Steve Stroh wrote:
I know of a number of service providers that used their 3650
experimental licenses for commercial service. As I understand it,
commercial operations aren't DISALLOWED by the Part 5 experimental
license rules. What those rules DO state is that the Part 5 license
doesn't give you any special preference whatsoever when the FCC deems
that the period of your experimental license is up... like it would be
now that the 3650 rules are set and commercial service is commencing.
I am aware that some operators attempted to apply section 5.3j as a way
to providing commercial services using their experimental license. I
have included the relevant language below. Theoretically, if the
operator owns the equipment and informs the customer that their service
is an experiment and is strictly temporary then the operator could use
3650. Without arguing whether any reasonable customer would accept those
conditions. How do you collect revenue on such a customer? When we sell
internet and/or phone service to a customer they sign a contract that
lays out what service(s) we are providing them, the term, and ultimately
how much the customer owes us. Contract terms are a two way street. In
this case, that means if you have to shutdown the experiment before the
end of the contract term you as an operator are in default of your
contract. This means of course that you cannot have a term associated
with the service. This leads to a very specialized contract or worse no
contract. Again, what customer signs up for a situation like this?
Sec. 5.93 Limited market studies.
Unless otherwise stated in the instrument of authorization, licenses
granted for the purpose of limited market studies pursuant to Sec.
5.3(j) of this part are subject to the following conditions:
(a) All transmitting and/or receiving equipment used in the study
shall be owned by the licensee.
(b) The licensee is responsible for informing anyone participating
in the experiment that the service or device is granted under an
experimental authorization and is strictly temporary.
(c) The size and scope of the experiment are subject to limitations
as the Commission shall establish on a case-by-case basis. If the
Commission subsequently determines that a market study is not so
limited, the study shall be immediately terminated
-Matt
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