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 Just three decades after the first generation of wireless telephone technology was introduced, engineers, wireless operators, and industry analysts are talking about the best way to split the fourth generation broadband spectrum into more usable parts. It could get messy, LBA Group’s Chris Horne warns. Horne’s warning came in a discussion at last week’s 4G [...]  Now, we continue the long list of FCC historic spectrum management mistakes that began with Part 1 of this blog series. 6. Nextel (1990s). Back when it all began they were known as “Fleetcall,” but their real intention became apparent with the re-naming of the company after a few years. Their mission: to construct a [...]  LBA Group has asked the Federal Communications Commission to speed up broadband deployment by promoting wireless antenna collocation on AM towers. How? By cutting local red tape for collocations and halving the annual AM fee for station owners who allow use of their towers. The Sept. 30 filing in WC Docket No. 11-59 is LBA’s [...] The Curmudgeon recently read an account of yet another potential spectrum management (engineering) gaffe toward which the FCC has been briskly marching, and that set him to pondering. The FCC has, historically, produced a series of what might be classified as spectrum management mistakes, ranging from blunders at the marginally tolerable level to complete fiascos. [...]  Chris Horne, LBA Group, Inc. CTO, will be moderating a free webinar on PIM: Passive Intermodulation sponsored by the WCAI Engineering committee. The speaker will be Ray Butler, Vice President – Base Station Antenna Products and Development at CommScope. PIM has become increasingly important with the explosion of wireless data services and the increasing need [...]  Global Positioning System receivers remain wary of the plan by 4G network provider LightSquared to create a wireless broadband network to serve every nook and cranny of the U.S. In testimony June 23 before a House subcommittee, opponents of the LightSquared system said it would endanger the GPS navigation systems that aircraft and ships depend [...] LightSquared apparently has dodged a GPS bullet that almost shot it down before it started up. It will switch to another spectrum that virtually eliminates interference with Global Positioning System receivers. Early tests by the Reston, Va., 4G network provider indicated that one 10-megahertz spectral block of its Long Term Evolution (LTE) open wireless broadband [...]  Many radio and TV broadcasters in the United States are not aware that a year’s old FCC rule may be about to wreck their microwave operations! If you have an affected operation, you should take immediate action to preserve interference protection for your system. On October 16, 2004 the FCC changed the coordination rules for [...] Field testing has been performed to determine the effect of a 4G base station, typical of those proposed by LightSquared, upon first responder GPS devices. Early results of tests in New Mexico show an impact on police and medical services equipment. Bill Range, Program Director of New Mexico 911 services reported the test results (PDF) [...]  Although they are a hundred years and a thousand megahertz apart, broadband wireless systems and AM broadcast have a curious and important relationship! Through this free webinar “AM Radio: Traps & Promises in Broadband Deployment” presented by WCAI and LBA, you will learn about AM transmission, how the AM towers and wireless towers interact, and [...]  The Wireless Communications Association International (WCAI) Engineering Committee voted Thursday to launch a Signal Boosters Subcommittee and elected LBA Group CTO Chris Horne as the chair. Chris Horne, Harry Perlow of Sprint is WCAI Engineering Committee Chair. The WCAI subcommittee on Signal Boosters is established in response to the FCC’s recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking [...]  Recent legal cases between some wireless carriers and manufacturers of signal boosters also known as handset amplifiers have moved the FCC to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to address interference concerns by the mobile operator. The FCC initiated the proceeding to “facilitate the development and deployment of well-designed signal boosters” In the proceeding, [...]  The WCAI’s 4G Caucus was a must-attend event for wireless operators, vendors, policymakers and systems integrators staying ahead of the curve as the wireless industry migrates to 4G. Held at the Crystal City, VA Hilton, the technical conference addressed major challenges of the 3G to 4G transition – from backhaul applications and business strategies to [...]  Great news for Educational Broadband Service (EBS) license holders, the Federal Communications Commission has granted an extension to file showings of Substantial Service for EBS license holders. On March 21, 2011 the FCC adopted a memorandum and order that concludes, “we waive the requirements for licensees to individually file extension requests. We also extend the [...] In writing these posts the Curmudgeon has tried to bridge the views and outlooks of its readers’ several different age generations, and has attempted to prepare the descriptions to be meaningful across the entire range of ages. But indications have become evident that the views about the role of telecommunications (and related products) in human [...]  