Metro PCS 2010 Annual Report Download - page 33

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In October 2010, the President signed into law the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video
Accessibility Act of 2010, or the Accessibility Act. The Accessibility Act is intended to ensure that individuals with
disabilities have access to emerging Internet-protocol-based communication and video programming technologies in
the 21st Century, by updating requirements of television, telephone, and Internet service providers. These new
obligations govern the provision of advanced communications services, including interconnected and non-
interconnected VoIP services, to persons with disabilities, recordkeeping related to adherence to these policies, and
the provision of Internet browsers suitable for blind or visually-impaired individuals. The Accessibility Act requires
the FCC to implement its provisions, and the FCC has issued an initial public notice seeking comments on certain
aspects of the Accessibility Act.
E-911 service. The FCC requires CMRS providers to implement basic 911 and enhanced, or E-911, emergency
services. Our obligation to implement these services is incurred in stages on a market-by-market basis as local
emergency service providers become equipped to handle E-911 calls. E-911 services allow state and local
emergency service providers to better identify and locate wireless callers, including callers using special devices for
the hearing impaired. The FCC revised these rules in October 2010. The network equipment and handsets we utilize
are capable of meeting the FCC’s E-911 requirements and we have constructed facilities to implement these
capabilities in markets where we have had requests to do so from local public safety emergency service providers.
Because we employ a handset-based location technology, we also are subject to the FCC rules that require us to
ensure that specified percentages of the handsets in service on our systems are location-capable and meet certain
location accuracy standards. The FCC actively monitors the compliance by CMRS carriers with E-911 requirements.
The FCC has in the past, and may in the future, impose substantial fines, forfeitures and penalties on wireless
broadband mobile carriers for their failure to comply with the FCC’s E-911 rules and could impose other sanctions,
including revocation of licenses or the imposition of mandatory reporting requirements, license conditions, corporate
monitors, and compliance programs. The FCC also has rules under which wireless broadband mobile carriers may
be required to offer priority E-911 services to the public safety agencies under certain circumstances. While we may
in certain instances be able to recover the expenses associated with E-911, certain states in which we do business
may limit or eliminate our ability to recover our E-911 costs. The FCC also issued an NPRM seeking comment on
the current state of wireless location technologies, and have posed questions about possible future modifications and
enhancements to the current rules. In an accompanying NOI, the FCC seeks comment about issues associated with
VoIP services, including whether 911/E911 obligations should be extended to non-interconnected VoIP services.
The FCC also seeks comment on what devices, services or applications are not yet subject to the current 911/E-911
rules.
Spectrum clearing. Spectrum allocated for AWS has been utilized by a variety of categories of commercial and
governmental users. The spectrum allocated for AWS-1 was utilized by certain governmental users, many of whom
are required over time to relocate from the AWS-1 spectrum. However, in some cases, not all governmental users
have yet relocated or are obligated to relocate and, in other cases, incumbent users are not obligated to relocate for
some period of time, with varying time frames for relocation. To foster the orderly clearing of the spectrum, the
FCC adopted a transition and cost sharing plan pursuant to which incumbent non-governmental users are reimbursed
for relocating to other spectrum and with the costs of relocation being shared by AWS-1 licensees benefiting from
the relocation. Under the FCC relocation plan, the AWS-1 licensee and the incumbent non-governmental user
negotiate voluntarily for three years and then, if no agreement has been reached, the incumbent licensee is subject to
mandatory relocation procedures in which the AWS-1 licensee can relocate the incumbent non-governmental
licensee at the AWS-1 licensee’s expense.
Spectrum allocated for the 700 MHz band previously was occupied by analog television broadcast licensees and
certain wireless microphone users. By federal law, all existing analog television broadcast licenses vacated the 700
MHz spectrum on or before June 12, 2009 without any reimbursement from 700 MHz licensees. In January 2010,
the FCC ruled that all wireless microphone users were obligated to cease operations by June 12, 2010, in the portion
of the 700 MHz band currently allocated for wireless services. Licensees granted 700 MHz licenses were not
obligated to pay for the relocation of wireless microphones from the 700 MHz band.
Siting issues. The location and characteristics of wireless antennas, DAS systems and nodes, base stations and
towers are subject to FCC and Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, regulations, federal environmental
regulations, and other federal, state, and local regulations, including local zoning, building, and electrical
requirements. The FCC has adopted rules that are intended to expedite siting decisions by state and local authorities,
but the rules are subject to continuing legal challenges. With respect to AWS-1 sites, we must notify the FAA when
we add AWS-1 frequencies to existing sites that already have been determined not to be a hazard to air navigation
by the FAA. Antenna structures used by us and other wireless providers also are subject to FCC rules implementing