NTCA's The New Edge » 4G

NetAmerica Begins Testing Newly Installed SuperCenter

Steve Fravel — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:34:02 +0000

Last week NetAmerica Alliance announced that it would begin testing its recently completed SuperCenter and Network Operations Center (NOC) in Dallas, Texas.

The SuperCenter is home to the alliance’s IP Multimedia System (IMS) framework. A recent press release to announce completion of the SuperCenter describes the IMS as the key element in the delivery of a “full range of integrated Internet Protocol (IP) based multimedia services.” The IMS core allows the independent carriers who make up the alliance to offer high-quality features and applications and a 4G LTE service to their customers in each member’s license area.

Crucial to the alliance’s members is that the IMS core enables independent carriers to protect their wireline and/or cellular business while including 4G LTE in their service offering, making true convergence of the technologies a reality.

The NOC is staffed 24-hours per day, seven days per week by NetAmerica personnel. It provides the alliance’s members with network monitoring and support.

“Completion of the world class SuperCenter is a milestone for the Alliance,” said Scott Donlea, Executive Vice President and COO of NetAmerica. “It allows members to compete on a level not possible without the Alliance and provides the services they need, together with the 24/7 support, to offer advanced services to the citizens of rural America.”

For more information, read the release.

More on LightSquared

Steve Fravel — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:16:13 +0000

To review what has taken place over the past week or so: the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Executive Committee announced on Friday January 13 that, “Based upon this testing analysis, there appear to be no practical solutions or mitigations that would permit the LightSquared broadband service, as proposed, to operate in the next few months or years without significantly interfering with GPS. As a result, no additional testing is warranted at this time.” The announcement was released after follow-up testing of general location and navigation devices and cellular GPS had taken place.

The Committee reports to NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling. NTIA is charged with performing interference testing and reporting the results to the FCC, which will then make a formal decision as to the viability of LightSquared’s network plan. Prior to the PNT Executive Committee announcement, the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) had indicated the need to perform follow-up testing.

LightSquared has repeatedly protested the methodology of the testing, claiming that there are several measures that can be taken to mitigate or remove the interference in its licensed L Band spectrum, including reducing transmission power and utilization of filtering devices manufactured to LightSquared’s specifications, which would then be adopted by GPS devices.

LightSquared has placed the blame for the interference on the GPS industry, suggesting that the interference begins with the GPS devices and poorly designed filtering mechanisms that leak into LightSquared’s licensed frequency.

Early during the week of January 16, LightSquared claimed that the testing had been “rigged by manufacturers,” and poorly conceived from a technological design. The company further claimed that in addition to obsolete equipment and power levels set higher than LightSquared had indicated necessary for operation, secrecy and non-disclosure agreements made it impossible to have the testing overseen or challenged by independent, third-party organizations.

LightSquared has signed 37 customers for its proposed wholesale service. According to Sprint, LightSquared’s network partner, continued and extended delays threaten the viability of the LightSquared plan. Sprint and LightSquared have acknowledged that the relationship between the two companies is on hold. Without timely resolution, Sprint has indicated a need to pull out of the venture altogether.

Sen. Grassley Continues, LightSquared and Others on Hold

Steve Fravel — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:48:07 +0000

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), has requested information from GPS companies in regard to communications between the investment group (Harbinger Capital Partners), the FCC and the White House prior to the granting of an ancillary terrestrial waiver to LightSquared. Sen. Grassely has given the GPS group, which includes Garmin and John Deere, a deadline of January 25. He has requested the same info from the FCC and Harbinger Capital Partners.

Sen. Grassley is holding up confirmation of two new FCC Commissioners. Senate approval of the the nominations cannot move forward until he drops his objection. The FCC has indicated that it is not required to provide the requested materials to Sen. Grassley, as he is not a member of the Senate committee that has oversight over the commission.

Sen. Grassely’s inquiry into the waiver has to do with a “short” comment period prior to the commission granting the ancillary terrestrial waiver. Sen. Grassely has indicated that he will continue to hold up confirmation of the new commissioners until he has been given the information he is requesting from all of those involved.

In a related story, LightSquared and Sprint Nextel reached the end of the preliminary agreement whereby Sprint would assist in the network management of the new network and provide the essential terrestrial presence once LightSquared had been cleared to launch service. The two companies had stipulated that LightSquared must gain approval to begin service prior to the contract becoming binding. At this point, the two have agreed to remain in contact and vigilant of the situation.

This past week, LightSquared Vice President Jeffrey Carlisle, Consultant Ashley Durmer and President of Harbinger Capital Partners Philip Falcone met with the FCC to discuss a “path forward” as LightSquared is running dangerously low on cash, after significant investments were made according to the FCC guidelines for companies working to increase the availability of broadband in the United States.

