As the highly anticipated advanced wireless spectrum auction nears, infrastructure vendors are positioning themselves to reap profits from the auction's aftermath. Both Radio Frequency Systems and Andrew Corp.'s Comsearch subsidiary said they have developed tools to help carriers, enterprises and government agencies plan and...

FCC ties DE auction reform to spectrum capacity leases

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission backed away from making major reforms to a controversial auction program offering bidding discounts to small businesses, rejecting a revenue-only threshold for partnership eligibility in favor of a resale standard to determine whether national mobile carriers and other large telecom...

Lawsuit aims to block AWS auction with cell-phone radiation

WASHINGTON—A health-related lawsuit filed against Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin and other agency members seeks to block the scheduled June 29 start of the advanced wireless services auction. The EMR Policy Institute, a watchdog group concerned about health implications of cellular phones and...

FCC ties DE criteria to spectrum capacity leases

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission backed away from making major reforms to a controversial auction program offering bidding discounts to small businesses, rejecting a revenue-only threshold for partnership eligibility in favor of a resale standard to determine whether national mobile-phone carriers and other large telecom...

Blind-bidding proposal comes down to wire

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission voted to restrict bidder information during the advanced wireless services auction set to begin June 29, but agreed to revert to full disclosure if the agency determines before the auction that bidding is likely to be competitive. Many mobile-phone carriers-large...

FCC compromises on blind-bidding proposal

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission voted today to limit bidder information at the advanced wireless services auction that begins June 29, but regulators agreed to revert to full disclosure rules if they determine the auction is likely to be competitive. Many mobile-phone carriers—large and small—opposed...

FCC set to vote on blind-bidding auction option

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission is set to vote Wednesday on new rules likely to dramatically curtail bidder information at the advanced wireless services auction scheduled to begin June 29. The FCC, backed by the Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission and some academics, support anonymous...

Deal reached on 2.5 GHz spectrum leases

WASHINGTON-Warring wireless broadband and educational groups last week struck a deal on 2.5 GHz spectrum-lease terms, settling one of the  many unresolved regulatory issues associated with the deployment of wireless Internet and third-generation wireless services in the United States.The Federal Communication Commission this week...

ZTE, Huawei tred into U.S. infrastructure market

LAS VEGAS—Both ZTE Corp. and Huawei Technology Co. Ltd. are launching infrastructure equipment during the CTIA show that may not have an immediate market, but provide insights into the innovative and gutsy nature of the Chinese vendors, eager to increase their share of the...