A broad coalition representing broadcasters and wireless companies Thursday called for changes to the proposed bandplan for an incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum. The call came in a letter to the FCC on the eve of a deadline for initial comments on the much-anticipated auction. As expected (CD Jan 24 p1), the letter objected to a proposal to put some broadcasters in the so-called duplexer gap, surrounded by wireless operations. The letter was signed by NAB, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile, Qualcomm and Intel.

Large and small carriers reiterated their stances on how the FCC should structure a spectrum screen, in replies to a notice of proposed rulemaking in docket 12-269. Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile and public interest groups urged the commission to separately evaluate a licensee’s spectrum holdings below 1 GHz. AT&T and Verizon Wireless asked the commission to allow the screen to function as a safe harbor. Replies were due Monday.

Republicans and Democrats on the House Communications Subcommittee are likely to spar Wednesday over two particular issues raised by an FCC September notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM): the allocation of unlicensed spectrum and bidder eligibility requirements, according to planning memos. The subcommittee’s majority memo, published this week, said the FCC runs the risk of “short changing” first responders if the commission decides to give away much of the spectrum that is cleared in connection with the forthcoming broadcast incentive auctions. The memo also urged the commission against “picking winners and losers” by excluding parties from the auction. Subcommittee Democrats shot back Tuesday with a minority memo that said Republicans are seeking to “reopen issues that were resolved in the legislation.”

MetroPCS is “solely focused” on its proposed combination with T-Mobile USA for now, though it remains open to other offers, CEO Roger Linquist said Wednesday at the UBS investor conference in New York.

DirecTV Latin America’s (DLA) Sky Brazil postponed launch of a 4G LTE wireless broadband service to 2013, as it works to resolve software issues and improve coverage, DLA President Bruce Churchill said Monday at the UBS conference in New York.

The U.K. will back international calls for a harmonized release of 700 MHz spectrum for mobile broadband services while trying to ensure that the 600 MHz band is made available for digital terrestrial TV (DTT), the Office of Communications said Friday in a UHF strategy statement (http://xrl.us/bnzy4d). The 700 MHz band, now used in the U.K. for DTT, wireless microphones and white space technology, could help meet the burgeoning demand for mobile data, it said. But changing the use of the band risks preventing DTT from fulfilling its role of providing nearly universal, low-cost access to public broadcasting services and of maintaining viewers’ choice of platforms, services and equipment, it said. Mobile operators have several ways to boost the capacity of their networks, such as using more high and low frequency spectrum, upgrading mobile networks to more efficient mobile broadband technologies such as LTE, and offloading mobile data on Wi-Fi and femtocells, Ofcom said. But even if they do all that, additional mobile spectrum will be needed to meet the anticipated growth in demand, it said. Only international harmonized spectrum is likely to be used for mobile broadband because of economies of scale, it said. There will be a potentially significant increase in harmonized spectrum resulting from the U.K.’s planned 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum awards; refarming of existing 2G and 3G mobile bands to LTE; government plans to release 500 MHz of public spectrum; and other emerging higher frequency spectrum options such as the 3.6-3.8 GHz bands, it said. But the 700 MHz band “represents the most attractive option for providing additional lower frequency spectrum because there is now momentum behind it being allocated for mobile broadband use on a global scale,” it said. Among other things, a 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference resolution paved the way for the band to be used for mobile services after the next WRC. The earliest it could be made available is 2018, provided there’s sufficient agreement in Europe, Ofcom said. Shifting the 700 MHz band to mobile broadband use could affect multiplex operators running the DTT platform, wireless microphones and white space applications, it said. Some say Ofcom may have underestimated the role broadband Internet Protocol TV-delivered services could play in offering a viable substitute to the DTT platform, it said. But over the time-scale of a future release of the 700 MHz band, perhaps as early as 2018, there’s a major risk that IPTV won’t be able to substitute for DTT because it’s unclear whether broadband connections with enough speed and data capacity limits will be universally available, it said. Moreover, there’s a strong likelihood that consumers won’t have universally taken up high speed broadband connections and IPTV-compatible receivers by 2018, and there is currently a complete absence of stand-alone IPTV service that provide the range of linear TV services available on the DTT platform, it said. Two factors could help ensure there’s enough DTT broadcast capacity for ongoing delivery of its important benefits, Ofcom said. One is further improvements in digital television compression and transmission technology that will allow DTT spectrum to be used more efficiently; the other is the potential use of the 600 MHz band released by digital switchover for DTT and the other services that share spectrum with it, Ofcom said. Most respondents to an earlier consultation said alternative spectrum at 600 MHz should be made available for DTT if the 700 MHz band is switched to mobile broadband, it said. One consequence of that approach is that no long-term rights in the 600 MHz band can be granted, given international development around the 700 MHz band, it said. Ofcom considered two options for shorter-term use of the band -- shared use by DTT, wireless mics and white space devices, and exclusive reservation of an innovation space for white space devices -- and decided that the former solution is better. The regulator stressed that its statement doesn’t reach any final decisions about the process and timeline of any future release of the 700 MHz band. For now, it said, it will engage internationally on the 700 MHz band, and study how and when a change in its use could be achieved. Ofcom also said it will look at ways to reduce or avoid costs and disruptions to consumers and work with current users of the 700 MHz band to safeguard DTT and help them plan for a potential move. The regulator will publish as soon as practicable a document laying out how best to award 600 MHz spectrum, and do more work on the actual arrangements for coexistence of wireless microphones and white space devices in the band, it said.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said the FCC has made significant progress on addressing the spectrum “crunch” during his watch as chairman. His comments came in remarks Thursday at the University Of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. There has not been a major spectrum auction since Genachowski became chairman and none have been formally scheduled, but he told the Wharton students that auctions are on the way. Genachowski includes in his calculations spectrum that won’t be cleared out right away but must be shared with federal government users, regarded by many as a tough task. (See related story, this issue.)

The U.S. faces huge challenges trying to stay ahead of growth in wireless broadband use, and putting the right band plans in place is critical, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Monday at the start of an all-day agency workshop conducted by the commission’s Technological Advisory Council (TAC). “We are going to be listening very closely to what happens at this workshop and what comes out of the TAC process in terms of directions and recommendations for the FCC."

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Wednesday asked the FCC’s Technology Advisory Committee to start work on a report on the future of band planning, especially in light of a pending auction of broadcast TV spectrum. Genachowski said during a speech at CTIA last month he would ask TAC “to convene a forum on the future of band plans to inform the incentive auctions and other upcoming auctions.” Genachowski spoke to the TAC Wednesday, then stuck around for more than three hours to hear reports from the various working groups (http://xrl.us/bnc4g3).

T-Mobile USA continued its war against Verizon Wireless’s planned purchase of advanced wireless services spectrum from four cable operators. The smaller carrier said in FCC filings and a conference call that Verizon Wireless is the least efficient of all the major wireless carriers in its use of spectrum. T-Mobile cited a study it commissioned from Roberson and Associates to dispute Verizon Wireless’s claim of superior efficiency. Verizon Wireless’s “spectral efficiency analysis” is “fundamentally and fatally flawed,” T-Mobile said. When the flaws are corrected to account for smartphone usage and compare Verizon Wireless against additional carriers, “Verizon Wireless’ spectrum efficiency is seen to lag behind that of the rest of the industry, in many cases by a wide margin” (http://xrl.us/bm9ymi), T-Mobile said.