T-Mobile may have gotten caught with its hand in the cookie jar so to speak. Earlier this month, it argued that broadband operations in the 2155-2180 MHz spectrum band designated by the FCC for its free "lifeline" service should not be permitted because those operations would cause interference for its current operations. However, that argument may lose some of its edge thanks to findings reported by M2Z Network about its network in the Czech Republic.
M2Z Networks has pointed out that T-Mobile is currently providing broadband services in the Czech Republic using similar spectrum and similar technical rules to those that the FCC plans to adopt for the free broadband service. According to the report from the Czech Telecommunications Office, T-Mobile's broadband service is operating with well-established standard power limits and without having to use spectrum guard bands.
T-Mobile has argued that time division duplex (TDD) technology would be disruptive if deployed in the United States adjacent to its frequency division duplex (FDD) operations in AWS-1 due to mobile-to-mobile interference. In the Czech Republic, however, T-Mobile's broadband wireless deployment uses TDD technology in an unpaired spectrum band that is adjacent to a paired (FDD) operations without special protections or limits to guard against mobile-to-mobile interference.
“As a former FCC official, I'm also particularly troubled by T-Mobile's selective presentation of information at the FCC about the state of the art in wireless technology and interference management," said John Muleta, CEO of M2Z Networks, in a statement.