CTIA Denounces M2Z Proposal, Demands Rejection
The FCC should reject M2Z’s proposal to build a 20 MHz national broadband network in the 2155-2175 MHz spectrum band, CTIA said Fri. The spectrum should be auctioned, not given to one company, it said. But M2Z got potentially significant support from the Media Access Project. And M2Z gave the FCC a study finding economic benefits to consumers of as much as $25 billion in 2007 dollars should it build its network.
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“M2Z’s plan, if implemented, would create a number of legal and public policy problems without effectively serving the public interest,” CTIA said: “M2Z is a profit-driven entity that the Commission should not subsidize with free spectrum. M2Z highlights in its filings and its advocacy material its significant financial resources. Like the broadband licensees that CTIA represents, M2Z should have no right to sidestep the competitive bidding process in order to compete in the broadband marketplace.”
CTIA said it spoke on behalf of PCS and AWS licensees who would “directly compete in the exact same geographic and product space with M2Z, and that would undoubtedly be harmed” if the Commission awarded the spectrum to M2Z.
But M2Z keeps gaining support. MAP said it generally wants the 2155-2175 MHz band offered for unlicensed use. “However, we are persuaded by M2Z’s submission that its exclusive licensed approach is more likely to be workable,” MAP said, calling M2Z’s proposal for the spectrum “vastly superior” to an auction. On its own merits, the M2Z proposal is highly attractive, MAP said. “M2Z is straightforward and candid about the concessions it seeks and the compensation it is willing to provide,” MAP said: “We especially applaud M2Z’s highly transparent approach with respect to the technology it intends to deploy, and M2Z’s willingness to make its network accessible to any device of any manufacture.” MAP said has a few reservations, including whether the proposed 384 kbps speed of the free service is adequate, it said.
Tenn. regulator Ron Jones told the FCC in a filing that the M2Z application “presents the Commission with a unique opportunity to evaluate the public interest benefits of a business plan that will in part provision broadband service with asymmetric engineered data rates of at least 384 kbps down and 128 kbps up free of recurring airtime and service charges to 95% of the population within ten years of the license grant and commencement of operations.” The issue of public interest will dominate FCC consideration, Jones said: “M2Z’s dual commitment to, one, provide broadband service free of recurring airtime and service charges and, two, to provide such service to 95% of the population must be afforded substantial weight in the public interest analysis.”
The economic study was by Simon Wilkie, a former FCC chief economist. “Both the free and paid subscription services will increase the level of broadband competition in the country, providing significant benefits to U.S. consumers,” the report said. Wilkie said he focused on: (1) Benefits to consumers of lower broadband prices. (2) Benefits from more broadband access among those once unable to get the service or avoiding a new broadband USF tax. (3) Royalty payments for spectrum leased by M2Z.