Dish Pushes for Spectrum Bidding Rules Reform Before AWS-3, D-Block Auctions
Dish Network resumed talks with the FCC on revising former defaulter rules in preparation for coming spectrum auctions, a possible indicator the direct broadcast satellite provider is gearing up for spectrum bids. Dish asked the Wireless Bureau to refine bidding rules that require bidders with poor federal financial track records to put up significantly more money than those with unblemished record, said an ex parte filing. The commission is planning to auction off AWS-3 and 700 MHz spectrum in 2011 per the National Broadband Plan, though no official auction has been put in place and possible Congressional action allocating the D-block for public safety agencies (CD Aug 9 p3) could make an auction unnecessary.
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The former defaulter rules “need timely action in advance of 2011 auctions,” said a presentation Dish showed at the meeting. The meeting is considered an effort to clear up pending matters that hurt the process, said a satellite industry executive. The company already has significant holdings in the 700 MHz band, having paid about $712 million for 168 E-block spectrum licenses in 2008, covering most of the U.S. The company, along with DirecTV, last tried to get the agency to relax the former defaulter rules or give waivers to the rules prior to the 2008 700 MHz spectrum auction, public records show. Dish still hasn’t said how it plans to use its E-block spectrum holdings, though there has been much speculation that a mobile video offering was in the works. Dish declined to comment.
There are several reasons that Dish could be going after the spectrum, said lawyer John Hane, who does some satellite law work at Pillsbury Winthrop. “D-block maybe is a valuable element,” he said. “Maybe Dish is thinking of moving beyond video or possibly getting positioned in case [the spectrum] is cheap.” For companies like Dish that rely on spectrum, the addition of fairly-priced spectrum is always a good thing, he said. The possibility of the FCC keeping the major spectrum holders like Verizon and AT&T from picking up the D-block could also keep the price down, said Hane. A Dish bid on the AWS spectrum is less likely as AWS takes more towers and is not particularly good for broadcast service or mobile video, he said.
The addition of the D-block license would give Dish enough 700 MHz spectrum to provide “40 channels or perhaps more,” said Mark Aitkin, Sinclair Broadcast director of advanced technology and chairman of the Advanced Television System Committee’s mobile DTV standards group. Such an offering would be far more than previous attempts at mobile TV, he said. The product could attract interest from the broadcast community, he said. “I could certainly envision broadcasters being very open to discussions about retransmissions in the mobile environment.”
Former defaulter rules “have been applied too broadly” since they apply to a company’s officers and directors “regardless of whether the officer/director has any role in or control over the applicant’s day to day affairs,” Dish said. The rules should only apply to applicants and “to individuals or entities that are in a position to affect whether such applicants meet their auction-related financial responsibilities,” the company said. New former defaulter rules should also be tailored so that prior defaults three or more years old are excluded, the filing said.