NTCA and Alcatel joined in supporting a proposal by T-Mobile and ...

NTCA agreed with proponents that reconfiguring the 30 MHz E Block AWS license block to create a 6th AWS license block would promote competition in all areas, including rural and underserved zones. “Auction rules that create large geographic licensing territories make it nearly impossible for rural carriers to gain access to affordable licenses,” NTCA said: “Licensing some of the AWS spectrum according to the smaller RSA/MSA geographic areas ensures licensees are not forced to acquire more spectrum than they need and will encourage more small and rural carrier participating in the auction.” Alcatel agreed, saying the proposed band plan would benefit not only smaller carriers but also larger ones, by giving them “the ability to aggregate licenses at auction or in the secondary market if their business plans or customer demands justify the usage.” The T-Mobile/RTG proposal has support from U.S. Cellular, Ericsson, Nokia and SunCom Wireless. Cingular has said it supports only the parts of the proposal that would convert the D Block into a 20 MHz license by taking 10 MHz of spectrum from the E Block, and retain the RCA/MSA designation. FCC Chmn. Martin’s aide, Sam Feder, told the FCBA Fri. he expects to get a draft order from the Wireless Bureau this week addressing petitions for reconsideration of the AWS band plan.