CSMAC Working Group Recommends Spectrum Clearing Be Centralized Under One Agency
Federal agencies should get funding to hire more staff to handle relocating their systems if the government finds more federal spectrum that can be cleared for sale in future spectrum auctions, a working group of the Commerce Department’s Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee (CSMAC) said. CMSAC Working Group 3 wants responsibility for spectrum clearing to be “centralized,” possibly within a single agency like NTIA. Acting Administrator Meredith Baker announced at the group’s meeting in San Jose, Calif., that NTIA is reconstituting the group, asking members to prepare a report on transition issues for the next presidential administration.
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The Commerce Department created the CSMAC in November 2006 to examine government spectrum efficiency. Spectrum clearance issues have loomed large since 2006’s advanced wireless service 1 auction, in which much of the spectrum sold was occupied by the Department of Defense and other government users. The carriers that bought AWS licenses in many cases still are working with the government to clear the frequencies.
Federal agencies doubt the prospects of spectrum sharing, the report said. “Agencies are concerned, based on some past experience, that if they agree to allow commercial entities to perform, in Federal bands, tests or experiments on new technology, those commercial entities will not want to vacate the spectrum at the end of the testing and experimentation,” the report said.
At the same time, carriers often lack a clear view of federal spectrum use. “Non-Federal users do not appreciate/understand how Federal spectrum is being used,” the report said. “This is in part due to the limited information provided by the Federal agencies as part of the relocation process. A lack of sufficient information increases the risk to potential bidders and therefore can lead to lower bids or to unfulfilled expectations of auction winners.” Meanwhile, the report said, some information about agency operation must be kept secret “given the possibility of a failed auction.”
Other problems abound. Among them is that agencies tend to lack staff to address relocation, which “leads to delay and frustration from entities seeking access to the spectrum prior to complete relocation of Federal systems,” the report said. NTIA and the Office of Management and Budget offer general guidance on the relocation process, but each agency goes its own way in estimating relocation cost and time and answering requests for coordination of early entrance by auction winners, the report said. “These approaches are not uniform.”
Among the working group’s recommendations is that before an auction of spectrum to be cleared carriers get “sufficient information to fully understand the scope of the Federal operations and whether commercial deployments will be possible before the Federal operations are fully relocated.” Rules for starting relocation should be “clearly defined and consistently applied,” the report said. The government needs secure on-line systems, based on a DoD system, that allow for “virtually instantaneous coordination between Federal and non-Federal systems” and should consider spectrum clearing benchmarks across agencies.
Also before CMSAC Monday, Working Group 2, now examining ways to improve spectrum sharing, said in a preliminary report that most spectrum below 3 GHz in the U.S. is managed by NTIA, if in government hands, or the FCC, which manages non-federal use.
The division has held for some 70 years, the report said. “However, a consequence of the dual management process is that spectrum is not always used as efficiently or effectively as it could be to meet Federal and non-Federal communication requirements. A more streamlined spectrum sharing process among Federal and non-Federal jurisdictions, supported by both NTIA and the FCC, may increase spectrum efficiency for all users.”
In a third report, Working Group 2, which is examining operational efficiency, said the CSMAC should recommend ways for the U.S. to make government agencies more accountable for the spectrum they use, based in part on Administrative Incentive Pricing (AIP) as practiced in the U.K. Under the AIP model, government agencies “pay” for spectrum they use, through their budgets.
“The Committee should provide NTIA with recommendations on the use of AIP and the pace and scope of an AIP initiative if one were adopted,” the report said. “The Committee could assist NTIA in assessing various pricing models and identifying those that best serve Federal purposes.” Getting the pricing model right is critical, the report said. “Set the prices too high and spectrum will be underutilized,” the report said. “Set the prices too low and there will be warehousing and congestion (and instances of underutilization or congestion may be evidence that the implicit or explicit price of assigned spectrum is too low).”
The current CSMAC will likely meet two more times before its term expires in December, Baker said. Current members can stay on and the administration will take applications for new members, she said. “We have found it extremely valuable,” Baker said. “I think that the work you are doing is very, very important.” In asking for a transition report for a new CSMAC, Baker noted that the group has already met under three NTIA administrators.