UTC Industry Intelligence - November 18, 2010

A capacity crowd of utilities, including 48 people representing 32 companies and trade associations, met with the FCC this week to describe real-world issues throughout the pole attachment process. The meeting included presentations from a panel of representatives from utilities, including Ameren Services Company American Electric Power, Baltimore Gas and Electric, CenterPoint Energy, Dominion Virginia Power, Duke Energy, Florida Power and Light Georgia Power, National Grid, Oncor Electric Delivery, PPL Electric Utilities and Tampa Electric Company. Many other utilities were in attendance to provide their views during questions and answers following the presentations. During the course of the two-hour plus meeting utilities explained that pole attachments involves a complex process of permitting, engineering, inspection and auditing, and that utilities and pole attachments are unique -defying cookie-cutter regulatory solutions. Utilities also explained that imposing such regulatory solutions won't promote broadband deployment and instead suggested that the FCC should be promoting cooperation between pole owners and attachers. Finally, utilities illustrated numerous safety violations and debunked the myth that pole attachments don't overload poles. Representatives from the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau and Enforcement Bureau as well as from Commissioner McDowell's office were on hand and asked a variety of questions ranging from the joint use process to make ready to wireless attachments. For more information, contact the UTC Legal/Regulatory department.

In a Plan released this week which could have implications for utility access to spectrum, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), identified 115 MHz of spectrum that will be fast-tracked for use for wireless broadband in the next five years, and it set a framework and timetable for freeing up 500 MHz over the next ten years. NTIA plans to prioritize certain candidate bands to determine which ones should be reallocated first. In addition to identifying the candidate bands for wireless broadband (including the 1695-1710 MHz band, the 3550-3650 MHz band, and two 20 MHz blocks somewhere in the 4200-4220 MHz range), the Plan outlines a framework to ensure that existing spectrum is being used efficiently (e.g. through a spectrum inventory) and that there are incentives for existing licensees to free up spectrum (e.g. through sharing and reimbursement for relocation/equipment). The Plan also lays out a timeline for the next five years including a target date for identifying the first band of reallocated spectrum by January 2011. In addition to publishing its "Plan and Timetable for Making Available 500 MHz of Spectrum for Wireless Broadband," NTIA also released "An Assessment of the Near-Term Viability of Accommodating Wireless Broadband Systems in the 1675-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz, 3500-3650 MHz, 4200-4220 MHz and 4380-4400 MHz Bands." This report reveals information about the extent of use of these bands. For more information, contact the UTC Legal/Regulatory department.

At the meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) held this week in Atlanta, Georgia FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke spoke about various issues, including pole attachments and smart grid. Genachowski stated, "We've taken important steps in the priority area of lowering the costs of broadband buildout. Rights-of-way, pole attachments, tower siting. These nuts-and-bolts issues may not be sexy well at least to people outside this room - but they are very important and can make a huge difference." He explained, "Our Broadband team estimated that efforts to cut red tape can reduce broadband deployment costs approximately 40 percent. That's potentially billions of dollars that could be going toward laying fiber and building towers, and not sacrificed to the inefficiency of the process. We've already established a shot-clock for tower-siting for our wireless networks. And we're moving forward with efforts to ease access to rights of way and poles."

Urging state regulators to actively participate in security discussions, review guidelines and proposed principles and standards, Special Assistant to the President and White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt emphasized the critical nature of security for the smart grid. Schmidt was speaking at the NARUC Annual conference where he urged state regulators to work with utilities and consumers to ensure successful smart grid deployment. Communications Daily reported that Schmidt spoke of the multiple layers of threats and vulnerability which made it imperative for IT and smart grid security teams to work together, in spite of their different tolerance levels. Schmidt said that regulators need to look at the whole situation and what works best at the local level. He recognized that there are multiple points of vulnerability in a smart grid system, including grid management, electric transportation, storage and distribution. Thus it is necessary for entities indirectly involved in the smart grid operation and management system to put in place clear security requirements from the start.

The Department of Energy has issued more than $19 million in funds to five smart grid projects. The projects are private-public collaborations between utilities, universities, national laboratories and other groups totaling $30 million in investments to conduct research, development and demonstration projects that lead to commercially available smart grid technologies. About two-thirds of the funding went to Areva T&D (working with Duke Energy) to support its effort to help integrate distributed generation onto the grid and to Boeing (working with Commonwealth Edison) for a grid management program to help businesses integrate their resources with the grid. ABB (partnered with Xcel Energy), Varentec (working with S&C Energy Company and Consolidated Edison Company) and On-Ramp Wireless (coordinating with Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric) were other awardees.

The FCC's Part 90 interim narrowbanding deadline is January 1, 2011 after which they will no longer accept applications for new 25 kHz wideband systems or modifications of wideband systems that would expand the existing interference contour. In order to process affected pending applications prior to the deadline, UTC Spectrum Services will no longer accept any applications for non-compliant wideband systems after December 1, 2010. This interim deadline should not be confused with the final narrowbanding deadline which is still two years away. If you have any questions please contact Donald Vasek, UTC's Director of Spectrum Services.

The Land Mobile Communications Council (LMCC) has written a letter to FM Approvals questioning the need for a revised standard for certification of intrinsically safe (IS) radios. FM Approvals is the organization that sets standards for certifying such intrinsically safe wireless devices. FM Approval has elected to revise the standard in order to harmonize domestic IS standards with international standards. The revised standard has raised concern because of the required reduction in output power and how that would adversely affect licensees' operating areas and coverage requirements. LMCC also pointed out that licensees are already engaged in a multi-year transition to narrowband operations that in many cases has required significant expenditures that could be wasted if they also have to meet the new IS standard. Lastly, LMCC noted that there is no demonstrative evidence that the current standard is technically inadequate or unsafe. The new standard is scheduled to take effect in 2012.

Following the recommendations in its Report on the communications needs of utilities, the Department of Energy has set up a "Spectrum Management 101" meeting on December 8, 2010. During the meeting representatives from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the FCC will educate utilities on spectrum management generally, priority access and service restoration that is available through the Telecommunications Service Priority Program (which gives elevated priority for service restoration in the event of emergencies) and the Wireless Priority Service program (which enables certain types of phone calls in times of emergency). The DOE would like to start getting input on why these programs do or do not work for the utility industry's needs - particularly in light of the implementation of smart grid technologies.