The rollout of 3G networks across the country is old news with the recent announcements by Verizon, AT&T, and others to rapidly deploy 700 MHz 4G LTE this year throughout the USA. These high speed networks are slated to grow with ten’s of thousands of new towers and antennas, and to employ novel digital modulation [...] Last time we began a discussion about some of the factors (mostly human-created) which could limit the future usability of the RF spectrum. The first two were spectrum-use saturation and the spread of poorly-designed, RF-radiating digital devices. In this post we’ll conclude the Curmudgeon’s list with three more possible factors, and then toss it open [...] The recent series of posts dealing, in part, with the future of the Amateur Radio Service launched the Curmudgeon’s thinking into a new direction. Being a “philosopher dude” kind of guy whose thoughts tend to move toward larger and more futuristic issues, the Curmudgeon generalized his thinking to consider the future prospects for the entire [...]  Back in March we made a post introducing the FCC Spectrum Dashboard which at the time was being beta tested. Now the site has been upgraded and officially taken out of beta! The dashboard adds a sense of transparency into how America’s spectrum is being used. In the FCC’s words: “The Spectrum Dashboard allows new [...] Last time we looked at the consequences of a broadcast channel allocation matter in which a small, analog Low Power TV station was displaced from its high UHF channel assignment in Pleasantville (a medium-size city located near Gotham City, a regional metropolis) by the FCC’s re-allocation of its existing LPTV channel to the new 700 [...] There is an article in the October 2010 issue of IEEE Spectrum (p. 26), “The Great Spectrum Famine.” It makes much the same case as does the Curmudgeon, but from more general considerations and a bit higher level. The Curmudgeon said: “It really doesn’t say much that we don’t already know, and I don’t really [...]  In a unanimous decision Thursday, the FCC opened up TV white spaces spectrum for use by unlicensed devices, while reserving two channels for wireless microphones. The Commission rejected arguments that white space broadband use was uncontrollable and threatened over-the-air TV. The FCC voted 5-0 on rules for that move. The FCC believes these guidelines could [...]  President Obama’s multi-billion-dollar proposal to give every home broadband access seems to be a campaign without a constituency. This is not the first time administration efforts seem guided by something other than a groundswell of consensus. The administration has directed that $7.2 billion in stimulus fund grants target the broadband upgrade effort, declaring that universal [...]  This isn’t really news. President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum on June 8, 2010 entitled Unleashing the Wireless Broadband Revolution. This committed the federal government to find an available 500 MHz of federal and commercial spectrum over the next 10 years for reallocation to broadband. The President said that this spectrum will foster investment, economic growth and help create hundreds of thousands of jobs by meeting the “burgeoning demand” for mobile and fixed broadband, other “high-value uses” and benefits for other industries. Currently, wireless companies have about 534 megahertz allotted to them. That number will double in the next ten years, apparently. [...] In the previous post, the Curmudgeon looked at the first of the two major sociological changes that, in his opinion, have occurred in the Amateur Radio Service during the past fifty years: the “dumbing down” and “consumerization” of the ARS. In this post he examines the second major change. This other change, the Curmudgeon suggests, is the ascendency of ARS operators’ ego as a principal organizing force. It has changed the Service during the past half-century, and not for the better. There are several ways in which this trend manifests itself today. [...] Comments are now closed on the FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to overhaul antenna-related rules, which covers Part 17 on construction, lighting, and marking. Comments were due by July 20th and the deadline for replies is August 19th. A lot of our readers and clients already own AM broadcast antennas or if you own any kind of antenna structure or are expecting to build one, hopefully you have already contacted the FCC and made your suggestions, as this opportunity does not come along often. [...] The US economy, juiced by the national popular culture, is about to commit another major telecommunications blunder! The title of this piece gives a clue to it. Since there is no way to stop or to prevent the developing blunder, it might be of some use at least to understand what we are doing. American [...]  Apparently believing the old Brylcreem advertising slogan “A Little Dab’ll Do Ya,” Canadian proponents of the digital audio broadcasting (DAB) technology relied on a few stations in major markets across the country to spread the word. It didn’t work. The Canadian Broadcast Corp. has announced it is shutting down DAB digital transmitters in Montreal, a [...] Within the developing utility Smart Grid universe, this time we’ll look at some special concerns about the customer-centric Advanced Metering Initiative area. Here the deck is stacked entirely against the consumer. First, the consumer will have to pay the costs for implementing the Initiative; in California alone, the costs just for replacing a significant portion [...] Last time we introduced the new buzzword term, the utility Smart Grid, provided a quick overview of the concept-undergoing-creation, and noted that doubts exist whether the utility industry can successfully implement it. Now let’s spend a little time examining those doubts as they relate to the utility-centric side of the Smart Grid effort. The first [...] |
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