AT&T executives asked the FCC to “move expeditiously”...
AT&T executives asked the FCC to “move expeditiously” to issue an NPRM on AT&T’s request for a rule change allowing a power spectral density (PSD) power limit in the 800 MHz band and to issue an order adopting CTIA’s plan…
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for new geographic licensing rules, in a meeting Monday. The AT&T executives told FCC acting Wireless Bureau Chief Roger Sherman and other FCC officials that both issues have been pending for years, saying CTIA filed its petition for the licensing rule change in 2008. CTIA, NTCA and the Rural Wireless Association jointly lobbied in April on a “consensus approach” that would convert all current authorized Cellular Geographic Service Areas (CGSA) to geographic licenses and would allow carriers to claim “unserved” areas greater than 50 square miles under existing Phase II procedures, AT&T said in an ex parte filing. The Wireless Bureau can “move immediately” to adopt an order on the licensing plan with an accompanying FNPRM on open issues, as well as adopt “an interim waiver of the requirement to file minor modifications that do not change the CGSA during the pendency of this FNPRM,” AT&T said. The carrier told the FCC it can proceed with the licensing rules change independently of its request for a new PSD rule, saying PSD “can be implemented under either the current cellular licensing rules or the new rules for geographic licenses. Once the current CGSAs are converted to geographic licenses, AT&T will maintain the power limits at border sites as needed to maintain the current [Study Area Boundary].” AT&T said it believes the FCC should consider its PSD petition using the same standard it used in its order on Sprint’s petition seeking a rule change for [Specialized Mobile Radio] licenses on the 800 MHz band. The commission considered “whether public safety licensees would be ’subject to increased harmful interference when [Economic Area]-based 800 MHz SMR licensees comply with or exceed the [current] protections,'” AT&T said. The carrier said its PSD petition demonstrated that “public safety will not experience increased harmful interference as a result of the requested PSD rule change,” and no entity has proven that’s untrue since the petition was filed more than two years ago. AT&T also urged the FCC to approve its South Florida PSD waiver request “as soon as any remaining issues have been addressed."