AWS-3 Spectrum Debate Festers

WASHINGTON, Sept 23, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- M2Z Networks, Inc. ("M2Z") announced today that recent AWS-3 testing results released by the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") confirm that there are no technical barriers to the FCC adopting service rules for a nationwide free wireless broadband network.

"In the end, the tests showed time division duplex ("TDD") and frequency division duplex ("FDD") technologies can coexist in the 2.1 GHz band using the technical rules similar to those that M2Z has been advocating for over two years," said Dr. Paul J. Kolodzy, Chief Technical Consultant to M2Z and former FCC Senior Spectrum Policy Advisor who attended the tests in Seattle on behalf of M2Z.

Specifically, the test results confirmed the following:

-- The testing validated previous testing performed by ERA Technology which provided the basis for the decision by Ofcom (the United Kingdom's independent telecommunications regulator) to permit TDD and FDD coexistence using an out-of-band emission limit of 49 + 10 log (P), which is far less stringent than the 60+10 log (P) proposed by the FCC.

-- The testing also demonstrated that AWS-3 handsets could operate safely at the Commission's standard power limit of +33 dBm.

-- Providing protection down to the level T-Mobile is asking to protect, would mean that Bluetooth, WiFi, home and small business wireless cell sites, and even microwave ovens would cause interference.

The September test also calls into question the validity of T-Mobile's July 25, 2008 adjacent channel tests. The FCC-observed test showed that the AWS-1 handsets experienced adjacent channel interference from a transmitting device in the unlicensed band at 2415 MHz (nearly 300 MHz away).

T-Mobile USA, AT&T, CTIA and other AWS-1 licensees had demanded the unprecedented tests which have never been conducted for the FCC establishment of service rules for previous primary wireless service allocation. The aggressive and repeated calls for testing disrupted the AWS-3 rulemaking proceeding and resulted in over 3 months of delay in the FCC's consideration of a new class of wireless service that allows consumers to have access to free broadband similar to free broadcast TV.

"Before the FCC issued its report, AT&T, T-Mobile and others attempted to distract attention from the actual results by making the unsupported conclusions in the press that the tests proved that the Commission's lifeline broadband rules would not work. Nothing could be further from the truth as discussed in our filing today," stated John Muleta, CEO of M2Z Networks. "More importantly, these parties selective use of the test data significantly qualifies their conclusions. Notably, not one of these parties has bothered to explain why T-Mobile's September tests, which were observed by the Commission, found that even WiFi signals nearly 250 megahertz away cause interference to T-Mobile's AWS-1 handsets."

Parties opposing the use of AWS-3 for broadband are seeking multiple technical restrictions, each of which are designed to limit significantly the usefulness of future AWS-3 handsets. However, the test results demonstrate that the wireless incumbents' proposed onerous limits are unnecessary.

"We believe that the FCC's unbiased analysis of the test data, combined with sound engineering and policy considerations, and the FCC's own precedent, should lead it to reach the same conclusions as UK's Ofcom and the ITU and find that TDD and FDD operations can co-exist in the AWS bands without having to impose onerous technical limits or spectrally inefficient guard bands," Dr. Kolodzy further stated. "The results come as no surprise to us. M2Z repeatedly has demonstrated that the claims of incumbents that there would be harmful interference from AWS-3 are based on unrealistic assumptions. What we learned from the recent tests is that some of the claims also were based on inappropriate testing parameters."

Muleta added, "The incumbents' suggested rewrite of the proposed AWS-3 rules presents significant policy and market ramifications for not only free broadband, but also for the use of many consumer products and services including Bluetooth, WiFi and even microwave ovens. T-Mobile, AT&T and others' unwillingness to discuss publicly these findings should serve to disqualify overly broad conclusions regarding the interference potential that free broadband operations may cause to their wireless services."

About M2Z Networks:

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif., M2Z Networks' goal is to transform the current state of the broadband marketplace by building a new high-speed wireless network throughout the United States. The FCC has recently drafted proposed rules that would require a spectrum auction for a slice of fallow spectrum in which the licensee would have to guarantee the delivery of free, fast and family-friendly wireless broadband service to at least 95 percent of Americans within a 10 year timeframe. M2Z is backed by Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers; Charles River Ventures; and Redpoint Ventures; three of the most successful venture capital firms in Silicon Valley with $5 billion of capital under management. For more information, please visit www.M2Znetworks.com and www.FreeBroadbandNow.org.

SOURCE M2Z Networks, Inc.

 http://www.M2ZNetworks.com