Just to add to what Tom said below, there aren't a lot of licensed
PtMP frequencies. The 2.5 GHz band (BRS/EBS, f/k/a MMDS/ITFS) is
largely controlled now by Clear. They accumulated a lot of licenses
(Nextel had bought many years ago) and leased a lot of the leasable
spectrum from educational licensees. The general rule has been that
an educational licensee could lease out 3/4 of its spectrum, leaving
them roughly a TV channel's worth for their own use.
The old educational licenses were largely intended for broadcast-type
use in a 35-mile radius, though they are allowable for 2-way use
too. MMDS were mostly geographic-area (BTA) licenses. The "swiss
cheese" between the EBS radii was to be auctioned, though I don't
know if it actually was. Auctions maximize scarcity, allowing
Clearwire, basically, to shut off the air supply (hmmm, double
meaning here) to everyone else.
A few years ago, I downloaded the FCC's ITFS/MMDS database and mapped
it. This would tell me what the ITFS/BRS radius licenses were
near. Looking at Galax, there are none nearby; the nearest licensees
are in Winston-Salem, Johnson City and Roanoke. NTELOS has about 13
channels' worth of BRS, though, in BTA 367, pretty much the whole
run, which looks like an old "wireless cable" play.
Another licensed band is WCS at 2.3 GHz. This has some issues with
nearby satellite broadcasting, but might be usable. Again, it was
all auctioned off (for a song) in 1997 and largely purchased later by
NextWave (not the original, bankrupt one but the same owners' later
company). So they might rent it out. But in your case, AT&T owns
the WCS licenses, with Horizon Data leasing 10 MHz too. So again
availability is probably nil.
Hence if someone asks the cost of a licensed PtMP, you might ask them
if they want to take Clear off of its owners' hands, since that's
probably the only way to get one.
At 8/30/2011 02:35 PM, Tom DeReggi wrote:
The answer to your questions does not have a generic answer.
If your area is highly rural, there might be options. But to find
out, you'd likely have to spend some money to get a spectrum search
done to find it, if it exists.
Licensed PtMP spectrum is not accessible to most, in most areas, as
you stated, it takes Billions at auction.
But there someimes is the option to sub-lease spectrum from spectrum
licensees, if they have not already leased it out.
EBS is one example, often owned by local school systems
previously. Some spectrum ranges were sold in small geograpghical
blocks, so leaving it unused in some small rural towns. Most cell
carriers already found the vacant spectrum and leased it, like much
of the 2.5Ghz spectrum used by Sprint/Clearwire.
One way to find it is to go to FCC website, and do a geosearch for
spectrum owners within a radius of your area. Then manually call
them all, to ask if they are using it, and would be interested in
sub-leasing it if not. That can be a tedius process for someone not
familiar with it all.
There are only two resources I know of to refer you to.
1) I belive WISPA's attorney, Steve Coran, has helped some companies
find licensed spectrum.
2) I believe SpectrumBridge databases unused spectrum, and helps
prospective leasee find leasors.
> We're in Carroll and Grayson Counties in SW VA. I just can't see
a business case for investing in licensed wireless for 21k houses
in 900 sq miles
Not necessarilly. You'd never be able to serve 21K homes with
unlicensed. Often spectrum owners buy national licenses because they
want to cheey pick the prime markets, and might not have built out
the most rural markets, and never plan to. Thus there is a model for
the spectrum to be sub-let to a partner that will buildout the rural
network, and actually has an interest to. Most WISPs cant afforf
licensed spectrum because they start out serving 200 homes within
21k, not 21k homes.
Buying small area licensing actually helps buying licenses more
affordably because it allows a smaller dollar sale, more within the
realm of what a small provider could secure financially. Often
spectrum is valued by an equivellent method, such as # of homes
served, thus a small area license would cost the same as a large
area license from a "per person" cost.
With that said, I have no idea what kind of spectrum might or might
not be available in your area.
--
Fred Goldstein k1io fgoldstein "at" ionary.com
ionary Consulting http://www.ionary.com/
+1 617 795 2701
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