The Federal Communications Commission (FCC (News - Alert)) will address 700 MHz band interoperability issues at its next meeting on March 21 “where it will plan to consider a proposal to mitigate possible interference to services running in the lower 700 MHz B block and C block if the lower portion of the band was made interoperable,” wrote Wireless Week reporter Maisie Ramsay (News - Alert). Furthermore, he added, “It will also examine how to proceed if it finds that interoperability doesn't pose significant problems with interference.”

According to the Wireless Week report, the lack of interoperability between different blocks of the 700 MHz band has been a hindrance to rural mobile broadband deployment because many regional carriers use different blocks of the band for LTE than AT&T (News - Alert) and Verizon Wireless. This is making it tough for regional operators to compete, since they are unable to provide LTE roaming on the networks of the larger carriers.

Ramsay wrote that the Rural Cellular Association (RCA) has been asking the FCC to look into the need for interoperability in the 700 MHz band. The report indicates that many members of RCA hold 700 MHz spectrum that do not work with AT&T and Verizon (News - Alert) Wireless.

RCA president and CEO Steve Berry added, "Interoperability is one of the most important issues for competitive carriers, as an interoperability requirement will finally allow competitive carriers to build out their 4G LTE mobile networks and compete with the ever-growing duopoly of AT&T and Verizon Wireless (News - Alert)."

While “AT&T has expressed concerns that its LTE service could be degraded if it was forced to make its network interoperable with other 700 MHz bands,” wrote Ramsay.  

Meanwhile, operators who are pushing for interoperability rules say that the interference issues are minor and can be addressed with filters.

Well, 700 MHz band is not the only spectrum on the FCC's mind. Media reports show that the FCC is also currently considering a proposal that will allow spectrum in the 2 GHz band currently allocated only for satellite services to be used for land-based networks.