LightSquared discussed operating at reduced power levels and using alternative technical solutions in order to get the business started. The waiver limits LightSquared to controlled testing only until it is proven that LightSquared does not interfere with GPS or other navigational signaling. LightSquared reiterated the current interference issue as beyond its responsibility as the GPS industry designs lead to the interference. The GPS industry counters that the spectrum used by LightSquared was intended for satellite traffic and not terrestrial communications.

NTIA had indicated that it would resume interference testing in the LightSquared controlled “S Band” spectrum. However, late on January 13, information released by LightSquared ran contrary, indicating that the Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT), and National Executive Committee had determined that they would not perform additional testing of the LightSquared spectrum.

Earlier analysis of the government-led follow-up testing performed on LightSquared’s proposed network has shown wide patterns of interference that disrupt both GPS signaling and aircraft positioning signaling. However, LightSquared maintains that the government’s testing reflects bias against LightSquared.

AT&T and Sprint Add LTE Buildouts

Steve Fravel — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:59:50 +0000

AT&T and Sprint Nextel, in separate announcements last week, indicated that both would be picking up speed in the deployment of new 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) networks.

AT&T announced the launch of LTE service in 11 new markets last Thursday, adding San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles. AT&T indicated that it had completed construction projects in 2011 ahead of schedule, and it is well positioned to reach 74 million potential subscribers. AT&T is set to complete the 4G upgrade near the end of 2013.

Sprint Nextel said it will launch new LTE services in 10 new markets during the first half of 2012. Dallas, Atlanta, Houston and San Antonio join a growing list of cities soon to be served by the operator.

In a related story, Sprint Nextel announced on Friday that it has restructured its corporate management group, relieving four executives of their positions. Bob H. Johnson, in charge of customer services; John Carney, responsible for consumer marketing; Danny Bowman, president of integrated solutions; and Chris Rogers, a senior executive in corporate development and spectrum, are all leaving the company. These positions will be absorbed in an effort to streamline and simplify the company, making it more flexible.

AT&T Acquires Qualcomm’s 700 MHZ Spectrum

Steve Fravel — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:20:16 +0000

Although not the same magnitude as the T-Mobile merger, yesterday the FCC approved the sale of Qualcomm’s 700 MHz spectrum to AT&T. The commission attached a few conditions to the sale. The highly technical and specific conditions concerning interoperability and interference are described by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski as potentially helpful to smaller operators.

The 700 MHz spectrum was originally purchased and used by Qualcomm to support its Media FLO TV product, a mobile video service which it shuttered in 2010. As such, the ironic aspect to this purchase is the increasing demand for additional bandwidth by consumers for watching video on AT&T’s mobile phones.

Tilting at GPS? What About the Airplanes?

Steve Fravel — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:52:36 +0000

“The one inescapable conclusion from two rounds of independent testing is that the incompatibility is not caused by LightSquared’s network,” said Jeff Carlisle, executive vice president – regulatory affairs at LightSquared following the filing of a petition for a declaratory ruling at the FCC earlier this week. The filing asks the commission to rule that Global Positioning System (GPS) devices do not have a right to interference protection from the LightSquared network. In addition, it asks that the FCC make clear that the cost of ensuring that GPS devices operate without interference is the sole responsibility of the device owner and not LightSquared.

There are several points of consideration to explore in regard to LightSquared taking this action at the FCC at this time.

It’s important to note that the official government testing of LightSquared’s proposed 4G network, and its potential interference with GPS devices, has not been completed. The additional testing of precision GPS equipment has not been scheduled. After the request of the NTIA, it would appear mandatory that these tests are completed and the findings forwarded to the FCC prior to any ruling.

In addition, it is not clear from the LightSquared complaint if aircraft navigation and positioning interference (which has been confirmed by government testing results) fit into the LightSquared petition. If they fall into the request to declare “commercial GPS receivers” on their own in terms of dealing with interference, is this with the use of the filtering equipment LightSquared says solves the interference problem, or is damage to aircraft navigation still of concern?

The Coalition to Save Our GPS has taken issue with the petition. “This latest filing simply recycles the litany of inaccurate and self-serving claims that LightSquared has made in its ongoing effort to deny its obligation to avoid harmful interference to millions of government and private GPS users,” said Jim Kirkland, vice president and general counsel of Trimble Navigation LTD.

