An Ignoble Experiment

2. Rumor: FCC preparing to set aside channel 37, other 600 MHz spectrum for unlicensed use

Sprint (NYSE: S) MVNO Scratch Wireless is developing a version of its Wi-Fi-centric service specifically for cable operators that want to leverage Wi-Fi so they can compete against cellular carriers.

Scratch co-founder and CEO Alan Berrey revealed during a webcast presented jointly with Multichannel News that Scratch is in "active discussions" with cable operators. He said pilots of a tailored "Wi-Fi First" service could begin this summer, followed by actual deployments in the fall.

Berry contends cable operators are getting a "pretty one-sided deal" when cellular data traffic is offloaded onto Wi-Fi, which often is enabled by their fixed broadband networks. Cable MSOs "seem hungry for a solution and a way to compete in the mobile space," added Berry, whose remarks were quoted in a Multichannel News article.

Scratch began offering a direct-to-consumer Wi-Fi-based service earlier this year. Voice and data services are free when a user is on Wi-Fi, and texting is free all of the time, regardless of whether a customer is on Wi-Fi or the Sprint cellular network. As with fellow Sprint MVNOs Republic Wireless and TextNow, Scratch customers who are out of Wi-Fi range roam onto Sprint's network under a pay-as-you-go model.

Scratch's service currently supports only the Motorola Mobility Photon Q handset running a modified version of Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) OS. The smartphone sells for $269.

Scratch estimates its customers are connected to Wi-Fi networks 84 percent of the time, and that is without any formal access deals between Scratch and other wired broadband providers.

Cable operators increasingly see Wi-Fi as their ticket to competing directly against cellular operators, though Wi-Fi's limited hotspot footprint and restricted coverage range means a full nomadic service would likely require a cellular backup, much as Scratch already offers over the Sprint network.

As evidence of cable's growing focus on Wi-Fi, Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) recently confirmed its rollout out of "TWCWiFi-Passpoint," a national Wi-Fi network that includes Hotspot 2.0 technology on most of its public access points as well as upgraded encryption.

Rival cable MSO Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is planning to add Hotspot 2.0 technology to its growing, Xfinity-branded public Wi-Fi network as well, though it has not provided a specific timeline. Comcast, which has bid $45.2 billion to take over Time Warner, also is eyeing the launch of a Wi-Fi-centric wireless service.

In related news, another cable MSO, Charter Communications, announced that as of May 16 it will begin rolling out 802.11ac-enabled routers to its broadband customers. The company said the Netgear-supplied router is capable of delivering more than the maximum 100 Mbps offered by Charter Internet Ultra service.

The Financial Times reported that Comcast and Time Warner, in an effort to win approval for their merger, are in early-stage negotiations to sell up to $20 billion worth of assets to Charter. The proposed deal would involve divesting between 3 million and 5 million subscribers to Charter.

All three MSOs are members of the CableWiFi consortium, along with Bright House Networks and Cox Communications. The companies allow each other's high-speed Internet customers to access more than 200,000 Wi-Fi hotspots.

For more:
- see this Scratch webinar landing page
- see this Multichannel News article
- see this Charter release
- see this Financial Times article (sub. req.)
- see this Verge article

Read more about: Sprint, Alan Berrey
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By Tammy Parker

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3. FirstNet's hunt for a replacement GM may enable a fresh start

The FCC is reportedly prepared to set aside channel 37 as well as other spectrum located throughout the 600 MHz band for unlicensed wireless broadband use.

In a blog post, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler confirmed that he has circulated a draft Report and Order to his fellow commissioners, laying out plans for the 600 MHz broadcast TV spectrum incentive auction. Following their review of the draft rules, the commissioners are expected to officially propose them on May 15, setting the stage for the incentive auctions of broadcast TV spectrum to begin in mid-2015.

"As part of the Incentive Auction process, we will also make available on a nationwide basis spectrum for unlicensed use (think Wi-Fi). With the increased use of Wi-Fi, this spectrum has also become congested. Opening up more spectrum for unlicensed use provides economic value to businesses and consumers alike," Wheeler wrote.

He did not provide specifics of the proposal. However, Re/code reported that channel 37, which is used today for radio astronomy and medical telemetry, would be set aside for unlicensed broadband use. It noted the commission will likely impose restrictions to protect medical telemetry devices.

