C Block

Verizon, Google spar over open access again

Mon, 12 May 2008 06:59:54 -0400

After Google filed a petition with the FCC, insisting that the regulator put in place stricter terms for Verizon Wireless' C Block 700 MHz open access provisions, Verizon Wireless claimed the petition had "no legal basis." The carrier plans to file its own petition with the FCC soon, but noted that "it's really no surprise that despite not winning spectrum, [Google] continue[s] to try to change the rules and further their own business interests through the regulatory process." The carrier said it knew the rules before it took part in the auction and "of course" they will abide by them, but if it doesn't the carrier points out that "Google or anybody else..." can use "legitimate and expedited ways to address that."-Brian Dolan

For more on Verizon's response:
- read this article from Verizon's policy blog

SPOTLIGHT: Open access could reduce network investment

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 06:59:52 -0400

A study from the Phoenix Center released this week estimates broad application of the "open-platform" requirements mandated by the Federal Communications Commission for the upper 700 MHz C-block spectrum to the entire commercial wireless industry could reduce wireless network investment by $50 billion during the next 10 years. Article

Operators reveal 700 MHz plans: LTE the big winner

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 06:59:58 -0400

The CTIA trade show would have been much more livelier had the winners of the 700 MHz auction been allowed to detail their plans for the spectrum. But the FCC anti-collusion restrictions were lifted April 3 in the afternoon, when the show floor had closed for the year.

Verizon Wireless executives on Friday morning assured investors the company's $9.36 billion investment in 700MHz spectrum will provide a long-term foundation for Verizon's business. Specifically, the company said that this year it will be conducting field trials of LTE. In 2009 it will select vendors, conduct some advanced device trials with a deployment planned for the second half of that year. By 2010 the operator plans to launch commercially and have rapid acceleration of its footprint.

Meanwhile AT&T, which spent $6.6 billion in the 700 MHz auction for B-block licenses, will also deploy LTE. The new B-block spectrum will be combined with AT&T's spectrum it acquired from Aloha Partners last year. Kris Rinne, senior vice president, architecture and planning at AT&T told the audience at last week's FierceMarkets Path to 4G conference, which was co-located with the CTIA show, that the company will likely deploy LTE in the 2010 time frame.

Interestingly, it doesn't appear AT&T has any open access plans for its spectrum and and in fact said the open-access stipulations placed on Verizon's C-block spectrum will give it an advantage in the market.

"With fewer costly and complex regulations, we have the certainty and flexibility needed to move faster in rolling out new mobile technology and more customer choices in devices and applications," said Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T's wireless business in a press release. "We will put our spectrum to work so that customers can do more with their wireless devices, the user experience is superb, and wireless connectivity can be embedded in more devices."

And we were under the impression that open access fosters customer choice in devices and applications.

With the two largest mobile operators now deploying the same 4G technology it should be interesting to see how each positions themselves in the market. For one, open access is a cumbersome thing. For the other, open access will make it the preferred partners for developers.

I also want to share with you some of the tidbits I learned at CTIA last week:

One CDMA vendor I talked to believes UMB, the 4G path for CDMA, is nearly dead. KDDI is reportedly the only operator interested in deploying it but only if some other operators commit as well--slim chance.
NextWave Chairman and CEO Allen Salmasi said the phone has been ringing off the hook at the company's headquarters now that the 700 MHz auction is over. Part of NextWave's strategy is to offer spectrum it owns to companies that want to enter the mobile broadband space using NextWave's end-to-end solution of products and services, which are numerous. Moreover, Salmasi said to expect to see NextWave involved in a major LTE trial later this year.
HSPA technology is reportedly facing capacity problems in Korea as the popularity of video services is hurting voice quality.--Lynnette

P.S. Group Editor-in-Chief Sue Marek will be talking about all the highs and lows from CTIA with Andy Seybold and Linda Barrabee of the Yankee Group on Thursday, April 10 at 2 p.m. EST. Be sure to tune into the lively discussion. Register here.

Google: We never intended to win 700 MHz licenses

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 06:59:56 -0400

Now that the 700 MHz auction winners are revealing their plans for the spectrum, Google is admitting it bid in the auction but never really intended to win the spectrum.

Instead, in a corporate blog, Google lawyers say that Google's game plan was to make sure bidding on the C block reached the $4.6 billion reserve price that would trigger the important open access conditions. "We were also prepared to gain the nationwide C block licenses at a price somewhat higher than the reserve price; in fact, for many days during the early course of the auction, we were the high bidder. But it was clear, then and now, that Verizon Wireless ultimately was motivated to bid higher (and had far more financial incentive to gain the licenses)."

For more, see this article from TheStreet.com.

