Wireless carriers want MSS spectrum

(Telephony) The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association filed a petition for rulemaking with the Federal Communications Commission asking the agency to stop granting spectrum to the mobile satellite services industry and reallocate existing MSS spectrum “to more efficient users of spectrum.”

CTIA said the MSS industry already is failing financially, and new MSS entrants are unlikely to make effective use of the spectrum in the 2 GHz band. MSS spectrum could be used to help alleviate the shortage of spectrum for other services, namely the mobile wireless.

CTIA and the mobile wireless industry have been prodding the government to release spectrum for spectrum-intensive third-generation services. Spectrum the industry wants most is tied up in the Defense Department. Other spectrum identified by the International Telecommunication Union is used by broadcasters and MMDS operators. The 2 GHz band may be the industry’s only chance for 3G spectrum.

“The question is, will we have the concrete on which the new information superhighway rides?” said CTIA President and CEO Tom Wheeler during last week’s Wireless Agenda show. “I’m sad to say that it is an issue very much in doubt. There is no single issue more important than whether or not there is sufficient spectrum for wireless data. It’s halftime, and we’re down a bunch.”