FCC Approves 3G Nokias, Cingular Does Not

The FCC today approved the Nokia 6282 and Nokia N80, as originally spec'd by Nokia. When they were announced, both of the handsets included GSM 850/1900 and WCDMA 1900, but not WCDMA 850. Despite Cingular branding clearly visible on these models, the carrier will not sell these exact models. Phone Scoop has been told after they were announced, Cingular sent the phones back to Nokia asking for revised versions that support GSM and WCDMA 850/1900. These new versions are still under development and have not been announced nor approved by the FCC

In its 2007 budget proposal, the Bush Administration has included a vaguely worded proposal to tax unlicensed spectrum. Claiming that service providers are taking advantage of unlicensed spectrum to avoid licensing fees, the item suggests "user fees" on "un-auctioned" spectrum could raise $3.5 billion by 2010. However there is no clarification on what that fee would be or if manufacturers or end users would pay it. Both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi operate in unlicensed 2.4 GHz spectrum. Many cordless phones operate in this same band or unlicensed 900 Mhz or 5.8 GHz spectrum. Separately the Bush Administration also predicted spectrum auctions could bring in $25 billion by the end of the decade as well.