The CTIA this week filed a reply comment to the FCC about the use of controversial advanced wireless services spectrum, but the trade group merely repeated its previous comments on the same topic, association officials said.

Regarding the AWS-2 and AWS-3 bands, which the FCC wants to auction only with strict conditions – such as that the winner must offer some degree of free nationwide coverage and open network access – the CTIA said such spectrum should instead be auctioned free-and-clear of any special rules.

A startup company, M2Z Networks, said it has a business plan and the financial backing to build a network similar to the FCC’s dream.  But the CTIA expresses skepticism about that claim.

“Everything we’ve said, we’ve argued throughout,” said the CTIA’s Christopher Guttmann-McCabe, vice president for Regulatory Affairs, explaining the reply.  “Our argument has been all along that if you provide flexible use, then whatever companies can do, they can do,” he said.  Regarding M2Z, “if they have the financial backing to do this… and the auction purchase is only a fraction of what they need to build a network, then they should win this auction.  They shouldn’t need a leg up to have a designer allocation,” he added.

The CTIA also reiterated its comments about spectrum interference.  T-Mobile, AT&T and others previously told the FCC that M2Z’s plan would cause interference, but M2Z said any interference is because of those carriers’ own rule-breaking.  In the CTIA’s current reply, “The FCC should adopt power limits for AWS-2 and AWS-3 band licensees that adequately protect existing broadband PCS and AWS-1 licensees from interference,” the group wrote.