Incentive Auction Still FCC Priority but AWS-3 and 5.1 GHz Proceedings ‘Big Deal,’ Aides Say
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler continues to view the incentive auction as important to his priority of making more spectrum available for commercial use, but recent progress on development of the AWS-3 auction is also a “big deal,” said Renee Gregory, his wireless adviser, during an FCBA event. Industry observers have said the FCC slowed its work on incentive auction rules while simultaneously steaming ahead on rules for the AWS-3 auction, which must be wrapped up later this year (CD Feb 27 p1). The commission is to consider some of the AWS-3 rules, along with an order on Wi-Fi use on the 5.1 GHz band -- also known as the Unlicensed-National Information Infrastructure-1 (U-NII-1) band -- at its March 31 meeting. Wireless aides to the other FCC commissioners also noted during Thursday’s event that the commission continues to view the incentive auction as its main priority. The FCC remains “on track” to issue a report and order on the incentive auction rules this spring, Gregory said.
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The incentive auction report and order will be a “serious, substantive” document that will make “very significant recommendations on very significant issues,” Gregory said. “The item that they will look at will be a big deal, no kidding.” The report and order will also remain a framework document that the FCC will shape through subsequent implementation decisions, she said. “The R&O will not be the final time that the commission or these public stakeholders have the opportunity to look at these issues."
The FCC should issue the incentive auction R&O based on a full commission vote rather than decide through delegated authority, said Brendan Carr, wireless adviser to Commissioner Ajit Pai. There appears to be bipartisan agreement that the FCC will need to take a “novel” approach for the incentive auction that will require them to go down a path “that hasn’t been tried before,” Carr said. “It’s difficult to reconcile all that with a decision that those decisions are ones that should be made on delegated authority.” Given that the commissioners are the ones ultimately responsible to Congress and the public, “those types of decisions that a lot would identify as ones that are going to be novel, those are the ones that all the commissioners should be on the record on,” said Carr. Pai and commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Mike O'Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel have all internally criticized Wheeler’s recent use of delegated authority to approve AT&T’s purchase of Leap Wireless and other items (CD March 18 p1). O'Rielly has also publicly criticized Wheeler’s use of delegated authority, while Clyburn has said she is “not overly concerned” about the issue (CD March 19 p4).
O'Rielly is going to examine the incentive auction R&O “with an eye toward what can we do to make this auction successful,” said Erin McGrath, his wireless adviser. O'Rielly is generally concerned with ensuring FCC rules comply with congressional mandates, which in the incentive auction’s case would include meeting revenue goals and “putting as much spectrum into the market as possible,” McGrath said.
The FCC AWS-3 proceeding is a “really big deal,” while the U-NII-1 order is something Rosenworcel has “talked about a lot, she’s really excited about that,” said David Goldman, her wireless adviser. Rosenworcel believes efficient spectrum allocation will be critical for the AWS-3 rules, and she wants that auction “to clear as much revenue as we can” to pay for FirstNet before the incentive auction begins, Goldman said. That would allow the FCC to provide more incentives for broadcaster participation in the incentive auction, he said. Clyburn “understands that we need to clear” the AWS-3 band but is still considering many stakeholders’ arguments on spectrum block sizes and geographic licensing areas, said Louis Peraetz, her wireless adviser.
The AWS-3 and U-NII-1 items are important but remain “first steps,” McGrath said. “We should deal with U-NII-1, but we also still need to do more on the other 5 GHz bands.” The AWS-3 rules should be seen as the first part of a more concerted effort to make other federal spectrum available for commercial use, she said. The FCC is “watching closely” as an IEEE-created “Tiger Team” examines sharing issues on the 5 GHz band with an eye toward the team’s findings about how DSRC and Wi-Fi could share the 5 GHz band while mitigating interference concerns, Gregory said.