Google and AT&T aren’t always allies. But the two companies have both asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for more access to free up spectrum for wireless broadband.
The issue relates to wireless spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band now often used by the military and satellites.
In a joint Aug. 6 letter to the FCC, the two companies said, “Opening up the…3.5 GHz…band for commercial wireless use has significant potential to increase the availability of broadband and allow network operators to meet increasing spectrum demands.”
But new rules on the 3.5 GHz band would only lead to “widespread licensed and unlicensed deployment” if they “provide predictability and allow operational flexibility.”
The companies want to see a “three-tiered framework” as proposed by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) on the 3.5 GHz band. It would be shared with current federal users.
Last year, PCAST recommended that government users would be “primary incumbents,” “secondary exclusive users” would be protected government users, and general access users would be given access to spectrum if government or secondary exclusive users don’t want it.
The second tier would include hospitals, utilities and government agencies, according to The Wall Street Journal. AT&T, which will be exhibiting at ITEXPO in Las Vegas later this month, and Google want to be included in the second tier.
“We believe this model should be implemented in the 3.5 GHz band, and will protect incumbents, ensure secondary exclusive use for those with a need for especially reliable, uninterrupted access, and permit innovative unlicensed access where 3.5 GHz spectrum is not otherwise in use,” the letter said.
The FCC wants to limit the secondary exclusive tier to “critical users.” But both AT&T and Google disagree.
“Limiting access to this tier based on prejudgment of what uses are sufficiently ‘critical’ would undermine the…goal of bringing mass-market, commercial-scale technologies to the 3.5 GHz band. It would also limit users’ and service providers’ flexibility to adapt to changing conditions and market opportunities. In order to encourage the widespread deployment of wireless systems in the 3.5 GHz band, the Commission should open up the secondary exclusive tier to any applicant that commits to a substantial service requirement,” the letter said.
Also, the National Telecommunications and Information Association (NTIA) suggested that the 3.5 GHz band would be used for traditional commercial macrocells, and exclusion zones would accommodate macrocell deployments, the letter said.
But Google and AT&T said the “characteristics of the band make it ideal for small-cell use, instead. Unlike macrocells, small cells have low antenna heights and low transmit power. NTIA’s proposed zones are overprotective in the small-cell context, and the FCC can reduce exclusion zones dramatically if it designates the band for use by small cells rather than macrocells.”
“AT&T and Google believe that small cell use in the 3.5 GHz band holds great potential for successful spectrum sharing that meets the demands of wireless broadband users, and we hope the Commission will expeditiously adopt rules that fulfill this potential,” their letter said.
When it comes to interference, incumbents in the 3.5 GHz band need to be protected from interference, but new entrants should be able to decide to operate in bands where there could be interference, the letter said.
In addition, when it comes to spectrum, the U.S. government’s National Broadband Plan calls for increased broadband access for all Americans – particularly in rural and underserved regions. The FCC wants to free up 300 MHz of spectrum by 2015 and 500 MHz by 2020.
As reported by MobilityTechzone earlier this year, auctions in 2014 would reallocate up to 120 MHz of television spectrum for mobile broadband.
Edited by
Alisen Downey 
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