AWS Testing

AWS Interference Testing Underway

Posted by Sam Churchill on September 3rd, 2008

The FCC will conduct tests this week to see if the proposed 2150 MHz service interferes with T-Mobile’s ajoining AWS spectrum, notes Information Week.

The FCC wants to combine the 2155-2175 MHz band with the 2175-2180 MHz band to create a 25-MHz block of spectrum for a single nationwide license. This would then be auctioned off with the stipulation that the winner would have to use part of the spectrum to provide free wireless broadband.

Carriers don’t like the prospect of “free” broadband and hope to stop it. T-Mobile has argued that time division duplex (TDD) technology would be disruptive if deployed in the United States adjacent to its frequency division duplex (FDD) operations in AWS-1 due to mobile-to-mobile interference.

The AWS auction in the United States was held in 2006.

Top 10 Highest AWS Bidders
Bidders	Net total of high bids
1. T-Mobile	$4.2 billion
2. Verizon Wireless	$2.8 billion
3. SpectrumCo	$2.4 billion
4. MetroPCS	$1.4 billion
5. Cingular	$1.3 billion
6. Cricket	$710 million
7. Denali Spectrum	$365 million
8. Barat Wireless	$127 million
9. AWS Wireless	$116 million
10. Atlantic Wireless	$81 million
Click here to find out who is backing these bidders.

T-Mobile spent more than $4 billion in 2006, more than anyone else, to acquire AWS spectrum. It is currently using the AWS band to roll out its UTMS/HSDPA service in a variety of cities.

“The proposal upends two decades of spectrum policy in favor of a specially tailored auction designed to advance the particular business model of a single company. Moreover, this business plan - including free broadband - has a track record of failure,” CTIA wrote in a letter of complaint earlier this year.

Testing will be conducted on September 3 - 5, 2008 at Boeing Technology Services’ metrology lab near Seattle, and paid for by T-Mobile.

M2Z plans to bid on the spectrum and have its services built into laptops, home routers and other portable devices. Milo Medin, M2Z’s chairman and co-founder says the company is “in discussions” with a number of major device makers and would likely use the Mobile WiMAX standard.

The free service, if it launches, would run at 768 kilobits a second. Premium services at higher speeds — 3 to 6 megabits initially — would likely start around $20 a month. Like Wi-Fi, M2Z’s broadband services will be “portable” — but not fully mobile. You could use M2Z services in any fixed location but not in a fast-moving car.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin says he supports the notion of using free broadband and plans to attach a condition to the AWS-3 spectrum that would require the winner to offer free broadband to 95% of the USA within 10 years. Only 25% of network capacity would have to be reserved for this purpose; the rest could be used for premium, paid services.

Television broadcasters are given our airwaves. Free. Like a Communist State.

The unlicensed Wi-Fi band also generates no revenue for The Treasury. But now Intel, the largest proponent of universal broadband, also has some skin in the game. That could make a strong consumer-oriented lobby for truly “free” broadband access less likely.