Test results by consultant V-Comm show major interference issues if white space devices and wireless mics are allowed to use the 600 MHz guard band or duplex gap after the TV incentive auction, said CTIA officials and representatives of member companies in a meeting with aides to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. According to an ex parte filing in docket 12-268, "CTIA explained the incentive auction represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Commission to make available much-needed spectrum for mobile broadband use and noted the wireless industry’s willingness to invest in spectrum rights so long as those spectrum rights are afforded the interference protections mandated by Congress in the 2012 Spectrum Act.” The industry representatives also stressed the need for the FCC “to increase out-of-band emission and frequency separation as outlined in V-COMM’s report,” the filing said. Carriers need certainty and the current rules "threaten to undermine the success of the incentive auction," CTIA said.
PCIA used its comments on the FCC’s pending wireless competition report to warn that federal, state and local obstacles to deploying wireless facilities remain. “The Commission should continue to examine its regulations to facilitate the rollout of wireless broadband and advise other agencies on key steps to success, especially for facilities deployed on federal lands,” PCIA said. Just reallocating more spectrum for licensed use is not an answer without better deployment, PCIA said. “New spectrum, a necessary but finite resource with extended lag time from purchase to deployment, cannot alone handle this surge in traffic; infrastructure providers and carriers must deploy new cell sites to deliver the increased capacity consumers demand,” the group said. Writers Guild of America, West warned that the U.S. market remains highly concentrated. “AT&T and Verizon retain duopoly control of the wireless market with 66 percent of subscribers and 73 percent of low- band spectrum,” the guild said. “Although these two companies control two-thirds of the wireless market they continue to acquire spectrum.”
A successful incentive auction “should result in the auctioning of wireless licenses that are minimally impaired” said CTIA and representatives from Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Verizon in a meeting last week with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and staff from the Incentive Auction Task Force, Office of Engineering and Technology and International, Media and Wireless bureaus, according to an ex parte filing. The incentive auction needs to have transparent rules and “clear as much spectrum as possible for new licensed wireless services,” the wireless representatives said. The FCC should create a new cap on spectrum impairment and “should strive to minimize impairments while balancing this with a need to maximize the amount of spectrum recovered,” CTIA said. The FCC should also increase the amount of up-front information it will provide to bidders, such as data about inter-service interference, said the association in the filing posted Wednesday to docket 14-252. “Providing robust information to interested bidders will help them make informed decisions regarding spectrum assets and increase the likelihood of a successful auction.”
A variable band plan is “poor long-term spectrum policy,” said NAB at a June 22 meeting with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and commission staff, according to an ex parte filing. “The negative effects of variability will not be felt in the near term, but only down the line when a future Commission is required to manage the challenges posed by broadcasters and wireless operators attempting to serve consumers on the same frequencies in the 600 MHz band.” The interference challenges are similar to the problems with the 700 MHz A block due to its proximity to TV Channel 51, NAB said. Relocating TV stations in the duplex gap in certain markets “will wipe out licensed wireless microphone use for breaking news purposes in those areas,” NAB said. The proposal is “the result of a singular focus on auction design and not on the resulting landscape after the auction,” NAB said in the filing posted Thursday to docket 14-252. “Broadcasters that were already struggling to figure out how to cover breaking news and emergencies on just 4 MHz of spectrum will be further hampered.”
The Department of Justice Antitrust Division acknowledged T-Mobile’s and other competitive carriers’ push for an expanded spectrum reserve in the TV incentive auction, but stopped short of endorsing that effort, in a letter Wednesday to the FCC. T-Mobile this week launched a campaign to get the FCC to rethink its expected decision not to provide a larger amount of spectrum for competitive carriers (see 1506230055). “A number of stakeholders have called for the Commission to increase the amount of spectrum reserved from 30 to at least 40 MHz,” DOJ said. “The Department recognizes that the Commission must balance competing policy priorities in setting the appropriate reserve levels. In balancing these priorities, the Department urges the Commission to give considerable weight in determining the amount of spectrum included in the reserve to protecting and promoting competition, and the well-established competition principle that those with market power may be willing to pay the most to reinforce a leading position.” T-Mobile said the FCC should pay attention to DOJ. “Low-band spectrum is the holy grail for AT&T and Verizon," the carrier said. "If others get it, and the big two have to compete on price, their customers alone would save over $20 billion per year. That's why everyone with a wireless phone has a stake in the outcome of this proceeding, and the FCC should heed the calls of DOJ, many in Congress and a slew of consumer groups and move to strengthen the reserve.” “The Commission appreciates DOJ’s support both for our need to balance multiple priorities and for our existing reserve framework," an FCC spokesman said. "We agree that holding a timely auction is in the public interest and are working in earnest toward the stated goal of opening the Incentive Auction in the first quarter of next year.”
