Clearwire 2009 Annual Report Download - page 28

i
tta
k
es
f
or t
h
es
i
gna
l
to trave
l
to an
df
rom t
h
e sate
lli
te may c
h
a
ll
enge t
h
ea
bili
ty to prov
id
e some serv
i
ces, suc
h
as
V
oIP, and reduces the size of the addressable market
.
WISPs and Wi-F
i
We also com
p
ete with other wireless Internet service
p
roviders, which we refer to as WISPs, which use
un
li
cense
d
spectrum
f
or serv
i
ces over W
i
-F
i
networ
k
s. In a
ddi
t
i
on to t
h
ese commerc
i
a
l
operators, many
l
oca
l
g
overnments, universities and other
g
overnmental or quasi-
g
overnmental entities are providin
g
or subsidizin
g
Wi
-
Fi networks over unlicensed spectrum, in some cases at no cost to the user. Unlicensed spectrum ma
y
be sub
j
ect t
o
i
nter
f
erence
f
rom ot
h
er users o
f
t
h
e spectrum, w
hi
c
h
can resu
l
t
i
n
di
srupt
i
ons an
di
nterrupt
i
ons o
f
serv
i
ce. We re
ly
e
xc
l
us
i
ve
ly
on
li
cense
d
spectrum
f
or our networ
k
an
dd
o not expect s
ig
n
ifi
cant compet
i
t
i
on
f
rom prov
id
ers us
i
n
g
unlicensed s
p
ectrum to deliver services to their customers.
I
ntern
a
tion
al
I
n our
i
nternat
i
ona
l
mar
k
ets, we genera
ll
y
f
ace compet
i
t
i
on
f
rom
i
ncum
b
ent te
l
ecommun
i
cat
i
ons compan
i
es
th
at prov
id
et
h
e
i
r own w
i
re
l
ess
b
roa
db
an
d
or VoIP te
l
ep
h
ony serv
i
ces, as we
ll
as
f
rom ot
h
er compan
i
es t
h
at prov
id
e
Internet connectivit
y
services. Althou
g
h in certain European countries, incumbent telecommunications companies
m
ay have a dominant market share based on their past status as the single operator of telecommunications service
s
i
n a part
i
cu
l
ar country, t
h
ese
i
ncum
b
ent te
l
ecommun
i
cat
i
ons compan
i
es re
l
y on systems
i
n
i
t
i
a
ll
y
d
es
i
gne
df
or vo
i
ce
t
ransm
i
ss
i
on w
hi
c
hh
ave
b
een up
g
ra
d
e
d
to prov
id
ew
i
re
l
ess
b
roa
db
an
d
serv
i
ces
.
Ot
h
er
We believe other emer
g
in
g
technolo
g
ies ma
y
also enter the broadband services market. For example, certai
n
Internet serv
i
ce prov
id
ers are wor
ki
ng w
i
t
h
e
l
ectr
i
c
di
str
ib
ut
i
on ut
ili
t
i
es to
i
nsta
ll b
roa
db
an
d
over power
li
ne, w
hi
c
h
we re
f
er to as BPL, tec
h
no
l
ogy on e
l
ectr
i
c
di
str
ib
ut
i
on
li
nes to prov
id
e
b
roa
db
an
d
serv
i
ces. T
h
ese Internet serv
i
c
e
and BPL
p
roviders are
p
otential com
p
etitors.
R
egu
l
atory
M
atters
O
vervie
w
T
he re
g
ulator
y
environment relatin
g
to our business and operations is evolvin
g
. A number of le
g
islative an
d
r
e
g
ulator
y
proposals under consideration b
y
federal, state and local
g
overnmental entities ma
y
lead to the repeal,
m
o
difi
cat
i
on or
i
ntro
d
uct
i
on o
fl
aws or regu
l
at
i
ons t
h
at cou
ld
a
ff
ect our
b
us
i
ness. S
i
gn
ifi
cant areas o
f
ex
i
st
i
ng an
d
p
otent
i
a
l
re
g
u
l
at
i
on
f
or our
b
us
i
ness
i
nc
l
u
d
e
b
roa
db
an
d
Internet access, te
l
ecommun
i
cat
i
ons,
i
nterconnecte
d
Vo I
P
t
elephon
y
service, spectrum re
g
ulation and Internet taxation
.
Broa
db
an
d
Internet Access Re
g
u
l
atio
n
T
he FCC has classified Internet access services generally as interstate “information services” regulated under
T
i
t
l
eIo
f
t
h
e Commun
i
cat
i
ons Act, rat
h
er t
h
an as “te
l
ecommun
i
cat
i
ons serv
i
ces” regu
l
ate
d
un
d
er T
i
t
l
e II.
A
ccor
di
n
gly
, man
y
re
g
u
l
at
i
ons t
h
at app
ly
to te
l
ep
h
one compan
i
es an
d
ot
h
er common carr
i
ers current
ly d
o not
appl
y
to our mobile broadband Internet access service. For example, we are not currentl
y
required to contribute
a
p
ercentage of gross revenues from our Internet access services to the Universal Service Fund, which we refer to a
s
U
SF, use
d
to support
l
oca
l
te
l
ep
h
one serv
i
ce an
d
a
d
vance
d
te
l
ecommun
i
cat
i
ons serv
i
ces
f
or sc
h
oo
l
s,
lib
rar
i
es an
d
r
ural health care facilities. Internet access providers also are not required to file tariffs with the FCC, settin
g
forth th
e
r
ates, terms and conditions of their Internet access service offerin
g
s. In addition, potentiall
y
burdensome stat
e
r
egu
l
at
i
ons govern
i
ng te
l
ecommun
i
cat
i
ons carr
i
ers
d
o not app
l
y to our w
i
re
l
ess
b
roa
db
an
d
Internet access serv
i
ce,
althou
g
h the service is sub
j
ect to
g
enerall
y
applicable state consumer protection laws enforced b
y
state Attorne
ys
G
eneral and
g
eneral Federal Trade Commission, which we refer to as FTC, consumer protection rules.
Th
e FCC a
l
so
h
as
d
eterm
i
ne
d
t
h
at mo
bil
e Internet access serv
i
ce
i
s not a “commerc
i
a
l
mo
bil
e serv
i
ce,” un
d
e
r
S
ect
i
on 332 o
f
t
h
e Commun
i
cat
i
ons Act, even w
h
en o
ff
ere
d
us
i
n
g
mo
bil
e tec
h
no
l
o
gi
es. T
hi
s means t
h
at our mo
bil
e
Internet access service falls into a different regulatory classification than commercial mobile radio services, which
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