IP: On the way to the wireless future

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: "Janos.Gereben" <janos451 () earthlink net>
> To: "jg" <janos451 () earthlink net>
> Subject: On the way to the wireless future
> Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 16:18:51 -0800
> X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200
>
> Wireless industry submits 3G comments to FCC
> Janos Gereben - the451
>
> [Trade associations want more spectrum, less regulation in future mobile
> services, but Motorola is already taking aim at 4G.]
>
> Two major industry groups have completed their part of the Federal
> Communications Commission's rulemaking process, which is moving towards the
> establishment of standards and rules for future wireless services, lumped
> under the "third generation" or 3G terminology.
>
> The Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) and the
> Personal Communications Industry Association (PCIA) have been collecting
> comments from their members - who constitute most of the industry in the
> US - for several months. The basic message of the voluminous documents may
> be found in the CTIA summary: "There is no single definition for advanced
> wireless services or 3G, nor should the commission endeavor to create one.
> What is clear, however, is that carriers will require additional spectrum
> and continued regulatory flexibility to offer consumer-oriented wireless
> apps in the future." So, to boil the request down further: give us more
> spectrum, and don't impose regulations. Under the new Republican leadership
> both in Washington and at the FCC, this double-barreled request actually has
> a reasonable chance of getting a favorable reply.
>
> The PCIA comment summary emphasized the need for a worldwide implementation
> of 3G standards, beyond the US: "A global approach to 3G will benefit
> consumers by facilitating increased worldwide roaming opportunities and by
> allowing expanded interoperability." The industry comment also emphasized
> the importance of global standards in allowing manufacturers to take
> advantage of economies of scale, leading to lower equipment costs and more
> widespread deployment to the world's population."
>
> The CTIA report repeatedly stressed the need for more spectrum, pointing at
> the doubling of wireless use between 1996 and 2000, currently reaching over
> 100 million subscribers worldwide, the number expected to reach 600 million
> by 2010. Development of advanced wireless services in voice, data and
> interactive services, the industry association said, requires additional
> spectrum in the US or "these new services cannot be offered to U.S.
> consumers if domestic carriers have no access to additional spectrum
> resources."
>
> Comments from companies that are not members of the two associations are
> still arriving at the FCC, and the451 has learned that some of these regard
> 3G as "bankrupt at the starting gate," requiring major adjustments - taking
> standards into the realm of 4G development already underway at Motorola and
> elsewhere - to the emerging 3G technology. As current FCC deliberations are
> restricted to spectrum below 3 GH, small, independent wireless developers
> are focusing their attention in the still-unlicensed higher spectrum range.
>
> Motorola has gone on record in the past two months with its preference for
> leapfrogging 3G, and work on the next generation wireless technology, even
> though 4G is generally expected to become commercially viable only by 2010.
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Janos Gereben/SF, CA
> janos451 () earthlink net



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