<While that may be true, Qualcomm Inc., the CDMA developer, claims
intermediate steps can give the CDMA networks higher data rates with less
bandwidth.
And Hastings Janofsky & Walker's Northrup suggested that operators like SBC
and Bellsouth, which have no wireless spectrum in New York city, are likely
to fill out their 2G footprint through the auctions instead of putting it to use for
3G needs.
"Both CDMA and TDMA operators are going to run out of spectrum for 3G in
the U.S.," said Bill Davidson, corporate vice president of Aether Systems Inc,
Owings Mills, Maryland, a wireless applications service provider.
Aether resells carrier network minutes to its customers and designs software
to allow them to connect into the various standards and technologies.
AT&T's Grams said the 1900 MHz spectrum was desirable, but there are
undefined costs associated with clearing the broadcasters off 700 MHz.
The spectrum at 1900 MHz "fits with the spectrum we already own. It makes
creation of devices easier. It is encumbered by legal claims but these could
get cleared up."
Qualcomm Inc., on the other hand, finds the 700 MHz part of the spectrum
attractive, according to Kevin Kelly, Qualcomm senior vice president for
external affairs. Qualcomm is the developer of CDMA and would support its
operator customers who would be bidding in the auctions.> US forced to make U-turn on 3G spectrum allocation
Theresa Foley
23 October 2000
The United States will hold auctions of spectrum for third generation (3G) wireless
services in September 2002, in a reversal of the U.S. government's position at the
World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC) in May. Back then the U.S.
government was at odds with most of the rest of the world over how to provide more
global spectrum for high speed wireless services.
"This initiative is light years beyond the U.S. position six months before the (WRC),"
said Leslie Taylor, president of consulting firm Leslie Taylor Associates in Bethesda,
Maryland. "That position was, 'why is more spectrum needed for mobile
communications?'"
The U.S. participated in the International Telecommunication Union's WRC 2000
meeting in Istanbul that identified spectrum for 3G systems, but U.S. negotiators
returned home with no commitment or plan to put any of the spectrum into use in the
U.S. as the spectrum for the most part is already allocated to other users. Prior to
the WRC, the U.S. position had been that it did not want any spectrum allocations
for 3G, settling instead for the WRC decision to identify new 3G spectrum but to
leave the decision up to each country whether to actually allocate it.
Analysts expect a big scramble in the U.S. to sort out the upcoming auctions.
There will be two this year at 700 megahertz and 1900 MHz then the auction for the
new 3G bands in 2002. The bidders have to develop plans for use of the new
spectrum to expand voice cellular, implement data and messaging and other new
services. They also have to factor in the cost of moving incumbent spectrum users
out of the newly licensed spectrum, especially broadcasters who are in the 700 MHz
region.
But that will leave U.S. wireless operators still far short of spectrum for 3G services.
"The rest of the world is at 1.9 (MHz) and 2.1 (MHz), and we're not," said Herschel
Shosteck, director of Herschel Shosteck Associates Ltd., of Wheaton, Maryland.
"The solution will still leave America as the odd person out in terms of frequencies
available and how we're approaching 3G," he said.
Taylor said U.S. Ambassador Gale Schoettler, who headed the U.S.delegation in
Istanbul, helped to shift the U.S. position after hearing from industry that it was a
"nonstarter." Now, the White House has recognized how critical it is for the U.S. to
fully compete in 3G wireless.
"They realize that the current U.S. dominance in the Internet will continue only if
access technologies keep up with the rest of the world. The commitment to make
available additional spectrum for 3G is very positive," Taylor said. "Now we will see a
big struggle, on the part of (the Department of Defence) and the private operators in
the bands available for 3G, to hang on to the spectrum they have."
A new auction also will increase the cost of 3G networks and services in the U.S.
Without having to pay the high auction fees that their counterparts in Germany and
the U.K. face, wireless operators in the U.S. would have much lower buildout costs
for 3G networks than their European counterparts.
But the scarcity of spectrum to be shared among the multiple networks and
standards used in the U.S. leaves operators with insufficient capacity to deploy 3G
networks and services.
