Safe Connections Act

Oct. 28 FCC monthly meeting, 11:30 a.m., rescheduled from Oct. 22, Commission Meeting Room -- http://fcc.us/1gqLlbQ

The United Kingdom is exploring the use of the TV white spaces for broadband and otherwise looking at many of the same changes already underway in the U.S., Ofcom said Wednesday. Ofcom also launched a consultation to seek comment on U.K. spectrum policy going forward. “Looking forward, a number of important trends that could have a significant impact on spectrum use are emerging, including mobile broadband growth, the emergence of new uses such as machine-to-machine (M2M) communications and increasingly sophisticated techniques for sharing spectrum,” Ofcom said. “Therefore, we believe now is the right time to review our spectrum management strategy and consider major priorities for our work over the next 10 years.” Responses are due Dec. 11 (http://bit.ly/18t8TpG).

The 5G networks expected to start in 2020 will likely last at least 10 years, with any increases in capacity matched by expanding bandwidth, NTT Docomo Assistant Manager Anass Benjebbour told us. The 5G technology will likely require 400 MHz bandwidth at the start, and need to expand to 1 GHz to accommodate increasing data, voice and video traffic, he said. The goal will be to create a network with standard 1 Gbps download speeds and peaks reaching 10 Gbps, Benjebbour said. To achieve the faster speeds, most networks will rely on a system of main cellular towers with a range of 500 meters surrounded and connected via fiber to smaller microcells, each with up to 100 small antennas and a range of 10-15 meters. The system would allow the microcells to carry the high-frequency bandwidth for data and voice, leaving the larger towers free for video, including Ultra HD, said an NTT Docomo spokesman. The larger towers could be surrounded by up to 36 microcells in denser configurations, NTT Docomo officials said. The 5G networks “need to exist for about 10 years, so we need to have systems that are extensible for both short term and long term,” Benjebbour said: “The high-frequency band will go through the microcells because the larger base stations are already overloaded by hardware. The data and voice will need to be handled separately by the smaller cells, but as the system evolves there will be no difference” between the microcells and larger towers. The frequency used for 5G will likely be sorted out by the ITU, which sets standards for mobile networks and has its World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva in 2015, Benjebbour said. A 5G standard could be set by 2018, allowing the start of service two years later, he said. “It will depend on a worldwide harmonization” of standards for 5G, and “some interesting bets are already being realized by existing systems,” Benjebbour said. Among those pushing 5G technology, in addition to NTT Docomo, are Samsung and China’s Huawei.

Verizon and AT&T will spread their wireless competition to LTE video services in 2014 using recently acquired spectrum, said their chief executives Tuesday at a Goldman Sachs investor conference in New York. The carriers are lining up content deals, and Verizon expects to deliver the Super Bowl to subscribers in February, CEO Lowell McAdam said. AT&T will begin deployments by mid-2014 and expects the service will “mature to scale” within three years, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told us.

The European Commission will grant 50 million euros ($65 million) for “5G” research, Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes said Tuesday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. “I want 5G to be pioneered by European industry, based on European research and creating jobs in Europe -- and we will put our money where our mouth is,” she said. It’s part of the plan to remove roadblocks mobile operators face in Europe’s fragmented market, she said. One challenge is spectrum, a resource increasingly in short supply and ever more expensive. Some EU governments see auctions as mere revenue-raisers, ignoring the wider public interest for consumer prices and network investment, she said. And many countries have different assignment systems, forcing operators to deal with a kaleidoscope of varying rules and practices. Other challenges to mobile rollout include widely different planning and permit rules, uncertainty about infrastructure-sharing, and uncoordinated research, she said. The recent political agreement on the next EU budget cut more than eight billion euros from the “Connecting Europe Facility,” in practice not leaving enough money to invest in broadband, she said. But Kroes said she’s determined to deliver broadband for all, and for that the market must be improved. Among other things, there will be a wireless action plan to find more spectrum and make it easier for providers to invest in new networks, she said. She will take a holistic look at new wireless services to boost transport, health and cities, she said. The EC will also go after countries that haven’t awarded spectrum already harmonised across Europe or are violating other EU laws, she said.