More than 4,000 letters have been filed at the FCC supporting T-Mobile’s push for changes to the proposed TV incentive auction rules (see 1506150067). The letters were filed in docket 12-268, carrying the letterhead of the Save Wireless Choice coalition. The proceeding is currently the most active at the FCC, with 4,669 filings in the past 30 days, said the agency’s most active proceedings page.
The FCC got projections right on the explosive growth ahead for mobile data traffic in its 2010 National Broadband Plan, but the government has fallen short in meeting the plan’s goals for making more spectrum available for wireless broadband, CTIA said in a report dated Monday. The plan called for 500 MHz to be reallocated to broadband by 2020, with 300 MHz for mobile broadband by 2015, but only 135 MHz have been cleared, less than half the 300 MHz goal, CTIA said. “Looking ahead, projections predict that mobile data traffic by 2019 will be nearly six times the 2014 amount,” CTIA said. “The U.S. commercial wireless industry cannot meet this explosive growth simply through improved engineering, more infrastructure, and the spectrum that is currently scheduled to come online. Rather, the government, industry, and other stakeholders must come together to find additional spectrum bands that can be repurposed from existing uses to mobile broadband.” CTIA President Meredith Baker said the government needs a plan beyond 2020. “The FCC’s thorough projections of our mobile usage from 2010 to 2014 were extraordinarily close to reality,” she said. “To meet the next wave of exponential growth, it is crucial that the government, industry and other stakeholders work together to find more licensed spectrum opportunities.”
T-Mobile attorney Ari Fitzgerald of Hogan Lovells discussed the importance of reserve spectrum in the TV incentive auction with Louis Peraertz, aide to FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, said an ex parte filing in docket 12-269. T-Mobile lost in its push to get the agency to approve a spectrum reserve larger than the current 30 MHz, industry and agency officials said last week (see 1506170052). “I discussed the need to ensure that the spectrum reserve established for the forward auction component of the upcoming Incentive Auction is large enough to avoid the risk of anti-competitive foreclosure by the largest mobile carriers, and urged the Commission to adopt spectrum reserve modifications generally consistent with the petition for reconsideration filed by T-Mobile in this proceeding,” Fitzgerald said.
Mobile Future urged the FCC to reject T-Mobile arguments in favor of a larger reserve spectrum set-aside in the TV incentive auction. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is poised to do exactly that in an order set to circulate next week (see 1506170052), FCC and industry officials say. “Shielding large corporations from open and competitive bidding will lead to lower auction proceeds and reduced incentives for broadcasters to participate,” Mobile Future said. “The result will be that the Commission fails to fulfill the Spectrum Act’s central objective, which is to reclaim a meaningful amount of spectrum to meet the ever-increasing consumer demand for mobile broadband.”
The FCC approved on circulation an order that rejects nearly all requests for reconsideration on the service rules for the TV incentive auction. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated the order last month (see 1505060069) and putting it on the agenda was seen as an effort to force all commissioners to vote the item (see 1506120050). The incentive auction came up during the news conference after the FCC meeting. Wheeler largely sidestepped a question on whether he also asked the commission to reject T-Mobile’s push for an increase in the amount of reserve spectrum set aside for competitive carriers. Industry officials said Wednesday that policy call is in an order set for a vote at the FCC’s July 16 meeting (see 1506170052). Wheeler conceded that additional lawsuits potentially could delay the start of the auction: “One of the realities of this job is that fact there’s always the potential for lawsuits.”