US rural carriers raise issue of 700MHz roaming again
The US’ rural operators are certainly creating plenty of work for lawyers at the moment, as they pitch in on key mobile broadband issues such as 700MH
Published: 16 March, 2011
The US’ rural operators are certainly creating plenty of work for lawyers at the moment, as they pitch in on key mobile broadband issues such as 700MHz roaming and net neutrality. The latest action by the Rural Cellular Association (RCA) is to petition the FCC to block AT&T’s $1.9bn purchase of Qualcomm’s 700MHz licenses, which it used for the defunct FLO TV service. However, this apparently obscure issue highlights some important wider issues that could be obstacles to the US national broadband plan – the fragmentation of 700MHz holdings; the dispute over whether that should be addressed with mandatory roaming and interoperability rules; and how smaller rural spectrum holders can remain competitive against the LTE build-outs of Verizon and AT&T in this band.
The RCA’s action is supported by satellite TV operator Dish Network and regional cellco Cellular South, the largest RCA member and a thorn in the side of the two leading telcos. The groups argue that if AT&T controls the 11 licenses in the lower 700MHz block, it will limit wireless competition. "The Commission should deny the applications because entrusting additional beachfront spectrum to AT&T would cause irreparable harm to competition and consumers," the RCA said in its filing. "In a market that is teetering dangerously on the brink of true duopoly, the Commission should not tip the balance further."
The D Block and E Block licenses on sale cover more than 300m people and would give AT&T between 6MHz and 80MHz of sub-1GHz spectrum, valuable for cost effective rural coverage, in some key markets. AT&T plans to use the spectrum for supplementary downlink capacity for its LTE network – a somewhat complex arrangement as the Qualcomm frequencies are separated from AT&T’s other 700MHz holdings and are unpaired.
An outright bar on the transaction is unlikely, but the fallback options cited by Cellular South and its supporters go to the heart of the rising tension between rural operators and the big two. Cellular South is demanding that, if AT&T is allowed to purchase the Qualcomm spectrum, it be mandated to support data roaming with smaller 700MHz holders, and that it be banned from device exclusives, and from "anti-competitive 700MHz equipment design and procurement practices”. These are the three cornerstones of rural carriers’ demands to the FCC, which they say are essential to enable them to remain in business, especially in 700MHz LTE.
They are backed up by another petition from a group of consumer pressure organizations - Free Press, Public Knowledge, Media Access Project, Consumers Union and the New America Foundation - which is asking that the FCC mandate interoperability between different blocks of the 700MHz band; bar AT&T from device exclusives; cut back on early termination fees; offer reasonably priced backhaul to competitors; and phase out AT&T's receipt of money from the Universal Service Fund, which supports rural broadband initiatives.
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