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700 MHz FCC Hearing
I caught the 31 July 2007 FCC hearing on 700 MHz live via video streaming. Here is what I thought I heard.
The hearing opened up with comments from public safety officials (county sheriff and a fire chief) who railed on the need for a nationwide wireless open network based on part of the 700 MHz spectrum that will be opened up by the FCC. They were well received. The Big Idea being discussed is that that portion of the band would be open to both commercial and first responders use with first responders getting priority on the network when the time came. This is good stuff as so much of our spectrum lies unused by a patchwork of military and government allocated and assigned bands. I was asking myself "But what about 4.9 GHz?! What more do these guys want?" but thought later of areas where 4.9 GHz has not been built out by first responders. The dual-use provision could be a groundbreaker for opening up other spectrum for commercial use (3.5 GHz for example, if the Air Force needs to do some close air support in Nashville, then they would have priority on the channel, the rest of the time the spectrum could be contributing to the gross domestic product.).
"Use it or lose it"-Watch for strong build out requirements. Reps from the Wireless Bureau railed against incumbent wireline carriers buying spectrum and sitting on it to block any competition from wireless carriers.
"Carter Phone"- that is, open devices for open networks. The reference is to Mr. Carter, who spent years in court trying to get Ma Bell to allow people to use his "Hush-a-phone" which was only a modified cone to go over a handset. He prevailed in the end and the age of fax and answer machines and dial-up modems became possible. Before the Carter Phone decision, NOTHING could be attached to a phone line. Shouldn't the same be true for a wireless network, ie open networks, open devices?
I'm waiting for a transcript of the meeting not to mention more decisions on the auction.
Stay tuned…..
Frank Ohrtman
