Welcome to EBS WIMAX

Newest Development: Comcast and Time Warner to bankroll WiMax joint venture

Comcast and Time Warner Cable are looking to help bankroll a new joint venture between Sprint Nextel and Clearwire to deliver 4G wireless services, according to a report in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal... more>>

Educational Broadband Spectrum (EBS) Explained...

The new rules applied by the FCC (back in 2004) for Educational Broadband Spectrum (EBS, formerly the ITFS) has opened the door for companies like Clearwire and Sprint/Nextel to approach owners of this spectrum with long-term lease offers that would allow marketing of commercial broadband wireless services within a geographical service area (GSA).

The owners of this spectrum are Colleges, School Boards, Churches, or other non-profit organizations within a specific Geographical Service Area (GSA). These organizations, more often than not, are not even aware that they have the rights to this 2.5GHz (2495mhz -2690mhz) spectrum. This spectrum is now in high demand because of uses and compatibilities for enhanced broadband wireless services, namely WIMAX.

This spectrum was assigned by the FCC to Colleges, School Boards, Churches, or other non-profit organizations back in the late 1960's and early 1970's and was supposed to be used for television broadcasts by the owner entity for instructional or educational services.

According to new FFC rules, 5% of EBS must be used for educational content and 20 hours per week/per channel of educational content must also be provisioned.

Sprint/Nextel and Clearwire have been and still are negotiating for long term usage of the other 95% of this radio frequency to market high speed wireless internet access. They are negotiating long-term lease deals (10, 20, or even 30 years) because by law they cannot own this Educational Broadband Spectrum. However, they can negotiate with current owners for long term lease usage.

This is a great deal for owners of the spectrum, Clearwire or Sprint/Nextel, and end users. Often, large upfront and monthly lease payments are negotiated for by Lessees and this benefits the spectrum owner. Clearwire or Sprint/Nextel will be able to install and market a high-speed, nationwide, wireless network for use by end users, and end users will have the ability to have high speed access to the internet and other services like VoIP from their home (fixed), down the street (nomadic), or on the move (mobile), all from the same account.

The ideal plan would involve a national rollout of a Wimax Network involving Sprint/Nextel and their Wimax brand "Xohm", along with Clearwire. Intel and Motorola have already vested hundreds of millions in this concept and Intel is prepared to vest another $2B if these two Companies can come together on a joint venture, so you can bet it will not just go away. http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9874513-37.html

Intel also plans on embedding Wimax in their next generation chipset's, just as WiFi is incorporated now in laptops, phones, and other handheld devices. Other players include Google, Best Buy, and Microsoft (with their possible acquisition of YaHoo). Here is a great article on the latest regarding all of the aforementioned Companies.

The real advantage for end users is the ability to roam seamlessly between networks (base stations) on a National level (eventually). So this means a nationwide, high speed, wireless network from which to access the internet and other services. The $2B investment by Intel would be significant in expediting installation on the nationwide network.

What is also really interesting about this whole endeavor is the big dent that Wimax puts in Municipal Wi-Fi applications that were so hot this time last year. Muni Wi-Fi is now dead, along with the caveats that were listed in Muni WiFi RFP's that addressed Digital Inclusion & Literacy, Local Economic stimulus, Municipal applications, and revenue sharing provided by Muni WiFi vendors bidding on these contracts and of which participation and provision of these programs would determine awards of these contracts.

Gone also is dealing with the Municipality or Local Government in getting these deals done. No more City Council presentations and meetings, dealing with City Officials, power and pole attachment issues, and the overall arduous processes involved in launching a "City-Wide" or "County-Wide" WiFi network.

Now, instead of dealing with the Municipality or Local Government, Network Providers (Sprint/Nextel and/or Clearwire) are striking deals with Boards of Trustees for Colleges, School Boards, Churches, and other non-profits that are not aware of the value of the asset they are dealing with. These entities think they are getting a good deal, but in reality might end up scratching their heads because of their lack of vision and foresight, the absence of priorities set forth in the agreement related to Community Outreach, Municipal applications, and the benefits to other GSA based organizations and initiatives that could have prospered from revenue share regarding the asset that they maintain.

Both Sprint/Nextel and Clearwire have been acquiring long term use of the 2.5GHz spectrum for years now from EB Spectrum Owners, namely Schools, Colleges, Churches, and other non-profits. These entities did not know the better and the "cash" lure was too much to pass up. Over the past few years, while this spectrum was in play, very few of these Institutions performed proper due diligence on the value of their spectrum and did not hire outside Counsel or Spectrum Analysts before consummating the lease deals.

This has changed for the better in recent EBS dealings. Lynchburg, VA has hired a Spectrum Analyst (AireWire) to coordinate and advise on contractual payments and terms. Florida Atlantic University, owner of a very valuable piece of 2.5GHz spectrum in the Palm Beach and Broward County, FL coverage areas, have enlisted the services of Evan Carb, an Attorney well versed in the dealings with this type of deal.

The bottom line is that Spectrum Owners that have hired outside Counsel and/or Spectrum Analysts are in a fundamentally better situation to leverage their asset to benefit the Spectrum Owner, the Cities or Communities to be served, and to address more specific language in the terms of priorities for Spectrum Owners, existing Community efforts, Municipal applications, Community Outreach Programs, and Revenue Share.

This makes a lot of sense simply because the services that Sprint/Nextel or Clearwire will be offering in any specific GSA will be far better than any existing wire line access that most people have right now. And if Sprint/Nextel or Clearwire are offering Revenue Share as part of their deal to Spectrum Owners, that will clearly benefit the GSA. Their market penetration will increase because the switch over will become a no-brainer for many residential and business subscribers.

In lieu of revenue share, Clearwire or Sprint/Nextel may offer peripheral applications from which a percentage of revenue may be distributed to accredited GSA Community Initiatives, Workforce Development, or Digital Inclusion & Literacy Programs.

The alternative represents just another ISP to choose from. And in most markets this will be the case because the deals and contractual terms have already been inked by cash starved, un-educated EBS Spectrum Owners.

The questionable aspect of this whole deal is that this asset was given to Colleges, Universities, School Boards, Churches, and other non-profits back in the 60's and 70's by the FCC and now Trustees of these "Community assets” are receiving large amounts of money and may have to answer many questions in the future as to the validity and legitimacy of the deal they cut.

It is obvious that this spectrum is going to be used and existing wire line providers should be concerned. The push by Intel and Motorola only supports this statement. Intel and Motorola have vested $900M+ in WiMax and Intel is ready to vest another $2B if Clearwire and Sprint/Nextel can come together on a joint venture using spectrum assets held by both Companies. http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9874513-37.html

Owners of the spectrum should perform proper due diligence prior to signing off on a lease agreement. Often the diligence performed by spectrum owners is limited to what the Lessee is offering... money. Proper due diligence involves the hiring and gathering of information from outside Counsel and a Professional Spectrum Analyst to determine the value of the spectrum to be leased and to ink a deal that benefits not only the spectrum owner(s), but Communities, Municipalities, Students/Faculty, and the general populous for the coverage area. 

Please see Contacts under this section for a list of experienced and reputable Counsel and Spectrum Analysts.

Posted 12/1/07