Page 164 - SAMENA Trends - June-July 2020

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman
confirmed that it has received 348 applications from Ajit Pai has announced that the repurposing of 3.7GHz
companies interested in taking part in its auction of C-band spectrum for 5G services will move forward on
5G-suitable (3550MHz-3650MHz) 3.5GHz spectrum, an accelerated timeline. In a public notice, the FCC’s
which is scheduled to commence on 23 July. Of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau confirmed that
applications received, the FCC said that 106 were it has secured commitments from all eligible satellite
‘complete’, while a further 242 were ‘incomplete’. operators to meet an accelerated clearing timeline that
To become a qualified bidder for Auction 105, each will make way for faster 5G deployment in the 3.7GHz
applicant in the latter category must resubmit its band. In February, the FCC adopted rules designed to free
application, having corrected any deficiencies, and up 280MHz of C-band spectrum for 5G use. Specifically,
make the required upfront payment by 19 June the rules required existing satellite operators to ‘repack’
2020. Registered bidders with ‘complete’ paperwork their operations from the band’s entire 500MHz into
include: AT&T Spectrum Frontiers, Cincinnati Bell, Cox the upper 200MHz; allocated the lower 280MHz for
Communications, Frontier Communications, Mediacom, terrestrial flexible use; and provided for a 20MHz guard
Puerto Rico Telephone Company (Claro), Shenandoah band in between. Moreover, the FCC has provided five
Cable Television, TeleGuam Holdings (GTA), United eligible space station operators serving the contiguous
States Cellular Corporation and Windstream Services. United States with the opportunity to clear the lower
Meanwhile, registered bidders with ‘incomplete’ 300MHz of the band on an accelerated timeframe in
documentation include: Aeronet Wireless Broadband, exchange for accelerated relocation payments. With all
Cable ONE, Consolidated Communications Enterprise five eligible satellite operators – Eutelsat, Intelsat, SES,
Services, DOCOMO Pacific, T-Mobile License and Star One, and Telesat – having voted for ‘accelerated
Verizon Wireless Network Procurement. In addition, relocation’, the accelerated timeline has been triggered.
Fierce Wireless notes that satellite TV giant DISH Specifically, these companies must first clear 120MHz
Network is on this list, bidding as Wetterhorn Wireless. of spectrum in 46 Partial Economic Areas (PEAs) by 5
In March this year the FCC confirmed that it had December 2021. In a second phase, they must clear
rescheduled its planned auction of frequencies in the the lower 120MHz in the remaining PEAs, plus an
3.5GHz band as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. additional 180MHz nationwide, by 5 December 2023.
The spectrum sale – which had been scheduled to If the companies fulfil these commitments, they will be
commence on 25 June – will now start on 23 July. eligible for up to USD9.7 billion in accelerated relocation
The auction will offer seven Priority Access Licenses payments plus reasonable relocation costs, paid for
(PALs) in each county-based license area, for a total by the new flexible use licensees. Had the satellite
of 22,631 PALs nationwide. Each PAL will be a ten-year operators not chosen to accept accelerated relocation
renewable license, consisting of an unpaired 10MHz payments, the deadline for clearing the lower 300MHz
channel. (June 10, 2020) commsupdate.com of the band would have been 5 December 2025.
(June 3, 2020) commsupdate.com

The Ministry of Information Technologies & While the MITC did not mention specific operators
Communications (MITC) gave an update yesterday (8 in its national progress report, TeleGeography’s
June 2020) on the country’s ‘Digital Economy’ 2020 GlobalComms Database notes that state-owned
telecoms goals. The MITC reported that in the period Uzbektelecom is the dominant provider of fixed
Uzbekistan of January to early June, 281,000 new fixed broadband broadband access, while the government currently
owns three of the country’s five mobile network
internet ports were installed (with equipment for
340,000 ports delivered), towards an annual target of operators – namely Ucell, Uzmobile (Uzbektelecom’s
800,000 new ports. In the mobile sector, the ministry cellular arm) and Mobiuz – all of which are expanding
stated that 1,148 new 3G/4G base stations were 3G/4G networks. The trio compete against Russian-
deployed and put into operation throughout the backed cellco Beeline and smaller CDMA provider
country in the year to-date – aiming for a total of 2,200 Perfectum (itself partly owned by Uzbektelecom).
new 3G/4G base stations in FY20 – alongside 1,483 In recent individual announcements, Uzmobile has
upgrades to existing base stations to provide mobile completed a project to expand LTE to all its existing
broadband services. Furthermore, in the same period 2G/3G base station sites in the capital Tashkent as well
6,500km of fiber-optic cabling was installed, out of a as other regions, while Mobiuz alone is aiming to install
total 12,000km expected in full-year 2020, supporting over 1,000 base stations nationwide during 2020.
both fixed and mobile network expansion/upgrades. (June 9, 2020) commsupdate.com

164 JUNE-JULY 2020