The coalition goes on to point out several caveats that the commission tied to the January 2011 waiver granted to LightSquared allowing it to begin testing its proposed terrestrial wireless network. In the order, the FCC states that LightSquared would not be permitted to commence commercial operations until it had demonstrated positively that its operations would not interfere with GPS. The initial round of testing by the government confirmed that the LightSquared network does interfere with GPS. However, according to LightSquared, third-party testing by Alcatel-Lucent demonstrates that the interference can be managed.

The question remains, if there is interference and a successful work-around, does the service as altered to avoid dangerous interference with aircraft navigation and positioning provide sufficient resources for consumers in the “easiest” and hardest to reach service areas of the United States?

LightSquared Testing Results – Conflicting Findings?

Steve Fravel — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:56:21 +0000

Last week we covered a new deal between LightSquared and FreedomPop, in addition to a list of concerns and adverse findings which could be damaging to the launch of service by LightSquared.

We noted that LightSquared appeared to be buoyed by testing resulted provided by Alcatel-Lucent. We also noted that an early draft of testing performed by the U.S. government contained information contrary to the Alcatel test. The National Executive Committee for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT), which represents eight government agencies with GPS interest, performed the testing.

At this point, the government testing appears to agree with the LightSquared results in regard to cellular interference: using the spectrum further from GPS traffic, at lower power, LightSquared does not interfere with GPS service obtained via cellular devices.

However, in a statement released last Wednesday, federal officials indicated that LightSquared’s proposed mobile satellite network would interfere with the “majority” of other tested general purposed GPS receivers, and pose dangerous disruption to airline safety systems. LightSquared is on record disagreeing with the new test result findings.

LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja has indicated that the company will work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to resolve interference issues with aircraft navigational and positioning equipment.

“We profoundly disagree with the conclusions drawn with respect to general navigational devices,” Ahuja said in a statement. “We have taken extraordinary measures, and at extraordinary expense to solve a problem that is not of our making.” His statement goes on to say that the blame for GPS interference rests with GPS devices, not the proposed LightSquared Network. LightSquared has indicated in the past that the problem is not caused by the network, but by the GPS devices which have been allowed to receive signals outside their working spectrum.

LightSquared maintains that the testing results made available last week do not reflect the latest corrections and adjustments made by the company. Additional testing is set to be performed by the federal government after the first of the year. Within the next several weeks, the final test report will be sent to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and then on to the FCC.

First ‘LTE in Rural America’ Participant Completes Network Test

Jesse Ward — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:20:51 +0000

Pioneer Cellular, one of 13 participants in the Verizon Wireless LTE in Rural America program, announced December 16 that it has successfully completed end-to-end data testing over its new 4G LTE network in preparation for a commercial launch next spring for customers in central and western Oklahoma.

Pioneer announced its participation in the LTE in Rural America program last December. During the past year, the operator has constructed cell towers, laid fiber optic cable, and installed network hardware and software, working closely with Verizon Wireless engineers. Pioneer is now testing its new network and trial devices for speed, reliability and ease of use. Pioneer’s 4G LTE network covers more than 260,000 people in 21 counties across nearly 17,000 miles of central and western Oklahoma. Pioneer appears to be the furthest along of Verizon’s rural LTE program participants.

“Pioneer Cellular’s participation in the Verizon Wireless LTE in Rural America program will benefit our wireless customers as well as Verizon Wireless’ customers by accelerating the benefits of high-speed mobile broadband to rural areas where 4G LTE mobility is not available,” said Richard Ruhl, general manager of Pioneer. “Partnering with Verizon Wireless will help to ensure we are able to address the future needs of the rural communities we serve who have historically not been the first to benefit from technologies like 4G LTE.”

Dan Mead, president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless, sent a congratulatory email to Ruhl on December 15, which was delivered over Pioneer’s new 4G LTE network.

Verizon Wireless announced the LTE in Rural America initiative back in June 2010 to bring the benefits of high-speed mobile broadband to rural areas of the United States where Verizon Wireless currently does not have a network. Under the program, Verizon Wireless shares access to its 700 MHz spectrum with rural operators who use their tower and backhaul assets to build a 4G LTE network. In addition, partners gain access to reciprocal roaming agreements with Verizon and its partners.

To date, Verizon maintains that 13 rural carriers have leased spectrum covering, in total, 2.6 million people in rural communities and 85,000 square miles in 10 states. Partners include: Appalachian Wireless, Bluegrass Cellular, Carolina West Wireless, Cellcom, Chariton Valley, Convergence Technologies, Cross Wireless, Custer Telephone, Pioneer Cellular, S and R Communications, Strata Networks and Thumb Cellular.

Cellular Network Partnership d/b/a Pioneer Cellular is a Partnership Group comprised of Pioneer Telephone Cooperative Inc., KanOkla Telephone Association, South Central Communications of Kansas and Hinton Cellular Company in Hinton, Oklahoma.

