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Responding to the FCC’s T-Band Plans

Responding to the FCC’s T-Band Plans. 2:00 PM(EST), Thursday, March 7, 2013 Enterprise Wireless Alliance Mark E.Crosby President Enterprise Wireless Alliance Elizabeth R. Sachs, Esq. EWA Regulatory Counsel Lucas Nace Gutierrez & Sachs.

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Responding to the FCC’s T-Band Plans

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  1. Responding to the FCC’s T-Band Plans 2:00 PM(EST),Thursday, March 7, 2013 Enterprise Wireless Alliance Mark E.Crosby President Enterprise Wireless Alliance Elizabeth R. Sachs, Esq. EWA Regulatory Counsel Lucas Nace Gutierrez & Sachs

  2. Middle Class Tax relief and Job Creation Act of 2012“The Spectrum Reform Bill” Legislative Mandate • No later than nine years after enactment (February 22, 2021) FCC shall reallocate the 470-512 MHz spectrum (T-Band) “currently used by public safety eligibles and auction this spectrum” • Auction proceeds will be available for NTIA to provide grants to cover public safety relocation costs

  3. Middle Class Tax relief and Job Creation Act of 2012“The Spectrum Reform Bill” FCC Responses • Issues a narrowbanding exemption for both Public Safety and Industrial/Business T-Band systems • Initiates a “limited licensing” freeze for both Public Safety and Industrial/Business applications, including pending applications, seeking either new/additional spectrum or enhanced coverage • Dismisses almost all Requests for Waiver • Issues Public Notice (PS Docket No. 13-42; DA 13-187) to gather information “concerning when, how and under what circumstances it is most appropriate to reallocate the T-Band and relocate T-Band users” . . . Comments due May 13, Replies June 11

  4. Scope of Relocation • Affected Licensees – 1,009 Public Safety and 703 Industrial/Business • Devices – 355,630 Public Safety and 223,593 Industrial/Business • Repeaters – 20,039 Public Safety and 8,184 Industrial/Business • Sites – 2,982 Public Safety and 1,746 Industrial/Business • Public Safety is the major spectrum occupant in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Pittsburgh • Industrial/Business is the major occupant in Baltimore/DC, Dallas, Houston and Miami

  5. The Easy Questions • How many licensees of all types use T-Band? See ULS! • What is the approximate split between Public Safety and Industrial/Business? See ULS! • How many repeaters, mobiles radios, etc. are operating? See ULS – reasonably representative of what is operational. • What are main use cases, i.e., dispatch, command-and-control, etc.? All of the above; requirements that cannot necessarily by met on commercial or private broadband networks, even assuming the FCC were to allocate spectrum for the latter. • What is the average cost, and useful life of these systems? Are attendees willing to share illustrative system cost and useful life information with EWA?

  6. The Easy Questions • Can these responses be broken down by area? Yes. • Should cost recovery include equipment acquired since the enactment of the legislation? Absolutely yes! • What additional information should the FCC consider? ▪ Lost investment in new system technologies and features, lost opportunity costs, negative economic impact in affected market area, reduced spectrum efficiency, and increased risks to public safety directly attributable to the FCC’s licensing freeze. ▪ Relocated licensees must be afforded comparable spectrum – but where? ▪ What protections are there to ensure (i) auction proceeds are sufficient to relocate public safety and (ii) auction winners are obligated to pay Industrial/Business relocation costs directly. ▪ Broadband capabilities augment internal wireless communication systems; they will not replace them in the foreseeable future, if ever.

  7. The Easy Questions • Should the Commission continue the licensing suspension until reallocation and relocation are implemented? No! • Should the Commission consider modifying the suspension to allow certain types of modifications? If freeze is not lifted entirely, then yes. • If the FCC consolidates Industrial/Business licensees into a single segment of T-Band, must those licensees convert their systems to narrowband as a condition of the relocation? Yes. • Should the Commission process applications that were pending prior to the announcement the suspension and are currently held in abeyance? Yes!

  8. The Not-So-Easy Questions • Should Industrial/Business be relocated to clear contiguous spectrum? Not required by the legislation, but FCC has authority to reallocate spectrum for new uses as it has done previously. • Should the FCC consider consolidating Industrial/Business within a single contiguous segment of T-Band? ▪ Assuming relocation costs are accommodated in some fashion, should EWA support this recommendation? ▪ Should EWA seek additional spectrum and geography in exchange? ▪ Would additional spectrum and geography alone provide sufficient incentive to relocate? What are other potential incentives, if any?

  9. The Not-So-Easy Questions • What alternative bands are available for Industrial/Business licensees? Are there any realistic alternative bands? • Should the Commission consider other measures to restrict changes to T-Band incumbent systems that would increase their relocation costs? No, and if freeze maintained it should follow the 900 MHz “freeze” model that permits incumbent licensees to modify, add or relocate sites and frequencies.

  10. The Not-So-Easy Questions • What are other mechanisms that would enable Industrial/Business to recover some (!) or all of there relocation costs? Should EWA … ▪State that this question is meaningless unless and until alternative spectrum capacity can be identified for Industrial/Business ? ▪ State that future auction winners must be obligated to fully finance all relocation costs to comparable spectrum? ▪ State that the only viable option for clearing this spectrum may be for auction winners to negotiate separate financial arrangements, that may or may not be successful, to remove Industrial/Business licensees under rules applied in other band clearing situations? ▪ State that if there is insufficient auction revenues generated to fully fund public safety's’ relocation from T-Band, and/or it is determined that there is inadequate alternative comparable spectrum to accommodate public safety’s relocation requirements, relocation policy issues associated with Industrial/Business licensees become moot.

  11. Thank you! EWA Questions • T-Band licensees should consider filing their own comments in response to this Public Notice. The FCC needs to hear from users directly, not just from EWA. • Would any attendees welcome EWA’s assistance in preparing and submitting comments in response to the Public Notice? • Please contact louise.hippolyte@enterprisewireless.org to receive a copy of the FCC’s Public Notice (PS Docket No. 13-42 - DA 13-87). Any Attendee Questions?

  12. Critical Capitol Hill Representatives House Fred Upton(R-MI) Ralph Hall (R-TX) Tim Murphy (R-PA) Leonard Lance (R-NJ) Pete Olson (R-TX) Henry Waxman (D-CA) Edward Markey (D-MA) Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) Bobby Rush (D-IL) Anna Eshoo (D-CA) Eliot Engel (D-NY) Gene Green (D-TX) Michael Doyle (D-PA) Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) John Sarbanes (D-MD) Jerry McNerney (D-CA) Senate Barbara Boxer (D-CA) Bill Nelson (D-FL) Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) Mark Warner (D-VA) Marco Rubio (R-FL) Ted Cruz (R-TX)

  13. Contacting EWA www.enterprisewireless.org

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