Howard Buskirk

CTIA changed its strategy on H-block, refocusing on calls for further testing on how much “overload interference” is likely when an H-block device operates close to a wireless PCS handset. CTIA will lay out a testing plan in coming days and ask for a short delay in the release of an H-block order while the testing takes place, sources said Mon. The FCC is expected to hand down an order allocating H-block spectrum and a rulemaking on service rules at its Sept. 9 meeting (CD Aug 16 p1). CTIA will likely ask for at least a month’s delay for testing. Carriers have until Sept. 2 to make their case to the FCC. “With regard to the filter overload issue, you can’t answer the question unless you do testing,” a carrier source said Mon.: “What is the extent of the problem and how do you resolve it?… We still have significant concerns about how an H-block PCS service could impact incumbents. If those issues are addressable we'd like to find out.” The possibility of overload interference is “undisputed,” CTIA told the FCC in a filing Fri., providing additional information requested by the Office of Engineering & Technology: “CTIA believes that testing is required to confirm the scope and nature of such interference and to allow for reasoned decision-making on this crucial issue. The importance that PCS customers place on reliable communications and the importance that these communications play in our nation’s economy and in public safety demand no less.” CTIA said it has developed a test plan “and is in the process of securing independent test services to ensure that the overload… interference potential is fully understood.” Nextel filed in support of offering H-block spectrum at auction. A carrier source said on this issue Nextel and other carriers may not be far apart.

Proceedings allocating H-block spectrum and proposing auction rules are before Chmn. Powell, sources said Fri. The items also establish an auction for the 2.1 GHz spectrum CTIA had proposed go to Nextel as part of its 800 MHz rebanding plan alternative to the “consensus plan” ultimately adopted by the Commission.

MONTREAL -- Public safety communications departments across the U.S. continue to struggle to make their systems interoperable, almost 3 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, officials said at the APCO meeting here. More problems loom as systems carry out 800 MHz rebanding, which in some cases could immediately hurt interoperability, they said.

MONTREAL -- FCC Chief of Staff Bryan Tramont said at the APCO conference here that, with the 800 MHz order out, the Commission will make the digital TV transition “the primary policy imperative of the agency” the next 6 months. Tramont, speaking on a panel of top FCC staffers, said Chmn. Powell is eager to establish a date certain for the transition, which will provide 700 MHz spectrum for public safety.

MONTREAL -- Nextel officials were still reviewing the Commission’s 800 MHz rebanding report on Mon. The order, released late Fri. (CD Aug 8 Special Report), spells out in detail how the rebanding will work, potential penalties Nextel faces for noncompliance, and milestones for completion. A few critical issues remain, especially working out agreements with Canada and Mexico on cross-border issues, officials said, and the rebanding requires Nextel’s agreement.

Western Wireless filed a complaint in federal court in Neb. against the Neb. PSC’s order granting a suspension of rural LEC’s local number portability obligations through Jan. 2006. The FCC ordered all carriers to port numbers starting May 24. The lawsuit is the first filed in federal court challenging a state commission’s suspension of those obligations.

In what’s being promoted as a “historic first” the FCC has certified Freescale’s XS110 chipset, which uses the company’s version of ultra-wideband technology, Freescale planned to announce today (Mon.). The development means limited products using the chips could be shipped in the next 6 months, sources said.

Nextel made a follow up filing at the FCC, providing technical justification for its arguments that the H-block can be safely used by licensed devices. Nextel officials met with staff from the Office of Engineering & Technology to present a paper by duplexer manufacturer Agilent, which found that safe use of the spectrum is possible. A CTIA-led group, including other wireless carriers and technology makers, has weighed in against opening the band for auction. Nextel argued in an ex parte filing that using existing technology Agilent can manufacture a partial-band duplexer that includes H-block “with out-of-band-emissions performance identical to the duplexers” used in existing PCS handsets. Nextel said the manufacturer acknowledges it can’t produce a full-band A- H block duplexer. But the filing argued that interference shouldn’t be a concern. “The possibility of mobile-to-mobile interference depends entirely on the coincident occurrence of numerous events,” Nextel advised: “Nextel believes these events are highly unlikely to occur simultaneously.” Nextel said even if they did occur at the same time “one of the many requisite precursors for potential interference that Agilent identifies is that both handsets must be at the very edge of coverage: The interfering handset must transmit at maximum power and victim handset must operate at maximum sensitivity.” Nextel, which is scheduled to get adjacent G- block spectrum as part of the 800 MHz rebanding plan, is viewed by some of its peers as the carrier most likely to benefit from an H-block sale.

On the eve of a critical filing deadline on USF distribution issues, Western Wireless Chmn. John Stanton said that if the fund is expanded to pay for rural broadband rollout, wireless carriers will be in line for funds. The remarks came as NTCA and OPASTCO released a report heavily critical of the carrier’s pursuit of USF funding.

FCC Chmn. Powell confirmed Wed. the FCC is considering an order that would establish an auction for H-band spectrum. Powell said he was aware of industry efforts to head off the auction. A group of carriers were at the FCC last week to argue that the use of the spectrum would lead to unacceptable levels of interference.