For more, see this release.

‘Free’ Wireless Broadband

Steve Fravel — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:19:04 +0000

Skype and Joost co-founder Niklas Zennstrom has signed his new start-up venture FreedomPop to a deal with LightSquared. In a joint press release issued November 8, the two companies describe the 2012 launch of FreedomPop with the “ultimate objective to ensure that every American has access to fast, free and convenient communications services.”

FreedomPop is funded by Zennstrom’s venture capital firm Atomico. FreedomPop has been described as using the “Dropbox” business model. Dropbox is an online storage service which offers up to 2 Gigabytes for free, and sells access to additional storage for a monthly fee in different tiers. FreedomPop will initially target underserved markets via the LightSquared 4G LTE network with a functional allotment of bandwidth. Should the user require more, it can be added for an additional fee.

LightSquared continues to face regulatory scrutiny due to L-band interference with GPS receivers. LightSquared noted earlier this week that independent testing by Alcatel-Lucent has proven that LightSquared is “well on its way” to resolving the interference issue.

However, late last Friday the media gained access to a leaked, draft government report which reportedly shows the results of interference testing between LightSquared’s proposed network and GPS devices. According to the draft report, LightSquared’s signals “caused harmful interference to a majority of GPS receivers tested. No additional testing is required to confirm harmful interference exists.”

Testing, which was carried out between October 31 and November 4, showed that 75% GPS receivers “experienced harmful interference” when within 100 meters of a LightSquared base station. The devices tested include those used for automobile and boat navigation. The leaked data appears to strengthen the case of the GPS makers and others who are critical of LightSquared’s proposed 4G network.

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, continues to apply pressure to the FCC in regard to information regarding the short comment period allowed by the commission prior to granting the waiver to LightSquared in January 2011. Grassley noted last Friday that in addition to the waiver information he has asked the FCC to provide, he has also directed questions regarding a Security Exchange Commission (SEC) inquiry into LightSquared funding source Harbinger Capital Partners. The SEC handed down Wells Notices on Harbinger Capital and has indicated that actions will be taken concerning alleged violations by Harbinger and key employees.

For more on the leaked government report, see this Bloomberg News article and this release by LightSquared.
For more on the FreedomPop partnership, see this press release.

Verizon to Acquire Large Chunk of AWS Spectrum via Cable Companies

Jesse Ward — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:02:52 +0000

Verizon Wireless announced last Friday that it has agreed to pay $3.6 billion to a consortium of cable providers for 122 advanced wireless services (AWS) spectrum licenses covering approximately 259 million people, or more than 85% of the U.S. population.

As part of the purchase agreement with SpectrumCo LLC — a joint venture controlled by Comcast Corp. which includes Time Warner Cable, Inc. and Bright House Networks -– the cable companies will be able to re-sell Verizon Wireless services on a wholesale basis, adding wireless to their service bundles. For its part, Verizon Wireless also will be able to sell the cable companies’ services. It’s unclear at this time if Verizon will choose to market the cable companies’ wired services in areas where is also is the incumbent telco.

Additionally, the cable companies and Verizon Wireless said that they “have formed an innovation technology joint venture for the development of technology to better integrate wireline and wireless products and services.”

SpectrumCo’s sale and transfer of its advanced wireless spectrum to Verizon Wireless is subject to approval by the FCC and review under the Hart-Scott Rodino Act and other customary conditions.

SpectrumCo paid nearly $2.38 billion in 2006 for its spectrum holdings, which it won at the FCC’s AWS-1 auction. Technically, it was enough to make the venture the nation’s fifth largest wireless provider. There was speculation that the companies would attempt to build and operate a wireless network, but the majority decided to take a wait-and-see approach to their spectrum assets. Initially, the venture included Sprint Nextel Corp., which dropped out in 2007, and Cox Communications, which first attempted to build a wireless network and then withdrew its cards in 2009, taking cash and spectrum interests with it.

Of note, all of the cable companies which stand to benefit from this transaction also are investors in Clearwire. In fact, Comcast and Time Warner Cable now market Clearwire’s 4G WiMAX services. In all likelihood, this deal means that the cable industry will have to exit the Clearwire venture. It also raises questions about whether Sprint will have to take on additional equity to keep Clearwire afloat.

Needless to say, this arrangement also further shines a spotlight on the AT&T-T-Mobile acquisition, which AT&T has said is all about acquiring AWS spectrum. Verizon has just taken away one option by which AT&T could acquire spectrum if the merger does not go through as proposed.

For more, see this release.