Before the dust settled on the results of the $4.25B AWS auction, Industry Minister Prentice said that we’ll be gearing up for the next auction – the release of the 700 MHz band for mobile services.

How will the spectrum be divided?

Despite the designation of this summer’s auction feature as “AWS” (for ‘advanced wireless services’), it was interesting that the spectrum was auctioned in 10 Mhz and 20 MHz blocks, block sizes that might be better suited for voice.

Do we need more spectrum for voice in the future 700 MHz auction? Will Industry Canada structure the auction design to better target mobile broadband with wider channels?

Other issues will also arise, such as:

• what is the size and shape of the geographic tiers. that is, will Industry Canada separate the urban core from the suburban donut to promote niche rural competitors?
• is a new entrant set-aside appropriate?
• if there is a set-aside, can the auction be run in a manner that avoids gaming by parking points?

We’ll be watching for Industry Canada’s call for comments.

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Industry Canada, 700 MHz

Some people express concern that market forces aren’t working for residential broadband because there isn’t sufficient competition for DSL and cable modem service.

Following up on yesterday’s posting, I’ll suggest that a ‘third’ choice for residential broadband will arrive with the launch of new entrants in Canada’s wireless marketplace.

Years ago, we looked at a cross-over point defined as having more mobile voice subscriptions than wireline voice. Mobile has not only caught up, but blown past wireline. Globally, there are more than 3 times the number of mobile lines compared to fixed.

We are now approaching a new cross-over point. This will be achieved when mobile broadband exceeds fixed broadband.

What role will new entrant wireless operators, fixed and mobile, play as enablers of increased consumer choice for broadband?

I suspect that as new entrants deploy mobile broadband networks, competition from mobile operators, especially those that are not aligned with local telcos or cablecos, may help drive faster bit rates from fixed line operators. The new wireless carriers will be looking to quickly attract revenues to pay for that expensive spectrum purchased earlier this summer.

To compete and differentiate, cable and telephone companies will need to roll-out even faster speeds and expanded services, such as higher bandwidth caps.

It is worthwhile pondering the implications of wireless alternatives for residential broadband.

Regulators and policy makers need to be cautious in managing broadband subsidies in order to be consistent with principles of technical neutrality. Wireless, both fixed and mobile, offers credible options for residential broadband delivery.

I was in Boston earlier this week, attending Ericsson’s annual analyst forum. Over the coming days, I’ll provide some thoughts arising from those sessions.

One of the more interesting discussions I had was looking at the use of HSPA to deliver residential broadband. Mobile broadband technology being used for fixed applications and not just for under developed economies.

For example, among countries with existing advanced telecom infrastructure, Ericsson is citing experience with incumbent telco KPN in the Netherlands and Hutchison’s 3 in Sweden, that have enjoyed substantial levels of market success with their mobile broadband technology used for fixed applications.

Both countries have witnessed strong consumer demand for broadband extending beyond the reach of traditional fixed-line DSL. For the non-ILEC, wireless allows the service provider to avoid out-payments for ILEC unbundled network elements, delivering residential voice and high-speed internet to complement the mobile service revenues.

Further, Ericsson claims that provisioning HSPA is simpler, resulting in lower capital expenditures and ongoing operating expense than the network operations traditional fixed line broadband solutions.

Will Canada’s new entrant carriers go after a fixed broadband market? Such service bundles, competing with incumbent DSL and cable modem service, may significantly enhance their business plans and help accelerate network build-outs.

Monday was a clean-up the files day for the CRTC, issuing three regulatory policy decisions: on maintaining the requirement for international licenses, getting rid of the registration process for sharing groups and maintaining various obligations for CLEC’s and municipal 9-1-1 bureaus.

In each case, the Commission focussed on whether market forces could replace the regulatory burden.

In respect of international licensing, it came down to whether filing an affidavit once every 10 years was particularly onerous, balanced against the ability to guard against anti-competitive conduct.

Technorati Tags:
CRTC, regulatory policy

According to a media release on Sunday, the FCC tested white space detection devices during Friday’s Buffalo versus Washington football game.

According to Shure Inc, one of the world’s leading microphone suppliers, the test failed to “consistently identify operating wireless microphones or distinguish occupied from unoccupied TV channels.”

The FCC’s tests of prototype white space devices at FedEx field prior to Saturday’s game between the Redskins and the Bills conclusively show that spectrum sensing white space devices will cause harmful interference to wireless microphones during live events.

As I wrote last October, there has been a coalition of technology companies driving the discussion of white space technology in the US including Microsoft, Google, Dell, HP and Intel. Their objective is to get FCC approval for a generic device that will detect unused spectrum to be made available for broadband internet.

We’ll continue watching this issue.