WCAI Honors Jim Schlichting, Lee Sparkman, Kelley Dunne at Symposium

WCAI honored three industry visionaries with its annual awards at the Wireless Operator Dinner Sept. 15 held as part of the WCAI’s Annual International Symposium at 4G World. Jim Schlichting, Senior Deputy Chief of the FCC’s Wireless Bureau, was presented with the Government Leadership Award; Lee Sparkman, President of Enforta (Russia) with the Industry Service Award; and Kelley Dunne, CEO of DigitalBridge, with the Innovation Achievement Award. “We at WCAI are delighted to recognize the achievements of Jim Schlichting, Lee Sparkman and Kelley Dunne,” said WCAI President & CEO Fred Campbell. “Throughout their distinguished careers, they contributed to the growth and prosperity of the wireless broadband industry. On behalf of the WCAI, I want to thank them for their hard work and congratulate on winning the WCAI’s annual awards.”

WCAI Symposium Panelists Discuss Universal Broadband Services, Spectrum Allocations

WCAI International Symposiumpanelists last week urged the federal government to inventory the way government and commercial frequencies are being used before deciding how much additional spectrum needs to be reallocated for 4G wireless services, according to TR Daily. Although most panelists did not want to suggest how much additional spectrum carriers would need, Mohammad Shakouri, corporate VP-innovation and marketing for WCAI member Alvarion, suggested each would need an additional 80 MHz to 100 MHz, and he said they will also need wide channels for “real broadband.” Jim Schlichting, senior deputy chief of the FCC’s Wireless Bureau, urged various parties to weigh in at workshops and elsewhere at the agency. “Up until this point, we’ve had a lot of folks saying we need more spectrum, but it’s been sorely lacking in specifics,” he said, including where to get the spectrum and what the demand will be. Mr. Schlichting said the FCC was becoming prepared to conduct an inventory of spectrum under its jurisdiction if congressional legislation passes, while Danny Weitzner, associate administrator-policy for the NTIA, said his agency, other executive branch agencies, and Capitol Hill were discussing the best way to conduct an inventory of government bands. He also cited the need to provide incentives for efficient spectrum use and for users to vacate spectrum.

4G Wireless Network Roaming Challenges Cited at WCAI Symposium

Industry representatives participating in the WCAI’s International Symposium panel on roaming last week cited the challenges carriers will face in inking roaming agreements on 4G networks and suggested that the FCC leave data roaming up to the market instead of imposing rules, according to TR Daily coverage. Joan Marsh, vice president-federal regulatory for AT&T, and other panelists cited the difficulty of knowing exactly at this point how roaming agreements for 4G services will work in light of the absence of a standard for LTE technology, as well as uncertainty about the exact applications over networks. Speakers also noted that standards for VoIP offerings over a 4G platform haven’t been adopted. Jim Schlichting, senior deputy chief of the FCC’s Wireless Bureau, suggested that one of the factors the FCC will consider when mulling whether to change its roaming rules is the expectation of consumers when using the mobile Internet. He noted the agency also must consider whether it has the jurisdiction to regulate data roaming.