FCC to vote on proposal to use old NextWave spectrum

The Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to vote on a proposal that would allow AT&T to offer mobile broadband service on 20MHz of spectrum it purchased in August along with spectrum holding company NextWave Wireless.

During its Oct. 17 meeting, the FCC is scheduled to vote on a proposal to allow AT&T to use the Wireless Communications Service (WCS) spectrum in the 2.3GHz band in a way that doesn't interfere with Sirius XM Radio, which uses nearby spectrum. In June, AT&T and Sirius offered a series of proposals to allow mobile broadband on the spectrum and minimize interference. The FCC proposal closely follows the recommendations from AT&T and Sirius, according to a person familiar with the plan. Among other things, the proposals from AT&T and Sirius would prohibit mobile and portable transmitters in part of the WCS spectrum, and they would lengthen the planned build-out of LTE service in the WCS spectrum. The new FCC proposal would allow mobile broadband on 20MHz of the total 30MHz in the WCS spectrum, according to Tammy Sun, an FCC spokeswoman. The other 10MHz could be available for mobile broadband in the future.