The continued development of digital terrestrial DT TV (DTT) got a boost when the World Radiocommunication Conference-15 opted not to make any changes -- except for a few exceptions in Regions 2 and 3 -- to the 470-695/698 MHz band, the World Broadcasting Unions (WBU) said in a statement Friday. That no change gives European broadcasters "the required certainty" needed to invest in the 700 MHz band repacking the lower UHF band for existing TV services, WBU said. It also helps in the transition to such technologies as DVB-T2 and the introduction of more HD programming and services such as interactive hybrid broadcast broadband TV, it said. The status quo for the spectrum means broadcasters in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America and the Middle East can invest in DTT and finish the digital switchover, WBU said. And keeping the globally harmonized primary allocation for broadcasting in North America means broadcasters there can focus on the 2016 incentive auction and on DTT, WBU said.
HP asked the FCC to extend the June 2 deadline for when all U-NII-3 equipment imported to or marketed in the U.S. must be compliant with rules on power levels and emission limits for the 5.725-5.85 GHz U-NII-3 band. HP said it supports arguments by Intel last month that the FCC shouldn't require compliance with the rules until six months after it acts on petitions for reconsideration on out-of-band emission limits in the band. “HP Inc. must have time to receive and test compliant updated or new wireless devices and integrate them into production,” the company said in a filing Thursday in docket 13-49. “HP Inc. is concerned there will not be enough time between the publication of the new rules and the June 2nd 2016 date to obtain, test and implement the compliant wireless devices into our products without impacting delivery to consumers and businesses.” Intel asked for a delay in a Nov. 6 filing. “The continuing uncertainty regarding the OOBE [out-of-band emission] limits that will apply to the U-NII-3 band in just 8 months is proving highly problematic to Intel given the high volume of IEEE 802.11 products it produces each month and the fact that Intel’s customer base for that product largely consists of OEMs who incorporate Intel product into their own devices,” Intel said.
Global wireless standards body 3GPP approved band 66, which includes Dish Network’s AWS-4 downlink spectrum, plus AWS-1 and paired AWS-3 spectrum, Dish said Thursday in a news release. “Band 66 is a win for the public who will be able to take advantage of the innovations and increased data throughput that a single AWS band class will deliver,” said Tom Cullen, Dish executive vice president-corporate development.
LTE represents 51 percent of mobile connections in North America, or 219 million, 4G Americas said in a news release Thursday. That's 69 million new LTE customers since September 2014, and the expectation is LTE connections in North America will hit 392 million by 2021, it said. Latin America had LTE growth of close to 350 percent over the past 12 months, with LTE and high-speed packet access mobile broadband connections combined being close to half of all mobile connections in the region, 4G Americas said. The trade group said LTE penetration for North America is at 61 percent, with the next highest global market Western Europe at 27 percent. There are 68 commercial LTE networks in the U.S and Canada, and 435 worldwide, 4G Americas said. Globally, there were 908 million LTE connections as of the end of Q3, up 152 million in one quarter.
Public Knowledge's FCC push on Communications Act Section 333 rules and Part 15 devices "is nothing more than a ploy designed to limit the competitive roll-out of LTE-U products under the guise of protecting the Wi-Fi/unlicensed commons," MediaFreedom said in comments posted Wednesday in docket 15-105. Beyond "help[ing] its corporate supporters compete in the marketplace," MediaFreedom said, PK also is "recklessly invit[ing] the agency's novel and potentially deleterious participation in the Part 15 device development process -- a process that has thrived precisely because the Commission has not been actively involved in it. Section 333 cannot presently be reconciled with Part 15 permission-less innovation." Public Knowledge last month submitted comments asking the agency to make clear unlicensed and licensed spectrum are on equal footing (see 1511200036). The effect of that would be compatibility and coexistence requirements for Part 15 devices that give them interference protections "that well exceeds their Part 15 status," especially since the FCC hasn't ever required interference-free operation between Part 15 devices, MediaFreedom said. Public Knowledge didn't comment Thursday. When asked about MediaFreedom's own financial funding, Director Mike Wendy emailed that the nonprofit has taken direct corporate support in the past from the cable and telecom industries, but in the past two tax cycles it hasn't received direct corporate support from the cable, telecom, or information and communications technology industries. "I presently operate on two small, private grants. The rest comes out of my pocket," he said.
