Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, DC 20554

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1 Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, DC In the Matter of ) ) Tribal Mobility Fund Phase I Auction ) AU Docket No Scheduled for October 24, 2013 ) COMMENTS OF AT&T AT&T Inc., on behalf of its wholly-owned affiliate AT&T Mobility LLC (AT&T Mobility), submits these comments in response to Smith Bagley s petition for reconsideration of the Wireless Telecommunications and Wireline Competition Bureaus decision to deny its request to deem thousands of census blocks already served by 3G or better wireless service as unserved for purposes of the Commission s upcoming Auction As the Bureaus explain in the Public Notice, Auction 902 will award one-time support to carriers that commit to provide 3G or better mobile voice and broadband service to Tribal lands that lack such service. 2 Since the stated purpose of Auction 902 is to fill in gaps in 3G or better wireless coverage, the Bureaus will exclude from the auction those census blocks that have 3G or better wireless service at the centroid of the block. 3 1 Petition for Reconsideration of Smith Bagley, Inc., AU Docket No (filed Sept. 6, 2013) (Petition); Tribal Mobility Fund Phase I Auction Rescheduled for December 19, 2013; Notice and Filing Requirements and Other Procedures for Auction 902, AU Docket No , Public Notice, DA (rel. Aug. 7, 2013) (Public Notice). 2 Public Notice at 2 (emphasis added); id. at 9 ( Tribal Mobility Fund Phase I will provide up to $50 million in one-time support to address gaps in mobile services availability by supporting the buildout of current- and next-generation mobile networks on Tribal lands where these networks are unavailable. ). 3 Id. at 15.

2 In comments that it filed in this proceeding earlier this year, Smith Bagley asserted that the Bureaus incorrectly excluded almost 14,000 census blocks from their list of potentially eligible census blocks. 4 Smith Bagley based its assertion on drive testing that it performed in some of those census blocks in April. AT&T Mobility compared Smith Bagley s claims of no 3G or better coverage in these census blocks against its internal coverage data, which is substantiated by drive testing performed by an independent third party. Out of the 13,783 census blocks where Smith Bagley claimed no provider offered reliable 3G or better service, AT&T Mobility determined that it did indeed provide 3G or better wireless service at the centroid of 9,977 of those census blocks. 5 AT&T Mobility supported its analysis with a map and certification. AT&T Mobility explained that the only way to replicate Smith Bagley s drive test results in those areas that we serve with 3G or better service is to conduct the tests using only the 1900 MHz frequency, not the 850 MHz frequency. 6 AT&T Mobility stated that in sparsely populated, rural areas such as those listed in Smith Bagley s comments, AT&T Mobility uses the 850 MHz frequency to provide 3G service. If Smith Bagley had performed its drive testing using both the 850MHz and the 1900 MHz frequencies, the results would be consistent with the coverage map that AT&T Mobility attached to its reply comments. 7 The Bureaus determined that AT&T Mobility and another provider, Commnet, provided credible and convincing evidence, supported by maps, certifications, and explanations of methodologies for determining 4 Smith Bagley Comments, AU Docket No (filed May 10, 2013). 5 See AT&T Reply Comments, AU Docket No , at 2-3 (filed May 24, 2013). 6 Id. at 3. 7 Id. 2

3 coverage, that many of the census blocks identified by [Smith Bagley] as unserved are actually served. 8 Smith Bagley takes issue with the Bureaus finding that it provided insufficient information about its drive testing and, in its Petition, it seeks to bolster its claims of no 3G or better service in the almost 14,000 census blocks by providing additional information about its drive testing. However, nowhere in its Petition or in the attached statement from the company employee who performed the testing is there any mention of the most important factor that would cause Smith Bagley s drive tests to show no 3G coverage in census blocks where AT&T Mobility does indeed provide 3G or better service: Smith Bagley did not test AT&T Mobility s service using the 850 MHz frequency. AT&T Mobility has reviewed its coverage maps as well as drive test results that were performed in this area by an independent third party and confirms that the data attached to AT&T Mobility s reply comments, which was supported by a certification, was and remains accurate. We attach to these comments another certification, by the AT&T Mobility Radio Access Network (RAN) engineer who has responsibility for AT&T Mobility s network in the areas covered by Smith Bagley s comments and Petition. Mr. Jacobson confirms that Smith Bagley s drive test results are at odds with AT&T Mobility s internal coverage data, which are supported by third party testing. Mr. Jacobson, who lives and works near the areas in dispute, also has first-hand knowledge of AT&T Mobility s coverage on a number of the roads drive-tested by the Smith Bagley employee and concludes that Smith Bagley s testing was fundamentally deficient in that the handset was not testing AT&T Mobility s network using the 850 MHz frequency or the test equipment itself (or Smith Bagley s processing of the resulting data) was defective. 8 Public Notice at 26. 3

4 For the reasons provided in our previously filed reply comments and attachments, and in these comments, AT&T Mobility requests that the Bureaus deny Smith Bagley s Petition and find that the census blocks listed in Attachment B of AT&T Mobility s reply comments are in fact served by 3G or better wireless service. Respectfully Submitted, /s/ Cathy Carpino Cathy Carpino Gary L. Phillips Peggy Garber AT&T Services, Inc th Street NW Suite 1000 Washington, D.C (202) phone (202) facsimile September 16, 2013 Its Attorneys 4

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