On August 23, RTG’s Carri Bennet and representatives of FiberTower and Sprint Nextel met with Louis Peraertz, legal advisor to FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn to discuss a proposal to permit limited fixed licensed use of a portion of the vacant TV Bands White Spaces (“White Spaces”) channels in rural and tribal areas to provide dramatically more cost-effective backhaul options. The parties noted their flexibility regarding the fixed licensed use of particular channels within the TV Bands, including UHF Channels 14-20 as well as the VHF Channels, and the possibility of limiting fixed licensed use to a percentage of vacant available channels in rural areas. We also noted that the instant proposal can largely accommodate any subsequent “repacking” in the TV White Spaces because dozens of vacant channels exist in the rural and tribal areas at issue in our proposal, and we propose utilizing at most a limited amount of vacant channels in those areas. On July 23rd, representatives for RTG, Sprint Nextel, FiberTower and WCAI met with FCC staff from the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and the Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau on the same issues. Click here for a copy of the Notice of Ex Parte Presentation which includes slides and a background paper.