The FCC should address the likely problems of broadcasters sharing TV white spaces (TVWS) with unlicensed devices, said the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) in a letter and white paper posted online in docket 12-268 Monday. The white paper urges the FCC to adopt a joint solution proposed by broadcasters and unlicensed device manufacturers based on an accurate database of device locations to prevent interference. “Broadcasters understand the need to use spectrum effectively and efficiently, have a long history of sharing with other services and do not oppose sharing with unlicensed services provided adequate safeguards are in place,” said NABA. “To date, that is not the case with TVWS.”
The number of nations at the World Radiocommunication Conference supporting keeping the current UHF spectrum allocation for broadcast TV is growing rapidly, from 34 at the start of WRC-15 (see 1511040040) to about 125 now, North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) said in a news release. "While wireless interests argue that adding a primary mobile allocation in the band would result in 'harmonization,' the truth is that it would result in confusion, disruption, and fragmentation," NABA said Monday. It said the two services are "incompatible, with massive separation distances required to avoid interference between them."
The FCC's best route to LTE-U/Wi-Fi coexistence is by watching and encouraging industry-led progress toward that goal, the Wi-Fi Alliance said in an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 15-105. The group, which earlier this month put out its own suggested guidelines on how the two can coexist in the same spectrum (see 1511040059), has said the agency should monitor that coexistence development and step in on coexistence issues only if necessary. "I hope we have stepped in on it," FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said Thursday after the agency's November meeting. "I've said to [LTE-U and Wi-Fi industry representatives], 'Folks, you've got to come together and resolve this in a broad-based standard.' It appears the House subcommittee has done the same. This is the way things ought to be taken care of. There are two things that characterize unlicensed spectrum. One, it's the innovation band; it's where all kinds of new innovations happen. And you want to make sure that in fact continues. The second is, it's the 'everybody respects everybody else' band. And we want to make sure both of those are happening. And the way that can be done is by a broad-based development of commonly agreed-to standards that meets both of those criteria." LTE-U backer Verizon "agrees," Patrick Welsh, assistant vice president-regulatory affairs, told us Friday in an email. "We are actively working with the Wi-Fi Alliance to develop coexistence guidelines for LTE-U." And in a statement, fellow LTE-U advocate Qualcomm said "proponents of LTE-U, including the members of the LTE-U Forum -- whose members also are members of the Wi-Fi Alliance -- are pleased to continue our ongoing collaboration with the industry through our work with the Wi-Fi Alliance initiative to develop an agreed-upon coexistence test regimen that will ensure that LTE-U and Wi-Fi successfully co-exist in the unlicensed spectrum, where the watchword is permission-less innovation, as Chairman Wheeler has correctly recognized.” The Wi-Fi Alliance ex parte recapped meetings between alliance CEO Edgar Figueroa and front-line staff of Wheeler and of Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel, plus with Office of Engineering and Technology representatives. The Wi-Fi Alliance said it plans a Coexistence Test Workshop for the week of Feb. 8. The group's members include Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Comcast, Intel, LG, Microsoft, Sony and T-Mobile, its website said.
The FCC released instructions for filing the short-form application for TV stations to participate in the reverse auction, and an online tutorial on the pre-auction process, in a public notice Thursday. To sign up for the reverse auction, applicants use their FCC registration numbers and the commission's auctions system. The application filing window begins at noon EST Dec. 8, and runs through Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. Although stations can back out of the auction after that window closes, they can't participate unless they file an application during that window. The applications asks for information about authorized bidders, the manner in which the station is relinquishing its spectrum, and for channel sharing information, the PN said. The process and options of the form are also explained in the online pre-auction tutorial, which takes the form of a narrated slide show illustrating and explaining the information required in the buildup to the March 29 auction start. “The FCC will allow you to make as many changes as you’d like to an application during the filing window, and will not consider information in your application until you click the CERTIFY and SUBMIT button,” said Pillsbury Winthrop attorney Jessica Nyman in a blog post. “You can even withdraw a previously submitted application up until the close of the filing window. So while you should strive to get it right the first time, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
FCC rules for unlicensed use of the TV band are to be published in Monday's Federal Register. The rules, which govern unlicensed devices and wireless mics operating in the bands assigned to TV stations, take effect Dec. 23. Some changes need Office of Management and Budget OK, and when that happens the commission will publish another FR document, it said.