FCC is laying new rules for the upcoming auction of 600 MHz, however, it looks like the flood of complaints from major telecom companies are making the surface too damp to lay down any foundation. FCC introduced a new rule to allow the unlicensed usage of Duplex Gap so as to achieve a maximum efficiency of the 600 MHz band. However, by allowing this usage, it increases the rate of interference, which decreases the efficiency.
National Association of Broadcasters and other big fishes in the industry, including AT&T (NYSE: T), soon made complaints on the new amendments. The complaints stated that allowing the usage of the duplex gap would increase the interference among channels up to 20 percent or maybe even more than that. FCC is trying to use the duplex gap that lies in between the uplink and downlink of the 600 MHz.
AT&T appraise the FCC for going ahead on the auction but also said that the companies in the wireless industry pay billions of dollars to make the auction a successful event and to test the spectrums. However, FCC new rules won’t allow the tests to be made that may result in the failure and interference due to the Duplex Band.
NAB has also raised concern over the new rules for the auction that is going to happen next year. Several TV channels fall under the umbrella of this organization and it won’t be willing to make them suffer from the interference. The bands will be auctioned together with the NAB and wireless carriers in the country.
Apart from this, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pal also said that he has acknowledged the results of interference and still voted for the new rules. He also added that if we consider a loss of 5 percent of spectrum capacity due to the interference of guard bands, then there is going to be a loss of 9 percent of the spectrum value. So, if the loss is at about 20 percent than the spectrum is going to get its value decreased by 43 percent, which almost the half of total value.
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Indeed, by allowing the unlicensed operation within the gap, it will encourage the interference and will frustrate the people on the receiving end.
It does look like that if we remove the usage of duplex gap, FCC and other wireless carriers are going to save themselves from a lot of issues, because if this starts today, it would not be solved for years. Why even FCC made such rules in first place?