Related stories:
Is 'open network' just marketing hype? Editorial
Verizon, AT&T big winners in 700 MHz auction Article
FierceWireless' special coverage of the 700 MHz auction Coverage

As expected, 700 MHz auction results in same faces

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:59:58 -0400

It appears everything went as planned for Google. It didn't have to cough up any money in the 700 MHz auction but it ensured the open-access provisions (at least most of them) that it fought for at the FCC. But with the same faces, namely Verizon and AT&T, emerging as winners in the auction, the auction isn't going to change the face of the wireless telecom industry as industry pundits had hoped.

As exciting as it would have been to see a newcomer to the wireless landscape, incumbents such as Verizon have the wherewithal to spend billions on licenses and billions more to build out network infrastructure. That's their core business. And with the 700 MHz band the last of the so-called beach-front property, operators were prepared to drive the price up to a hefty level, especially given the fact that new 4G networks need a nice chunk of extra spectrum, about 20 megahertz, to deliver the broadband data speeds that are advertised.

So the question is, how "out of the box" will Verizon be in the C Block? We're already seeing that Verizon's new open-access policy on its existing network requires a few hoops to jump through, namely third parties must first get their devices certified by the operator. And that process is expected to take four to eight weeks to complete. Likewise, the C-Block rules include a "minimal technical requirements" clause when it comes to any device and application running on the network. Certainly, whether or not these technical specifications are easy for developers to use has bearing on whether or not third parties can create innovative and compelling applications.

Will it become an environment where developers are put in a position where they have to foot the bill to build devices and services and then keep their fingers crossed that Verizon will certify them? How attractive of a proposition will that be?--Lynnette

Verizon, AT&T big winners in 700 MHz auction

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:59:57 -0400

Verizon Wireless was the big winner for the 700 MHz auction after winning the Upper C Block of spectrum, which is laden with open access provisions. Google did not win any licenses. Satellite television company EchoStar subsidiary Frontier won a significant amount of licenses in the E Block--enough to give the company a nationwide footprint. Verizon Wireless not only won the coveted C Block, but also most of the A Block and 77 licenses in the B Block, which contained the smallest licenses in the auction. For its part, AT&T managed to scoop up 227 of the smaller slices of spectrum.

Verizon Wireless ended up winning seven of the 11 pieces of the C Block, but the other four regional slices of the spectrum in that block went to other bidders. Triad 700 won the Alaska and Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands regional C Block slices for $1.78 million and $3.12 million, respectively. Small Ventures USA won a piece of the C Block that covers a part of the Gulf of Mexico for $1.05 million. Club 42 CM Limited won the C Block slice that covers Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and America Samoa with a $550,000 bid.

As part of the announcement, the FCC de-linked the D Block, which failed to meet its $1.3 billion reserve price, from the other four blocks. The D Block had special provisions for a public-private network that would benefit public safety workers. While the FCC plans to make the spectrum available before the DTV transition in February of next year, it said it has no immediate plans to re-auction the spectrum in Auction 76, which was the original contingent plan. --Brian Dolan

For the entire list of winning bids and bidders:
- check out this document from the FCC (.pdf)

Related article:
700 MHz auction finally over Report

700 MHz auction finally over

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:59:55 -0400

After 261 rounds of bidding and more than $19.59 billion in provisionally winning bids, the 700 MHz auction (officially Auction 73) is over. Four out of the five spectrum blocks achieved their reserve prices, which enabled the auction to more than double expected revenues: the congressional estimate for the auction was $10.2 billion. During the past 15 years the FCC has conducted 68 spectrum auctions, which collectively generated $19.1 billion. Not only did the 700 MHz auction raise more money than any FCC spectrum auction before it, the latest auction managed to raise more than every other auction combined. The proceeds from the auction will be transferred to the U.S. Treasury by the end of June, and, according to the FCC, the money raised will support public safety and the digital television transition.

The four spectrum blocks that met their reserve prices were the Upper C Block, the A Block, B Block and the E Block. The winning bids for the C Block were on the 12 regional licenses that make it up rather than the nationwide package. The 12 bids total $4.75 billion, more than the C Block's reserve of $4.6 billion. Provisionally winning bids on the A, B, and E Blocks were $3.96 billion, $9.14 billion and $1.27 billion, respectively. Those three blocks collectively more than doubled their reserve price of $8.72 billion.

The D Block, of course, languished during the 700 MHz spectrum auction, with only one bid during the first round. Because the bid was well under the block's $1.3 billion reserve price. In a statement yesterday, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said that "the FCC is now evaluating its options for this spectrum" and that "the Commission remains committed to ensuring that we work to solve public safety's interoperability challenges."

No word yet on whether the FCC will start Auction 76, the Plan B auction which was to take place after Auction 73 in the case that a spectrum block failed to meet its reserve price. The FCC will have to decide which rules if any it would remove from the D Block and/or what it's new reserve price should be.

The FCC will announce the winning bidders in the coming weeks.

Related articles:
- Smaller 700 MHz bands generate interest Report
- Economy doesn't appear to hurt 700 MHz auction Editorial
- 700 MHz auction reaches $19 billion Report