Kill Off WSI Wireless Broadband Plan, Says Spectrum Managers Group
The FCC was asked to reject a request to allow fixed service licensees to transmit to multiple points at the same time using small antennas. The National Spectrum Managers Association made the request after more than two years of debate on a petition by Wireless Strategies Inc. WSI says point-to-point spectrum could be used to connect broadband customers to networks cheaply and efficiently in places otherwise difficult to serve. But that would be a new use for spectrum long used to move data between points, such as through wireless backhaul.
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The WSI proposal has faced broad opposition. The association called it time for the FCC to pull the plug. “WSI has instituted numerous, repetitive ex parte actions with the Commission, consuming valuable staff resources,” the group said. “In necessary response, band users have spent considerable time and effort analyzing the proposal, attempting to obtain additional information and ultimately opposing the vague and incomplete proposal because many vital questions remain unanswered. NSMA respectfully submits that it is time for the Commission to bring this intensive and time-consuming dialogue to a close by terminating this proceeding.”
“It is a complicated issue,” said an industry opponent of the WSI petition. “What complicates it even further is it is basically a rulemaking change being made through the waiver process.” WSI has updated its proposal several times since its original February filing, the opponent said. “As far as the industry is concerned, it’s not even clear exactly what WSI is proposing.”
“Our interpretation of the rules” is that the technology “is fully compliant” with the FCC’s requirements, said WSI Chairman Michael Mulcay in an interview Friday. He said it would “lower the cost of microwave access by up to 90 percent and will increase the effective use of spectrum over 50 times.” Mulcay said fixed wireless operators want to continue using the same equipment they've used for many years. “All the pushback from the fixed wireless guys said, ‘Oh my God, all my old point-to-point [equipment]. We might have to introduce new stuff that might be more efficient and we're very happy making a profit from our old stuff.'”
The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition said in a recent ex parte that wireless carriers, the satellite industry, broadcasters and equipment makers have expressed qualms. WSI has made many ex parte presentations at the FCC and numerous filings explaining its technology, the coalition said. “None of these filings have answered any of the specific and very valid interference and coordination questions and concerns that were raised by FWCC.”