WCA 2002 Notes...

June 27, 2002 |Miscellaneous

FCC is expected to release within days notice of proposed rulemaking approved earlier this month that would open 71-76 GHz, 81-86 GHz and 92-95 GHz to commercial uses for first time, said Michael Marcus, assoc. dir. of FCC Office of Engineering & Technology. Potential uses for spectrum include high-speed wireless local area networks, broadband access systems for Internet and point-to-point and point-to-multipoint solutions. NPRM explores various options for allowing first nongovt. use of that spectrum: (1) Traditional Part 101 point-to-point licensing. (2) Area licenses with band manager, which would be subject to auction. (3) Unlicensed approach under Part 15. Item as adopted by Commission is neutral about which of those items was best and it was seeking comment from industry on preferred plans. Part 101 licensing probably would involve annual FCC fee and coordinator fee, Marcus said. In that scenario, coordinator would make decisions on whether proposed use would cause interference with other existing users, he said. “The coordinator in doing that would have to do that in the context of specific technical criteria that are in the FCC rules,” he said. FCC will seek comment on whether situation in which operators must rely on rule changes to keep pace with new technology would work in environment in which technology is changing so rapidly, Marcus said. Several developers made clear Wed. that they would prefer to see service rules that didn’t involve auctions. John Lovberg, chief technology officer of Loea Communications, which petitioned FCC for rule change, raised concern that auctions could “encourage artificial spectrum scarcity.” He said point-to-point licensing under Part 101 was solution that had appeared most amenable to NTIA and Interagency Radio Advisory Council. -- MG

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MVS Multivision is set to launch 2nd generation MMDS system in Mexico next month, with service of pay-TV and broadband offerings planned for Mexico City, MVS Pres. Ernesto Vargas said at WCA show this week. System developer NextNet Wireless characterized network as largest non-line- of-sight broadband wireless deployment in world. On TV side, he said company planned first national pay-TV network in country. Existing video offering of MVS has become less competitive with cable operators, Vargas said. MMDS operator has 300,000 subscriber base that has remained steady, although churn rate has been 60%. “We don’t have sales problems but we have a big problem of retaining our subscriber base,” he said. Of Mexico’s 20 million households, only 3.5 million have some form of pay-for-TV service, including satellite, MMDS and cable, he said. Other offerings are aiming at “niche” market that’s willing to pay $20-$30 per month, Vargas said. National network of pay-TV channels that company will roll out in July had to trim some channels because 2G technology required more frequencies. Price will be $7-$8 per month as company pursues 15.5 million homes that aren’t paying for TV at all, he said.

WorldCom Broadband Solutions CEO Kerry McKelvey said in Tues. panel discussion that despite economic downturn, company still was seeing demand for broadband alternatives from small to medium-sized businesses. “The key thing is there’s just a lack of service available to small and medium businesses in these markets that we're serving,” he said. “We continue to sell aggressively in these markets and we continue to see, I think, very favorable uptake.” Two years ago, when WorldCom began MMDS-based services in range of markets, including larger cities such as Minneapolis and Kansas City, company questioned whether it could compete with sizeable competitors pursuing similar customers at time, McKelvey said. “Two years ago when we did the business plan, there were a large number of CLECs out there that made us question the model,” he said. “When we look at it over the last 12 months, we're about the only one left. There aren’t too many more out there now and there’s still the demand for service.” In Memphis market, McKelvey said company virtually had sold out capacity on its first-generation network. In situation that he said wasn’t unique to that market, he said there were parts of Memphis with high-end residential users and medium-sized businesses that were ripe for service. But he said local govt. in Germantown, Tenn., in Memphis metro area, has strict covenants that have prevented new outdoor antennas from being built, barring installation of first- generation MMDS equipment. In that area, he said WorldCom was installing 2G, non-line-of-sight system with IP Wireless that would “not be restricted by the covenants that are there or have sales cycles delayed by having to get landlord consent.” System is to roll out in that area in Aug., he said. --

Govt. agency market was “developing the market right before Winstar went into bankruptcy,” Winstar CEO Brian Finkelstein said, referring to IDT’s move to buy out fixed wireless provider that’s in Chapter 11. “We have been put on hold to a certain extent. Hopefully we have numerous months left in terms of being able to pursue that business,” he said. Winstar holds large number of metropolitan area acquisition contracts awarded by General Services Administration to provide local voice and data service to federal agencies in different markets. “The GSA type of business is a business we will be going very, very aggressively after, as well as state and local governments,” he said. Legislation that has made it through Senate but has been blocked in House would require federal buildings to have backup communications system in light of post-Sept. 11 concerns over redundant networks. “We are working on that as well,” he said.

Despite overall allocation of 3 GHz of spectrum just for wireless data, including 18 GHz, 38 GHz and 24 GHz bands, FCC Office of Plans & Policy Chief Robert Pepper told WCA show that company presentations outlining poor economic conditions pointed to fact that “we have not seen much success in the market.” He said: “We are trying to figure out why that is. Is it just too soon? Is it just going to take longer?” While troubled capital markets are issue today, Pepper said that at one point Winstar’s market capitalization was in range of $5 billion. “Capital was available several years ago -- enormous amounts of investment -- and yet it still didn’t work,” Pepper said. “And we're trying to understand why and what needs to be done. It may not have anything to do with the FCC,” he said, but could be issues related to technology development or other areas. In contrast, Wi-Fi is “exploding,” with 1.5 million Wi-Fi cards being sold per month, Pepper said. One question that remains is whether enough additional spectrum can be found for unlicensed services that “drives Wi-Fi to its next level of penetration,” he said. Pepper said he remained optimistic that fixed wireless solutions could provide “holy grail” of 3rd broadband platform into home competing with DSL and cable modems. “We need to understand if there is anything we can do to spur that along or maybe it’s just business and technology and capital markets,” he said.