DISH Network is defending its terrestrial wireless plan to the FCC. The company bought bankrupt satellite operators TerreStar Networks and DBSD North America which share the 2 GHz MSS satellite spectrum.
Dish hopes to offer terrestrial LTE service nationwide. DISH, in a 67-page filing with the FCC (pdf), says their spectrum would have no interference issues and would advance the agency’s highest priority of “deploying broadband networks to every American.”
Competing satphone provider LightSquared has run into resistance from GPS advocates because their company utilizes the adjoining 1.6 GHz band used by GPS.
Critics of the Dish plan include incumbents Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS as well as the CTIA – The Wireless Association. Perhaps notable by their absence are incumbents AT&T and Verizon.
Sprint Nextel asked the FCC impose build-out requirements similar to those the agency has already required of LightSquared. Sprint already announced a build-out deal with Lightsquared. While Lightsquared may not have had a well-vetted spectrum plan, they had a suitcase stuffed with hedge-fund money.
MetroPCS, also a partner in Lightsquared, asked the FCC to force DISH to provide a detailed business plan before considering the transfer application.
DISH said its build-out conditions were modeled on the one that Sprint itself was subject to in the Nextel and Clearwire transactions. DISH also refuted claims that its plan would [somehow] subject incumbent cellular’s 1.9 GHz PCS spectrum to “harmful” interference.
“The 3rd Generation Partnership Project, with participation from CTIA members, reached a consensus agreement just a few months ago on interference protection standards for 2 GHz LTE devices, laying to rest any real interference concerns,” said Dish.
DISH also cited endorsements received by Globalstar and the U.S. GPS Industry Council, which has been at odds with LightSquared.
DISH has proposed to use the [now unused] 40 megahertz of 2 gigahertz S-band MSS spectrum to deploy a satellite-terrestrial network. The company filed for a waiver in August to allow single-mode terrestrial LTE devices to be used on its network, a waiver that the commission conditionally granted to LightSquared in January.
In acquiring DBSD’s and TerreStar’s spectrum, DISH would be able to build out a nationwide LTE network without the interference problems of Lightsquared.
ICO G1 was launched on April 4, 2008 while the competing TerreStar-1 was launched on July 1, 2009. Both satellites are operational.
Both groundbreaking platforms are capable of delivering voice and data to handheld devices, but both companies declared bankruptcy and were bought by Charlie Ergen’s Dish Networks.
Meanwhile, ViaSat-1 launched last week, has now manuvered into its assigned geosynchronous slot and has successfully completed all scheduled maneuvers. The 140 Gbps capacity satellite is scheduled to enter service in late December.
Unlike Lightsquared, Inmarsat, ICO or TerreStar, which were designed for mobile phones at 1.6 GHz or 2 GHz, ViaSat-1 is designed to deliver fixed broadband at 20/30 GHz to homes and businesses in rural areas. Consumers may get internet speeds up to 10 Mbps using small (1 meter) dishes.
Related DailyWireless Space and Satellite News includes; ViaSat-1 Launched, Charlie Ergen’s Spectacular Triple Play, Charlie’s Big Play, EchoStar Closes $2B Hughes Deal, Lightsquared Interference: No Immediate Fix?, LightSquared: GPS Interference Found, Lightsquared: Plan B from Outer Space?, Harbinger: 59MHz or What?. Time Warner Cable + Lightstream?, Lightsquared Signs Cricket Wireless, Another Rumor: Lightsquared + Sprint?, Lightsquared + Sprint?, Charlie’s Big Play, LTE Spectrum: It’s War, Lightsquared: What GPS Interference?, Harbinger Sells Inmarsat Shares, FCC Green Lights Lightsquared, T-Mobile: No Spectrum Deal…Yet, LightSquared: In Trouble?, Lightsquared Unfurled, MetroPCS Eyes TerreStar, SkyTerra 1 Launched, ICO Deploys 40 Foot Antenna, ICO G-1 In Space, ICO Wants Its Mobile TV – via DVB-SH, Broadband Satellites: Black Hole?, MSS: Stuck in Space, Satellite with 328 ft Antenna to Launch, Broadband Satellites: Black Hole?, LightSquared: Phase 1, LightSquared: 5K Basestations by 2011, LightSquared Announces LTE Network, FCC Okays Terrestrial LTE for SkyTerra, TerreStar Successfully Launched, AT&T/TerreStar Ready Satphone Service, TerreStar Phones Home, Godzilla SatPhones WiMAXed
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank's!