The 700 MHz band battleBattle over allocation of the 700MHz band looms
TV operators will soon vacate the 700 MHz band, and the FCC is getting set to auction it; pressures grow to allocate portion of the band for public safety uses
The Federal Commincation Commission (FCC) is about to auction off a valuable portion of spectrum — some call it the last beachfront property in the wireless world — and the New York Times’ John Markoff reports that there is an intense lobbying battle underway between cellular companies and other interesting parties about who will have access to what portions of this spectrum. The FCC will set the rules for the auction next month, and depending on the decision, the spectrum could be used for voice services for cellular carriers, new frequencies for emergency responders, or a commercial high-speed broadband multimedia network.
The band at the heart of the battle is the 700 MHz band, a segment used until now for UHF television but which will become free when TV operators move to digital broadcasting. The U.S. government has set a deadline of 19 February 2009 for TV operators to vacate the band, at which point it will be reclaimed by the government and auctioned off.
The collapse of communication networks during 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, and continuing problems with communication interoperability among different emergency services, have led to growing pressures to allocated at least part of the 700 MHz band for public safety uses.
-read more about the 700 MHz issue at Frontline Wireless Web site; and in this GigaOm page
