T-Mobile wants more time on new AWS auction

by Joe P on July 3, 2008

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When the government returns from the long weekend, the FCC plans to open up the public comment cycle for a new AWS auction. This would allow them to rule by August, and set the auction in motion for later this year or early next year. T-Mobile, however, would like them to push the whole thing back. They want more testing run for interference in the new spectrum, which would run on the 2155-2175 and 2175-2180 MHz bands. The fear is that the new spectrum won’t play well with existing blocks.

“The commission cannot responsibly reach a decision on the proposal advanced … without gathering empirical data concerning the interference risks that have been identified,” T-Mobile USA told the FCC. “TDD proponents have not provided any evidence whatsoever to meet their burden, and adjacent licensees concerned about the TDD proposal have not had adequate time to comprehensively finish their own interference analyses because they had no notice that the commission would shift the burden to them to provide affirmative evidence of interference. Even when it became clear that the commission was leaning toward a TDD proposal, the commission failed to take up T-Mobile’s repeated invitation to participate in joint testing of AWS-1 devices and those devices vulnerability to interference from TDD operations in the AWS-3 band.”

The spectrum, 25 megahertz, would have to offer 25 percent of its capacity for free wireless Internet. Free Internet? And the government approves of this? What gives? Anyway, it would also include an obscene-content filter, which users could opt-out of.

Any delay would likely push the decision to the next administration. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin stands in favor of the move, in opposition to GOP lawmakers and the wireless industry. They argue that such provisions will drive auction proceeds down. Yet a similar group said the same thing about the Canadian AWS auction, and that’s going along better than anyone imagined.

Filed under : T-Mobile