Prior to the White House announcement, wireless experts were raising the alarm that
lack of a spectrum plan or policy for 3G services would result in a 3G disaster for the
U.S.
"There won't be enough spectrum to meet needs," said Carl Northrup, a lawyer with
Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker in Washington DC, who represents NTT, Verizon
and the Personal Communications Industry Association. "As we move from 2G to
3G, things may get worse before they get better... Operators will be forced to offer
new services by using already overtaxed spectrum."
So far, U.S. operators have not had to face the huge auction fees for licensing that
European operators have been set.
Operators like AT&T Wireless claimed that they did not need new spectrum to
deploy 3G, and that costly European-style auctions would only harm new services.
AT&T Wireless officials estimate that U.S. operators would spend $6-$10 for every
potential customer served in its footprint, compared to $95-125 per potential
customer that operators in countries in Europe are paying for spectrum costs.
That does not include the money needed for infrastructure and to develop the service.
"AT&T has sufficient spectrum for services and customers for the next few years,"
said Jim Grams, vice president of technology development at AT&T Wireless
Services Group, of Redmond, Washington. "But we have to look beyond that."
Consolidation among cellular service providers in the U.S. means that the big
companies are aggregating larger chunks of bandwidth to come up with bands that
are used for national service. But the U.S. operators still have nothing to compare to
the 15-25 MHz chunks of bandwidth that U.K. and German operators have acquired
in their 3G auctions, analysts said.
"Eventually everybody in the U.S. serving the top 100 markets will build 3G
systems," said Chris Pearson, executive vice president of the Universal Wireless
Communications Consortium, of Bellevue, Washington. "The spectrum today is not
enough."
In the near term, two upcoming auctions of spectrum for unspecified services are of
intense interest to current U.S. wireless operators and other companies, like Internet
operators, who may want to launch a wireless service. However, in neither auction is
the spectrum freely and clearly available. An auction scheduled for late March, 2001,
will put spectrum at 700 megahertz up for bid, but that spectrum is currently
occupied by broadcasters who are not likely to move out as required in 2006.
Another auction, set for December, will sell off spectrum at 1900 MHz.
This too is overshadowed by legal problems stemming from claims by the previous
holder of the spectrum. But the 1900 MHz spectrum would be immediately usable
and easier to occupy, and AT&T Wireless should be among the bidders.
Multiplexing access/b>
UWCC's Pearson said time division multiplexing access (TDMA) operators
AT&T, SBC and Bell South have enough spectrum to deploy 3G now, because
their enhanced data for global evolution (EDGE) technology requires only 2.4
MHz to deploy. But CDMA operators, who face a requirement for 5 MHz to go
to the full broadband CDMA solution, are in greater need of the additional
spectrum.
While that may be true, Qualcomm Inc., the CDMA developer, claims
intermediate steps can give the CDMA networks higher data rates with less
bandwidth.
And Hastings Janofsky & Walker's Northrup suggested that operators like SBC
and Bellsouth, which have no wireless spectrum in New York city, are likely
to fill out their 2G footprint through the auctions instead of putting it to use for
3G needs.
"Both CDMA and TDMA operators are going to run out of spectrum for 3G in
the U.S.," said Bill Davidson, corporate vice president of Aether Systems Inc,
Owings Mills, Maryland, a wireless applications service provider.
Aether resells carrier network minutes to its customers and designs software
to allow them to connect into the various standards and technologies.
AT&T's Grams said the 1900 MHz spectrum was desirable, but there are
undefined costs associated with clearing the broadcasters off 700 MHz.
The spectrum at 1900 MHz "fits with the spectrum we already own. It makes
creation of devices easier. It is encumbered by legal claims but these could
get cleared up."
Qualcomm Inc., on the other hand, finds the 700 MHz part of the spectrum
attractive, according to Kevin Kelly, Qualcomm senior vice president for
external affairs. Qualcomm is the developer of CDMA and would support its
operator customers who would be bidding in the auctions. |
