CTC is using former TV spectrum for broadband and VoIP, and more could follow its lead next year.

The upcoming 700 MHz auction is drawing a lot of attention from big companies such as Google and Verizon Wireless, but the smaller winners of previous 700 MHz auctions already are deploying network equipment over these frequencies.

Chibardun Telephone Cooperative in Wisconsin, for example, has launched a 700 MHz broadband wireless network using gear from Soma Networks based on the IEEE 802.16e standard, the same technology used in WiMAX. While the network may not be a true WiMAX network until the standards bodies take the 700 MHz band into their fold, CTC still gets the capacity and mobility benefits of the technology. And if WiMAX certification comes, it may eventually gain the benefits of WiMAX's massive ecosystem: cheap and plentiful equipment.

The 700 MHz spectrum, in fact, presents a unique opportunity for rural subscribers. While Google talks about nationwide broadband access, and major carriers talk about the deep in-building penetration of the low-frequency UHF spectrum, rural providers can zero in on one characteristic of 700 MHz: its far-flung propagation.

“We have a 10-mile radius around each tower where we can sell broadband service,” said Rick Vergin, CEO of CTC. “We can use that wireless technology in a much wider area for far cheaper than a wireline technology.”

Of course, the broadband wireless gear can't provide the 10 Mb/s per customer of its fiber-fed DSL and fiber-to-the-home services, so CTC uses the Soma gear primarily as a supplementary technology bringing broadband access and voice over IP (VoIP) to customers it can't reach with fiber or augmented copper. The range of the spectrum allows CTC to deploy a single tower in townships throughout Wisconsin's Chippewa Valley, targeting customers it hasn't yet reached with its fiber plant or customers in areas where the cost of extending fiber is too high, Vergin said.

The lower a frequency, the further it propagates at the same power levels, explained Tom Flak, senior vice president of marketing and product strategy for Soma. Most WiMAX deployments are now in the 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz range, where spectrum is more plentiful, but range is limited. That makes them ideal for the urban deployments envisioned by most carriers, feeding high capacity using small cells.

The 700 MHz spectrum originally was intended for TV broadcast — and in many cases still is, carrying UHF channels 52-69 on the television set. The FCC has mandated that TV broadcasters go digital and migrate to channels 2 through 51, leaving the 700 MHz frequencies for broadband services. Consequently, several of the winners of the original 700 MHz auction have been using their frequencies for mobile broadcast video. Qualcomm launched its MediaFLO service over the band this year, and Aloha Partners planned a similar network until it and its sizable 700 MHz holdings were sold to AT&T last month.

Alternatively, those frequencies can be used for pure broadband access, with their propagation extending the range of two-way wireless networks, Flak said. “We get at least two to three times the range out of 700 MHz than we would out of 2.5 GHz,” he said. “When you're in a rural environment, that kind of range is useful.”

Currently the gear Soma is deploying at 700 MHz doesn't fit into any of the WiMAX Forum's profiles, although it is based on the same IEEE 802.16e technology as WiMAX. That could change depending on the winners of the lower-band auction in January. If license winners opt to deploy 802.16e on those frequencies, the WiMAX Forum likely will create a certification profile, which could lead to standardized, interoperable gear across multiple vendors.

Certification could only benefit CTC and other 700 MHz operators looking at WiMAX. Instead of buying customer premises equipment from a single vendor, operators could pick among multiple home gateways and eventually handheld devices, something that Soma doesn't produce. In addition, as more carriers scale the technology, programmable digital signal processors would be replaced with cheap ASICs, driving down the cost of devices as well as Soma's own base stations.

In short, if 700 MHz becomes a WiMAX band, small operators gain the benefits of the broader WiMAX ecosystem being driven by their Tier I counterparts, including mobility.

“Today we're operating primarily a fixed network,” Vergin said. “We don't offer mobility yet, but we would like to.”

THE INS AND OUTS OF 700 MHZ

• The 700 MHz licenses are former broadcast TV channels encompassing channels 52-69. The government has mandated that TV stations use new digital technologies to migrate to channels below 52, thus opening up the spectrum for commercial broadband and public safety use.

• The entire band is made up of 108 MHz of spectrum, 24 MHz of which has been designated specifically for public safety purposes.

• In 2002, the FCC auctioned the lower-band spectrum with companies such as Aloha Partners and Qualcomm taking a good deal of the licenses. Smaller operators such as CTC won regional and market licenses.

• The upper 700 MHz band is scheduled to be auctioned in January, putting 60 MHz up for grabs. The auction divides the spectrum into a nationwide 10 MHz block for shared public safety and commercial purposes, as well as licenses of various sizes covering whole metro areas to rural markets.