FCC to auction three 3G bands from June 06

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

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From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Reply-To: <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 12:44:40 -0800
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] FCC to auction three 3G bands from June 06

Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/30/fcc_3g_auctions/

FCC to auction three 3G bands from June 06
By Tony Smith (tony.smith at theregister.co.uk)
Published Thursday 30th December 2004 18:49 GMT

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will auction off the
States' 1710-1755MHz and 2110-2155MHz spectrum bands to prospective 3G
telephony providers by June 2006 at the earliest.

The FCC will also auction off the 1432-1435MHz band soon afterward, the
organisation said, possibly as early as July or August 2006.

The June 2006 timetable emerged as the FCC filed its intention to open
the two bands to the highest bidders with the US Department of
Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration
(NTIA).

The NTIA notification must come at least 18 months before the auction
process begins, according to the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act,
which mandates that timeframe when one-time government-only spectrum is
opened up to commercial usage, a process the Act was created to drive.
In return, the NTIA has to tell the FCC how much the process of
transferring federal users from the 1710-1755MHz band to another part
of the spectrum is going to cost bidders.

The FCC admitted that a number of requests have been made that the
1710-1755MHz and 2110-2155MHz bands not be transferred to commercial
usage. However, the regulator said it expects to resolve these "in the
very near future".

The auctions themselves will provide successful bidders with licences
to provide "advanced wireless services" - the FCC's formal language for
3G. The FCC said it hopes the transition will ensure US consumers get
access to "competitive, high quality communications services".

"For all of us who believe in the future of wireless broadband, it is
truly a banner day," FCC chairman Michael 'Son of Colin' Powell in his
letter to the NTIA.

Archives at: <http://Wireless.Com/Dewayne-Net>
Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>


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