Re/code also said a "senior FCC official" confirmed that the total amount of spectrum assigned for use by unlicensed devices could range from 12 megahertz to 20 megahertz.

The range is uncertain because, aside from channel 37, the spectrum that would be provided for unlicensed use will be located in guard and duplex bands. The final number of those bands and their geographic availability will depend upon which broadcasters opt to participate in the voluntary reverse auction, in which the FCC will pay broadcasters to give up 600 MHz spectrum.

Because much of the spectrum that might be opened for unlicensed use would sit in vacant spaces between TV and broadband services, it would have to be managed in the same manner as current TV white space (TVWS) spectrum, whose rules require devices to contact an authorized TVWS database and ensure channel availability and other operating parameters so they will not interfere with TV broadcast operations.

The FCC's draft proposal is not likely to sit well with unlicensed advocates such as Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), which have lobbied the commission to open four 6 MHz-wide channels in the 600 MHz band on a nationwide basis.

Last month, Google requested the FCC set aside for unlicensed use any guard band separating broadcast and LTE licensees; any duplex gap separating LTE uplink and downlink operations; reserved wireless microphone channels on a shared basis with wireless microphone users; and channel 37 on a shared basis with medical telemetry and radio astronomy users.

Another of those pushing for the four-channel set-aside, Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Project at the New America Foundation, met on April 14 with David Goldman, legal advisor to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. Calabrese made the visit on behalf of on the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition (PISC).

He wrote in an ex parte filing that the "incentive auction team's reported recommendations, apparently designed solely to maximize auction revenue, represent an unbalanced and misguided approach" and would "kill off" the commission's longstanding goal to facilitate national markets for unlicensed innovation and connectivity in the 600 MHz spectrum.

For more:
- see this FCC blog post
- see this Re/code article
- see this GigaOM article
- see this New America Foundation filing

Read more about: TV White Space
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By Tammy Parker

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4. Shift from WiMAX to TD-LTE gaining momentum, report says

The surprise announcement that Bill D'Agostino, the First Responders Network Authority's general manager, has resigned, could provide a fresh start for the authority, which is still struggling to satisfy critics in the public-safety community.

D'Agostino

D'Agostino resigned "for personal and family reasons," according to FirstNet. His hiring was announced almost one year ago, on April 23, 2013.

FirstNet has launched the search for a new GM. The authority, which is charged with building the 700 MHz LTE-based nationwide public-safety broadband network, has leased office space in Reston, Va., for its corporate headquarters, and the new GM, once he or she is chosen, will be located there.

D'Agostino generated praise for his performance as GM. But his past positions with Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) and other mobile operators raised concerns among some in the public-safety community who felt FirstNet was already too closely tied to cellular carriers.

In fact, D'Agostino's introduction as GM occurred at the same meeting where board member Paul Fitzgerald declared that FirstNet was permeated by perceived conflicts of interests and a lack of transparency. An investigation into Fitzgerald's claims is reportedly being conducted by the Commerce Department's Office of the Inspector General, but OIG has a policy of neither confirming nor denying ongoing investigations.

"The perception of FirstNet was all about the influential carrier relationships, which spooked almost everyone in the Public Safety community," wrote blogger Michael Myers, an expert on public-private partnerships, on his Advancing Telecom website.

He suggested that D'Agostino's departure might help change that perception, particularly since FirstNet's acting GM, TJ Kennedy, has an extensive public-safety background. Prior to joining FirstNet, Kennedy was director of public safety and security for Raytheon.

Wireless industry consultant Andrew Seybold had been a FirstNet contractor but was recently let go because, he said, the Department of Commerce and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which oversee FirstNet, initiated a new process for choosing and compensating contractors.

Upon hearing of D'Agostino's departure, Seybold cryptically tweeted: "The NTIA Strikes (sic) again!"

Seybold also recently posted a column on his eponymously named website, in which he noted that county and regional communications directors, planners and engineers are increasingly frustrated with the dearth of information from FirstNet regarding the network design it has in mind.

