Deutsche Telekom last week launched a 20 x 20 LTE network in Cologne, Germany, showing growing interest in “fat channels” and this higher speed version of LTE, BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk said Tuesday in a research note. “Is 20x20 the future?” Piecyk asks. “The fatter channels, not surprisingly, deliver much faster download speeds than a 10x10 or 5x5 version of LTE. And by faster speeds, we mean 30 Mbps, which many people do not achieve with their wire-based broadband connections. Clearly, not all LTE is created equal.” DT uses the 1.8-GHz band for the service in Cologne, but is expected to use the 2.6-GHz band as it rolls out service in other German cities and fills the 1.8 GHz spectrum, he said. DT will offer 10 X 10 LTE in the 800 MHz band outside urban areas. Piecyk asks if U.S. carriers will follow. AT&T, for example, could use its 1.9 GHz holdings, he wrote. “In addition, AT&T’s 10 MHz of AWS (2.1 GHz) spectrum will become more useful when combined with the 25 MHz of AWS spectrum that T-Mobile controls,” if the merger is allowed to move forward. Clearwire is the only U.S. operator with a “meaningful spectrum position” in the 2.5/2.6 GHz band, where it controls some 150 MHz of spectrum, he noted. “We believe it would cost Clearwire $600 million to convert its existing WiMax markets to a 20x20 LTE system,” Piecyk said. “We believe Clearwire could start to launch most markets with LTE within six months and could convert all of the pops within a year."

Public safety spending on 700 MHz D-block lobbying more than quadrupled in Q1 2011 compared to the same quarter last year, according to Q1 lobbying reports. The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials spent $80,563, 303 percent more than what the group spent in Q1 2010 and 66 percent more than Q4 2010. Meanwhile, the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association spent nearly five times what it did last year, and NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield said she expects the association of small rural telcos to continue spending at that level.

Legislation to authorize voluntary incentive auctions could include provisions to spur investment by broadcasters, Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., said Tuesday at a House Communications Subcommittee spectrum hearing. Most members appeared to support incentive auctions. But Walden and others said they are still considering how best to use the 700 MHz D-block to build a national public safety network.

Support for a bipartisan bill to reallocate the 700 MHz D-block to public safety (CD Feb 11 p3) appeared strong at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing Wednesday. Public safety officials testified in support of the assignment for the full 20 MHz of public-safety broadband to a single licensee, in an effort to get legislation passed and a network put in place by the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Peter Cramton, an expert on spectrum auctions, said Friday he is “optimistic” about the outlook for a voluntary incentive auction. The key to attracting wireless industry interest, he said, is forcing broadcasters to repack their spectrum to make it valuable in multiple markets, he said at a Media Access Project conference.

Experts supported freeing up additional frequencies for mobile broadband and other new services, and adding flexibility in allocations for innovative technology for frequency sharing, at a hearing of the European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research and Energy about a five-year EU policy on radio frequencies. The European Commission proposed a radio spectrum policy program in September, and the Parliament and Council must vote on it. The program would require member countries to reallocate the 800 MHz band from broadcasters to mobile broadband services. “Addressing and supporting the exceptional growth in mobile data traffic is pivotal to securing the EU’s competitiveness and global leadership in the digital economy,” said Gunnar Höökmark, vice-chairman of the parliamentary European People’s Party Group, who is responsible for the European Parliament’s report on the radio spectrum program. The EU has committed to giving all citizens at least 30 Mbps access and 50 percent of them 100 Mbps by 2020. Höökmark also supported considering additional frequencies for the new services. Simon Forge, consultant at SCF Associates, recommended considering the 600 MHz band for Wi-Fi service, possibly on a shared basis, he said. Christopher Gow, head of spectrum policy at Cisco, said frequencies in the 5 GHz range might be easier to allocate.

The Swiss Federal Communications Commission will auction frequencies for mobile from the digital dividend, 900, 1800, 2100 and 2600 MHz bands, an Ofcom press release said. The auction of digital dividend frequencies is one of Europe’s first, it said. The lower bands are for GSM, UMTS and 3GPP’s Long Term Evolution, it said. Existing GSM and UMTS licenses will expire as early as December 2013, it said. More than 600 MHz will be awarded, an official said. The frequencies will be awarded for 15 years next summer, it said. No special measures were taken to promote a new operator in the market, the press release said. A DotEcon, Ltd. electronic auction system will be used, it said. Ofcom in 2009 ran a consultation on the frequencies allocated to In&Phone, Orange, Sunrise and Swisscom.

A $302 million cut in the NTIA’s Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program, signed into law by President Barack Obama this week (CD Aug 12 p8), raises questions for applicants -- many of which spent tens of thousands of dollars in their efforts -- and for public safety agencies across the country that hope to use grants to build out networks in 700 MHz spectrum. RUS’s broadband program was not cut. Many applicants were surprised by the cut, which came in a bill providing $26.1 billion to states for Medicaid and teachers’ jobs.

NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling warned the Department of Defense spectrum symposium Wednesday that the Obama administration is attentive to wireless carrier calls for more commercial spectrum. Strickling mentioned FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s speech at CTIA last week and that group’s pronouncements a week earlier that the industry would require another 800 MHz of spectrum over time. “The handwriting is on the wall,” Strickling said. “Looking for new spectrum for mobile broadband uses is going to be a priority for policymakers.”

Maps in a draft ITU-R recommendation on where to locate International Mobile Telecommunications stations operating in the 3,400-3,600 MHz band may incorrectly suggest that deploying the technologies in the coordination zones is impossible, Sweden will tell a study group meeting this week on the mobile technologies, said a source familiar with the country’s position. Sweden noted the large size of the zones and the significant number of base stations to coordinate. Sweden and a group of nine companies said mitigation techniques could spur further deployments. Further study is needed for the most efficient spectrum use, the group said. The companies were Alcatel-Lucent France, Alcatel-Lucent USA, Telefon AB-LM Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia Corporation, Nokia Siemens Networks, France Telecom Orange, Societe Francaise du Radiotelephone and Telefonica O2. The draft recommendation offers three methods to decide in bilateral or multilateral talks whether an IMT base or mobile station in the 3.4-3.6 GHz band would meet power flux density requirements in the Radio Regulations. Satellite interests have given the draft recommendation preliminary approval. But rules required them to give mobile interests a chance to consider it.