Britons can expect 4G services within six months after five mobile operators won spectrum in the 800 MHz/2.6 GHz auction, the Office of Communications said Wednesday (http://xrl.us/boh68e). After more than 50 rounds of bidding, Everything Everywhere, Hutchison 3G UK, Niche Spectrum Ventures (a British Telecom subsidiary), Telefónica UK and Vodafone all won spectrum, it said. The auction raised more than £2.3 billion ($3.6 billion). A total of 250 MHz was auctioned in the two bands, equivalent to two-thirds of the frequencies currently used by wireless devices, it said. The 800 MHz lots come with a coverage obligation, so winning bidder Telefónica UK will have to provide a mobile broadband service for indoor reception to at least 98 percent of the population (at least 99 percent outdoors) and at least 95 percent of the population of each of the U.K. nations -- England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales -- by the end of 2017, it said. Although the main part of the auction is over, there will be a final stage to determine where in the 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands each winner’s new spectrum will be located. Bidding in this assignment stage will take place shortly, Ofcom said. Once license fees have been paid, Ofcom will grant licenses and operators can begin rolling out their networks, with consumer services expected in the spring or early summer, it said. It will then measure the average mobile broadband speeds received by 3G and 4G customers and publish results next spring. Ofcom is now planning to support the release of more spectrum for possible future 5G services, it said. “Despite all the noise being made about the UK’s 4G auction, what you can’t hear is the sound of champagne corks popping over at the Treasury” as the amount raised was £1 billion less than expected, said Ovum analyst Matthew Howett. Mobile operators must be relieved that the amount paid is a “mere fraction” of the £22.5 billion they were asked to cough up during the 3G licensing process, he said. The fact that they paid so much less for 4G may be a good thing, because the relatively poor 3G coverage may be partly the result of operators having little money left to spend on building out networks, he said. Things should be different this time, especially given the ability of 800 MHz airwaves to cover large distances and penetrate buildings well, he said. The government, Ofcom and operators themselves deserve at least some of the blame for the U.K.’s late start in the 4G race, he said. But today is just the beginning, he said. The hard part now for operators is to convince customers to upgrade and take out 4G mobile subscriptions.

Rice University engineering researchers unveiled “full-duplex” technology they say could cut down on the need for cell towers even as networks expand. The technology allows cellphones and other devices to transmit and receive signals using the same frequency, according to a news release (http://xrl.us/bmcq6z). “Our solution requires minimal new hardware, both for mobile devices and for networks, which is why we've attracted the attention of just about every wireless company in the world,” said Ashutosh Sabharwal, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice. “The bigger change will be developing new wireless standards for full-duplex. I expect people may start seeing this when carriers upgrade to 4.5G or 5G networks in just a few years."

Terrestrial TV may be quite different in two decades, industry executives and others said Thursday. Experts split over whether over-the-air TV will be around at all. In a panel on broadcasting and retransmission consent deals held on Capitol Hill by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Michael Calabrese of the New America Foundation said “broadcasting will be completely off the air in a decade or two.” Broadcast representatives, including an NAB official, disagreed.

LAS VEGAS -- Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann Wednesday echoed concerns voiced by AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson the day before (CD March 24 p1) at the CTIA show about the need for the U.S. to steer clear of imposing new regulations on the wireless industry. Obermann, whose company is the parent of T-Mobile USA, also called on the FCC to bring new spectrum online for wireless broadband as quickly as possible. Competition and a light-handed approach on regulation “have served the U.S. wireless customer very well,” he said. “I am optimistic that American policymakers will want to continue this trend to ensure continued growth and investments going forward. So far, the regulatory approach has paid off."

AT&T asked the FCC to “repurpose” the 1755-1780 MHz band for commercial use, in its response to the commission’s wireless innovation inquiry. “This 25 MHz spectrum band is large enough to support modern broadband capabilities, and it can be paired with the existing AWS-3 spectrum band (2155-2175 MHz), which is currently orphaned,” AT&T said. “It would also harmonize the U.S. with much of the rest of the mobile wireless world, which already operates in these spectrum bands.” Industry groups are “working diligently to identify” other spectrum that could be reallocated, but their efforts are “hampered by the dearth of information on government spectrum,” AT&T said. AT&T offered a lengthy filing on the state of the wireless industry, industry innovation and the key role carriers play. The company also filed three separate reports by outside experts. AT&T said “AT&T scientists and engineers are working on, among other things, 5G standards that will support gigabit wireless speeds using largely untapped terahertz spectrum, architectures for wireline-quality 4G networks, voice recognition and interaction capabilities in noisy wireless environments, and truly revolutionary wireless smart grid and telehealth applications, to name just a few.”