CTIA took a parting shot at NAB in...

broadband (CD Sept 1 p1). “Despite its protestations, NAB once again fails to show that broadcasters use spectrum efficiently,” said CTIA Vice President Jot Carpenter. “CTIA’s members want access to the BAS band so they can continue investing [for] world-class wireless broadband to America’s consumers, and they're willing to pay for the privilege of doing so. We hope that the FCC will dig more deeply than NAB on this question, and determine whether, in light the alternative technologies, a portion of this spectrum can be put to more efficient use.” NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton offered a short response to CTIA: “Maybe CTIA doesn’t want a spectrum inventory because it can’t count that high.” The Telecommunications Industry Association, meanwhile, filed broad comments on the FCC NPRM which looked at proposed rules for spectrum in the 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz, 2020-2025 MHz and 2155-2180 MHz bands. “Priority should be placed on allocations of wide, contiguous blocks of spectrum,” TIA said separately (http://bit.ly/15bl3VY). “Narrower allocations raise product development costs by requiring separate efforts in each portion of the spectrum and result in non-technology neutral polices, lead to limited product availability for consumers, and increase the time-to-market period. In short, the adverse consequences reduce innovation to the detriment of the consumer and limit quality of service.” TIA also emphasized the importance of keeping like services close to each other, providing adequate separation between uplink and downlink operations and harmonizing allocations with those in the rest of the world. Motorola Mobility urged the FCC to move quickly on putting the spectrum in play. “The proposals in the Notice would add up to 70 megahertz of licensed mobile broadband spectrum to the nation’s spectrum inventory,” the company said (http://bit.ly/18GHfrN). “Although a very important step, this allocation should only be one of many that the Commission takes to further address the exploding demand for broadband services.” U.S. Cellular filed 70 pages of comments suggesting ways for the FCC to ensure that smaller carriers will pursue the spectrum. “The availability of large amounts of additional spectrum ... is crucial for promoting competition because robust competition requires strong competitors with access to adequate spectrum resources,” the carrier said (http://bit.ly/16eLT0e). “The potential for the AWS-3 spectrum to promote competition from new entrants, as well as small and regional carriers expanding their service areas and network capacities, is particularly important given the current lack of vibrant competition in the wireless industry."