Subject: [NEXTEL-1] FCC Frees Up More Frequencies

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 23:39:02 -0400

FCC Frees Up More Frequencies
By Yuki Noguchi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 17, 2003; Page E05

The Federal Communications
Commission set rules yesterday that
will permit a large number of radio
frequencies to come to market, in
the hopes that it will foster greater
use of wireless technology for
high-speed data services.

The FCC made two decisions, one
affecting airwaves in a range often
used by cell-phone carriers, and
one in a very-high-frequency range
that has not previously been used.

In the first proceeding, involving a
frequency range used by wireless
companies, the FCC said it will free
a significant range of frequencies
that had been reserved for the
government so they can be used by
cell-phone and other private
wireless companies. That spectrum
is now used by the federal
government and the Defense
Department for wireless
communications and
precision-guided missiles.

The FCC will conduct an auction of
the spectrum. In the past, such
auctions have raised billions of
dollars for the federal government.
Analysts expect the auction to take place late next year or in 2005, although
current government users will not be required to vacate the frequencies until
2008.

Analysts say spectrum in this frequency range is well suited for cellular phone
services. The FCC's action will increase the amount of spectrum to be used by most
cell-phone companies by more than 50 percent, said Julius P. Knapp, deputy chief
of the FCC's office of engineering and technology.
"This is of major significance," Knapp said. "It can have great impact on the
capacity of systems and the kinds of services [companies] can provide."

The cell-phone industry praised the development but said it is unclear how the
extra spectrum might be used.

"It opens new possibilities. Spectrum is a very important part of our business,"
especially for developing very-high-speed data services, said Charla Rath,
director of spectrum and public policy for Verizon Wireless. "But what it will be
used for or how it will be used is an unknown," because it is not clear where the
demand will be, she said.

The FCC is allowing a great deal of flexibility on how the new spectrum can be
used, said Rebecca Arbogast, an analyst with Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc. "It's not
clear how much interest there is in [high-speed-wireless] data," but this
frequency could potentially be used in several ways, she said.
In a separate proceeding, the FCC approved the commercial use of airwaves in very
high frequencies -- in the 70-, 80- and 90-gigahertz range -- which are now
largely unused, except by a few classified military applications.

Companies such as Cisco Systems Inc. and Loea Communications Corp. are developing
services that could make use of those airwaves for very-high-speed data
transmission, Knapp said. "This is a largely untapped area of spectrum," and
opening it up to new users will foster exploration of its possibilities, he said.
"We're really talking about the new frontier of spectrum, and we have very few
pioneers."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38289-2003Oct16.html

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