That is because public-safety entities would like to implement "FirstNet-ready" features in any new land mobile radio (LMR) systems they build out, setting the stage for future partnerships with FirstNet. Information being sought includes FirstNet's requirements for backhaul, emergency power, antenna space on towers and space within radio shelters, Seybold said.

"Even if FirstNet decided to make use of a commercial wireless operator (or multiple operators) to build out the FirstNet system, having Public Safety sites FirstNet-ready would be of benefit to FirstNet and those who will be charged with building out the system," he wrote.

Meanwhile, Government Technology recently examined FirstNet's financial situation. Though the FirstNet network was estimated by Congress to cost $7 billion to build out, with funding generated by FCC spectrum auctions, outside pundits have put the likely cost at between $10 billion and $16 billion.

According to Government Technology, FirstNet has borrowed some $2 billion from the U.S. Treasury. And as of September 2013, NTIA had distributed about $116 million in grants under the State and Local Implementation Grant Program (SLIGP) to 54 states and territories. The grants are meant to help recipients plan for FirstNet in their geographic areas.

FirstNet officials are expected to start state and territory consultations this July regarding network buildout options, Urgent Communications reported. Following those consultations, there are more than 40 steps that each state and territory will need to complete before a plan for their individual portions of FirstNet's network can be considered by their governors.

For more:
- see this FirstNet release
- see this Advancing Telecom article
- see this AndrewSeybold blog entry
- see this Government Technology article
- see this Urgent Communications article

Read more about: Public Safety, FirstNet, LTE
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By Tammy Parker

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5. Report: Google's Project Loon tests using LTE spectrum in the Nevada desert

A new report from Signals Research indicates that the transition from WiMAX to TD-LTE is occurring much more quickly than originally anticipated.

"For some operators, the full transition will take several years, but the point remains that they are already in the process of deploying LTE TDD. At the other extreme, some operators are literally ripping out their Mobile WiMAX network and switching everything to LTE TDD," said the report.

Signals cited KDDI subsidiary UQ Communications, which has 4.5 million WiMAX subscribers. The Japanese carrier's network uses 2.5 GHz spectrum and covers nearly 99 percent of the Japanese population.

In July 2013, UQ was awarded 20 MHz of TDD spectrum in the 2.6 GHz band, which is adjacent to its existing 30 MHz spectrum holding. Subsequently in October 2013, UQ switched on WiMAX 2.1 technology, which it has branded as WiMAX 2+. The service is compatible with TD-LTE, but UQ is not authorized to offer LTE technology in the 2.5/2.6 GHz bands.

"WiMAX 2+ is technically LTE TDD but for regulatory purposes the operator has to use the term WiMAX 2+," Signals noted.

UQ will deploy nearly 18,000 WiMAX 2+/TD-LTE sites on existing mobile WiMAX sites by year-end to cover 90 percent of Japan's population. Further, UQ expects to cover 95.8 percent of the population with nearly 39,000 WiMAX 2+/TD-LTE cell sites by the end of 2018.

The report also addressed Japan's SoftBank, which has 50 percent more TD-LTE sites (about 46,000) than LTE FDD sites (about 30,000). Sprint (NYSE: S) can potentially use the experience of SoftBank, its majority owner, to leverage the roughly 150 MHz of 2.5 GHz TDD spectrum it is now sitting on after acquiring legacy WiMAX operator Clearwire.

However, Signals said Sprint still needs to acquire lower-band spectrum under 1 GHz for coverage purposes. "It wouldn't get this spectrum by purchasing T-Mobile (NYSE:TMUS) or partnering with Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH)," the report said.

Signals also noted that regulators in numerous countries are preparing to transition "fixed licenses" assigned to WiMAX operators to "mobile licenses."

According to the report, a major problem with this approach is that most traditional WiMAX operators "did not come close to providing ubiquitous coverage and the cell density wasn't adequate to support mobility." Therefore, Greenfield TD-LTE operators that are transitioning from WiMAX should be wary of promising full mobility to customers with TD-LTE smartphones.

"All things being equal, going from a nomadic/semi-fixed wireless service with a desktop CPE to a fully mobile service with handheld devices can require well more than twice as many cell sites to deliver the same level of performance," Signals noted.

For more:
- see this Signals Research report (PDF)

Read more about: Signals Research
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By Tammy Parker

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