House Republicans Say ‘No’ to D-Block Giveaway in Draft Spectrum Bill

The draft “is a Republican proposal and includes several provisions that committee Democrats are very unlikely to support,” a Democratic staffer for the House Commerce Committee said. “We hope that our Republican colleagues will continue to work with us to achieve a true bipartisan compromise.” The office of House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., agreed that the draft is a “starting point” but needs work.

Staffers for Eshoo and California Rep. Henry Waxman, ranking Democrat on the committee, were involved in legislative talks “and the draft incorporates some of their suggestions, including changes on incentive auctions and governance,” said a committee majority memo released Wednesday. The draft also includes suggestions from the FCC, it said. “None of the language is set in stone and the hope is that bipartisan discussions will continue as we move toward a markup vehicle."

The House “can pass what they want, but it’s not going to work out” without reallocation of the D-block to public safety, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., told reporters after a hearing Wednesday on “cramming” (See separate report in this issue). “They're barking up the wrong tree."

While the draft bill does not specifically name the D-block, the FCC is required by current law to put it up for commercial auction. The GOP draft requires the FCC to grant states licenses to the existing 24 MHz of spectrum cleared for public safety in the DTV transition. The draft freezes expansion of narrowband voice on the spectrum. The draft doesn’t yet specify how much money will be authorized for the network.

To govern construction and operation of the public safety network, the GOP draft sets up a board of federal, state and commercial members. The board would set interoperability requirements and select an administrator through a request-for-proposal process “to coordinate state licensees, ratify contracts and RFPs of the States to build the network, and ensure compliance with the federal interoperability requirements,” the majority memo said. States in public-private partnerships would be eligible for grants to build the network and get devices. The draft also orders an FCC report on amateur radio operators’ role during emergencies.

The FCC would get general authority to conduct incentive auctions, but only one shot at a voluntary auction of broadcaster spectrum under the draft bill. Broadcasters could participate in later auctions, but special rules for the broadcaster auction set up in the draft bill would not apply. The draft requires the FCC to make “reasonable” efforts to preserve broadcasters’ existing service areas, and prevents the FCC from forcing a broadcaster to move from UHF to VHF without compensation.

The GOP draft would direct the FCC to auction within 10 years the AWS-2 H-block, the AWS-3 band and several bands occupied by government users. The draft directs NTIA to relocate federal users from identified spectrum unless it’s necessary for critical communications. If the latter is the case, the NTIA would have to make the spectrum available on a secondary basis. The draft prohibits the FCC from making conditions related to network management, wholesale access, caps on total spectrum holdings and “any other restrictions on eligibility to bid at spectrum auction that are unrelated to the bidders’ qualifications or fitness to be a Commission licensee,” the memo said. The bill also extends FCC auction authority until 2021, a provision commonly seen in spectrum bills to offset costs.

The draft requires that the FCC auction all spectrum going to the private sector, whether it’s for licensed or unlicensed use. But Matsui introduced a bill Wednesday that would require the NTIA to study allocating 5 GHz spectrum to the tech industry for unlicensed use to support growing demand for Wi-Fi. “Wi-Fi is already an integral part of our everyday lives; we must meet current demand and put in place a plan to meet growing needs,” Matsui said. She objected to selling it through auction, saying “attempts to auction off this spectrum would put U.S. innovators at a disadvantage."

NAB President Gordon Smith applauded the House Republicans’ bill, saying it would “provide truly voluntary spectrum auctions.” But Public Knowledge Legal Director Harold Feld said the draft language would put communications law “up for sale” by “allowing broadcasters to choose which rules they will follow and which rules they won’t if they sell their broadcast spectrum at auction.” Also, the draft bill would relieve wireless companies of “even the most minimal” net neutrality requirements if they bought the spectrum, Feld said.

The Information Technology Industry Council has concerns about the House GOP draft bill’s provisions on unlicensed spectrum, said Council President Dean Garfield. “Unlicensed Wi-Fi technology has provided great public and commercial benefits, and preventing additional spectrum from being allocated by the FCC to unlicensed purposes may prevent efficient, innovative use of this valuable resource. But Garfield applauded the bill’s authorization of incentive auctions. Public Knowledge and the Wireless Innovation Alliance also objected to the Republicans’ handling of unlicensed spectrum. “By proposing to auction all unlicensed spectrum, the draft would undermine future economic growth, and hamper the development of new and innovative unlicensed products and services,” the Alliance said. The companies who want unlicensed spectrum likely won’t be able to outbid the big companies who want spectrum for licensed use, Feld said.