The proposed Verizon band plan for advanced wireless services (AW...

at an ex parte meeting. Verizon had urged the FCC to revise the band plan, adopted by the Commission in Oct. 2003, by increasing the number of blocks to 6 from 5, shifting the MSA/RSA license location and eliminating a 30 MHz license (CD June 1 p5). T-Mobile defended the plan it submitted jointly with the Rural Telecom Group (RTG) earlier this year (CD March 15 p8), saying its plan better “enables bidders to acquire spectrum tailored to meet their business needs.” T-Mobile/RTG would divide the 30 MHz E Block into 3 constituent parts to create a 6th AWS license block, leaving the A, B and C blocks unchanged. That proposal was supported by Alcatel, Ericsson, NTCA, SunCom Wireless and U.S. Cellular. Cingular supported the parts of the proposal converting the D Block into a 20 MHz license by taking 10 MHz of spectrum from the E Block and retaining the RSA/MSA designation, as T-Mobile and RTG proposed. But it objected to using the rest of the original E Block to create two 10 MHz (2x5 MHz) licenses, E and F, also described in the proposal. Meanwhile, OPASTCO joined the T-Mobile/RTG plan’s supporters Thurs. “Creating an opportunity for 6 separate bidders to obtain a license rather than 5 and allowing one of those licenses to cover 20 MHz of spectrum devoted to the smaller RSA/MSA geographic areas would make licenses more affordable, would more closely approximate the areas that small carriers are interested in serving, and would ultimately lead to more rural carrier participation in auctions,” it said in an ex parte. The T-Mobile/RTG proposal would also promote efficiency because “smaller license territories would ensure that licensees are not forced to acquire more spectrum than they actually need,” it said.