Hill Expected to Pursue Spectrum Inventory Legislation
The spectrum inventory discussed by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Wednesday likely won’t satisfy calls on Capitol Hill for a more exhaustive inventory, industry and FCC officials said Thursday. An official in the chairman’s office clarified that Genachowski was referring to the extensive research the commission did as reflected in its LicenseView and Spectrum Dashboard initiatives when he discussed the FCC inventory Wednesday (CD March 17 p1). The official said different bills proposed in Congress differ on what would constitute an inventory. “The broadcasters are really pushing the need for an inventory before anything happens” and the inventory unveiled by Genachowski probably won’t fit that bill, a second FCC official said.
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"Anything that the FCC does doesn’t have NTIA’s spectrum database so you only have half of the story,” said a wireless carrier source. “What Congress is asking for is a lot more specific than what the dashboard provides. The dashboard is really just what the FCC has in its database and the FCC database isn’t always accurate.” A second carrier source said the dashboard is a “good first step” and shows where the allocations and where the licenses are but does not contain detailed information are how the spectrum is used.
"The FCC statement is a disappointing response to Congress, which is seeking a thorough spectrum inventory,” NAB said in a statement. “The question is not whether the FCC can identify locations and licenses on the spectrum dashboard that have been set aside for specific services. The real issue is whether specific companies that bought or were given spectrum worth billions have actually deployed it."
Michael Calabrese, director of the New America Foundation’s Wireless Future Program, said the dashboard is “a very useful, consumer-friendly visualization” of who holds various licenses based on geography. “It is, so far, nowhere near the level of scope or detail that supporters of the bipartisan Radio Spectrum Inventory Acts have in mind. … The biggest gap is the absence of information on spectrum held by the federal government -- which is roughly half of all beachfront spectrum.” The spectrum occupancy measurements proposed by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, are critical, he said. “The basic questions being raised by the broadcasters are not addressed yet by the Spectrum Dashboard, although it’s a very consumer-friendly start on the problem that there is currently no transparency on how this public resource is actually being used,” Calabrese said.
"I doubt it will satisfy those on the Hill seeking more formal inventory, and while the FCC and NTIA have done good initial work on this, we, too, are hoping to see more,” said Chris Riley, Free Press policy counsel. “Ideally, we'd like to see a comprehensive and detailed model of actual spectrum utilization, including measurements across commercial and federal spectrum."
"The commission’s own inventory won’t be as good as Congress’s, but if the end game is improving wireless broadband in the next few years, they probably just need to move forward rather than wait for Congress,” said Paul Gallant, analyst at MF Global.
Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Kerry agrees with Genachowski that a deeper analysis should not be prerequisite to authorizing voluntary incentive auctions, a Senate staffer said. An inventory is one item in Kerry’s comprehensive spectrum reform legislation with Snowe. While the FCC may do much on spectrum without legislation, Kerry thinks that clarity in direction from Congress is always useful, the staffer said.
But Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., believes there’s “still a need” to mandate a spectrum inventory through legislation, said a Warner spokesman. “The FCC inventory does not catalog how much spectrum the licensees are using.”
Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga., said he is “glad that the FCC followed through with their spectrum inventory in a relatively short period of time as it paves the way for the next critical task: freeing up additional spectrum by granting the FCC the authority to conduct voluntary spectrum auctions,” a Barrow spokesman said. Barrow has a bill (HR-911) to authorize voluntary incentive auctions, with the prerequisite that the FCC first do a spectrum inventory.
Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake expressed optimism that legislation allowing the FCC to auction TV stations’ spectrum for wireless broadband use, and the government to share the proceeds with broadcasters, will be approved by Congress this year, said someone who listened to a webinar with the official. Lake told a group of broadcasters from Alabama on Thursday that circumstances appear aligned for Congress to approve such a bill, the participant said. Lake cited interest among members of Congress in reducing the deficit and he said the commission had done an extremely thorough inventory of spectrum, the source said.
Lake said he didn’t think the commission needed to do a further inventory to get a handle on the extent of the need to reallocate spectrum for wireless broadband, the participant said. Lake and other bureau officials have been holding webinars with state broadcasters groups to explain incentive auctions and seek their comments. A bureau spokeswoman declined to comment on Lake’s reported remarks. The webinars are not open to the public.
Public Knowledge Legal Director Harold Feld said Genachowski is correct that the government doesn’t need to inventory the spectrum to show there is a need for more spectrum below 1 GHz for broadband. “Part of the problem is that doing an inventory is expensive and it is likely to face resistance from licensees who fear reallocation or mandates to improve efficiency,” Feld said. “Genachowski recognizes that the broadcasters are using the inventory requirement to try to delay incentive auctions, and he wants to prevent the inventory from being used as a delaying tactic when it is clear that -- without Congressional authorization -- the inventory will take a long time and drain resources."
"The policy route taken to inventory spectrum is probably less important than the actual accounting of frequencies held by the federal government, the private sector and state/local agencies,” said Jeff Silva, analyst at Medley Global Advisors. “The spectrum inventory has never really been an end in itself, but rather a necessary prerequisite to determine how to approach spectrum reform in a way that frees up spectrum for mobile broadband and other wireless services demanded by consumers and businesses.” Regardless of what the inventory shows TV spectrum “is still likely to remain one of the essential components of spectrum reform,” he said.
"More science and analysis is needed before we rush ahead with the plan” by the FCC to reallocate TV spectrum for wireless broadband, said Vincent Sadusky, CEO of LIN Media, which runs 32 stations. “If you really look at the FCC’s inventory, it’s not even a 50,000-foot view” of spectrum use, “it’s a 100,000 foot-view of the spectrum band,” and that’s not enough, he said. Whether legislators will vote for any legislation before a thorough inventory is conducted isn’t clear to him, Sadusky said: “I hope the answer is no.”