Verizon expressed concerns to FCC Chmn. Powell this week about hi...

repeaters would cause interference to their operations. Verizon Senior Vp-Federal Govt. Relations Edward Young said WCS licenses company purchased at auction in 1997 now represented “an economically viable platform for broadband services.” He said WCS “provides an important complement to our current strategy for delivering broadband via DSL technology.” Young told Powell WCS would facilitate economical deployment of broadband offerings in places where DSL wasn’t available “while providing comparable levels of service to our broadband customers.” Young said Verizon planned “in coming months” to conduct trial of broadband fixed wireless service using WCS band and equipment developed by BeamReach. “Commercial deployment could begin as early as next year, depending on the results of the technical trial and the outcome of the Commission’s proceeding,” Young said. WCS licensees have argued that SDARS licensees should be made to operate terrestrial repeater networks at power levels not greater than 2 kw. But SDARS licensees have said their repeater network design relies on repeaters operating at up to 40 kw to provide proper synchronization. Verizon said it bought WCS licenses at auction under assumption it would have “full use” of its spectrum without harmful interference. “Bidders, and in fact licensees, require certainty about how their spectrum can be used,” Young said. “Changing the rules for a service after the licenses have been sold at auction and after significant investments have been made will have a chilling effect on the development of innovative technologies and services.”