The MDS problems have just begun

The FCC has finally ruled on cleaning up the Multipoint Distribution System bands, clearing the spectrum--at least theoretically--for the mass deployment of broadband wireless technology. But like many of the FCC's decisions, the new rules for the MDS bands don't create an immediate solution. In fact, the industry is in for a protracted wait before any service is deployed in those bands.

The FCC proposes cleaning up all of the interleaved channels of Instructional Television Fixed Service spectrum residing up and down the 2.5 GHz to 2.7 GHz frequencies (see story in Top News). But it is leaving the cleanup to the license-holders themselves, telling the current MDS license-owners that they have to negotiate with their ITFS counterparts to relocate their spectrum to the center of the band. A lot easier said than done: There are thousands of separate ITFS license-holders, most of them public schools or religious institutions that have occupied those frequencies for quite some time. Not only will the sheer amount of separate negotiations required be high, the likelihood that all those thousands of parties will come to amicable terms with the carriers involved is slim.

Until then, the carriers owning that spectrum are stuck in the same position they've always been. The ITFS licenses are not only distributed throughout the 2.5 GHz bands, but they also occupy different slots in the spectrum chart in every individual market, making it impossible for any carrier to perform a standardized rollout outside of a single market (even if they could make some headway with individual ITFS license holders).

Still, there is some hope. When wireless pioneer Craig McCaw recently announced that he would deploy a nationwide 2.5 GHz network via his new Clearwire venture, he said he would do it over the ITFS spectrum he leases from a consortia of license-holders. With that much spectrum under his indirect control, McCaw can perhaps affect a major relocation of the spectrum in a timely manner, or at least coax the license-holders in that direction. After all, he's less prone to use the spectrum--and pay for it--if he can't use it.

Contact me at kfitchard@primediabusiness.com