Howard Buskirk

Whether operators will be allowed to use the same spectrum set aside for air-to-ground (ATG) communications to offer “ancillary” services on the ground has emerged as a major issue on the 8th floor as an ATG order steams forward. The Commission appears to remain on track for a Dec. 15 vote but must address the latest complication.

A Network Reliability & Interoperability Council (NRIC) group trying to develop a consensus position on enhanced 911 (E911) geographic area requirements conceded Mon. that efforts have fallen short. The chmn. of the group said during a NRIC meeting at FCC hq he would ask NRIC to ask the FCC for another 60 days to try to reach a compromise.

The FCC is working through the final details of a decision on rules for radio transmitters operated on ships -- known as earth stations on board vessels (ESVs). Sources said Fri. that while the 8th-floor offices are still considering several issues, a vote is very likely at the Dec. 15 meeting. The order involves operations in both the C- and Ku-bands. The C-band operations are controversial because they overlap fixed wireless operations.

FCC Wireless Bureau Chief John Muleta said the FCC is willing to give carriers flexibility in how they use their licenses but companies are well advised to tailor their arguments to show how this flexibility will lead to greater competition. “Flexibility by itself I don’t think is enough,” he said.

FCC Comr. Abernathy said the FCC appears on track to vote on UNE-P rules at its Dec. 15 meeting. “That’s certainly our intent,” she said Wed. at a press breakfast. Abernathy confirmed that some issues raised in petitions for consideration, such as line sharing and mass market definitions, won’t be part of the order. “There was a discussion internally about how broad do we make this item,” Abernathy said: “Do we deal just with the issues that have been sent back to us by the court or do we try and bring in all the other issues that have been brought up in all of the petitions for reconsideration of our prior decision? The decision was we've got a very concrete deadline and a need to respond to the court.” The FCC needed to draw a line, she said: “If we try to bring in everything that was raised on recon this will not happen” in Dec. Sources said the Bells would still be required to make their high-capacity DS-1 loops and transport available to competitors as TELRIC-priced UNEs under the draft order. However, CLECs would have to show they were “impaired,” meaning they didn’t have any wholesale alternatives for DS-1 loops on a building-by- building basis. The test for transport impairment would be based on the number of lines in wire centers. An FCC source said it might be better to handle line sharing and market definitions as separate orders.

Comr. Abernathy said Wed. a pending air-to-ground (ATG) order, scheduled for a vote at the Dec. 15 meeting, presents difficult questions she’s still working through. “We are still struggling with who are the correct engineers,” she told reporters at a press breakfast: “Our goal would be multiple providers, but it may be that that’s just not technically possible and that’s what we're looking at.”

The White House released a memorandum late Tues. setting up a process under which federal agencies will have to explain their spectrum requirements. The memo, signed by President Bush, directs federal agencies to implement the other recommendations issued in 2 June reports on spectrum use in the 21st Century.

CTIA Tues. laid out 6 principles for intercarrier compensation reform and contended most proposals unveiled so far would be good for the companies proposing them but bad for consumers. CTIA Pres. Steve Largent elaborated on the principles in a 4-page letter to FCC members. A few CTIA members previously had filed positions on intercarrier compensation, but this is the wireless carrier industry position.

The Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials asked the FCC to refrain from allowing unlicensed operations between TV channels in the 470-512 MHz band, citing a potential risk to public safety. APCO made the filing late last week on a controversial May FCC rulemaking seeking to provide more unlicensed spectrum “in the broadcast television spectrum at locations where that spectrum is not being used.”

The FBI and DEA met with the FCC last week to ask the Commission to take into account CALEA concerns as it wraps up an air-to-ground (ATG) rule for communications made on commercial airliners, including broadband. Meanwhile, an ATG order is on circulation on the 8th floor and could be finalized before the Commission’s Dec. 15 agenda meeting, we learned. Chmn. Powell could schedule a vote at the meeting if Commissioners otherwise don’t finish voting on the order.