Rosenworcel Proposes Paying Federal Users for ‘Efficient’ Use of Spectrum

The “clear, relocate, and auction” approach traditionally used to repurpose federal spectrum is unlikely to work as well as it used to, since more government functions are traveling over the airwaves and it’s hard to find spectrum for federal relocation, Rosenworcel said. “What if we were to financially reward federal authorities for efficient use of their spectrum resources? What if they were able to reclaim a portion of the revenue from the subsequent re-auction of their airwaves? Would they make new choices about their missions and the resources they need to accomplish them? I think so,” Rosenworcel said. “We must work with our government partners so they can realize the value of their spectrum and the value of using it efficiently -- instead of only seeing loss from its reallocation.” The idea is also “entirely consistent with the idea of synthetic currency” proposed by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, she said. PCAST in May urged the creation of a “synthetic” currency to entice federal agencies to give agencies an incentive to offer more spectrum to the private sector (CD May 29 p1).

In releasing the spectrum report, which encourages sharing and backs the creation of a spectrum access system in the U.S., PCAST “put their finger on an obvious problem,” said Thomas Power, U.S. deputy chief technology officer of telecom at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Spectrum is finite and demand is increasing, and at some point the government will have to approach spectrum allocation differently, he said. Power worries the spectrum sharing debate has gotten “unnecessarily heated.” The work currently underway about sharing access to some of the bands between 1755 and 1850 MHz is “exactly the kind of work that we need to keep doing,” he said: That’s where the government will find out what is possible.

One problem is that the Department of Defense “is still the master of their spectrum,” said Howard Feld, senior vice president at Public Knowledge. “LightSquared got tanked by DoD,” and Defense also “pulled everything they didn’t like” out of the spectrum legislation, he said. “We need to have some sort of realistic expectation about how you move the military” off the spectrum it has, which might entail demonstrating to them that sharing among federal users is possible, he said.

Rosenworcel wants a proceeding to create “off-the rack model rules” for tower facility siting, that are simple for state and local governments to use, and will help spur deployment. Model rules will offer a streamlined way to expedite deployment while also respecting state and local authority, she said. Rosenworcel wants the tower siting rules to harmonize aspects of President Barack Obama’s executive order that streamlined access to land controlled by the federal government; Section 6409 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, which called for the creation of a master contract for applications to deploy over federal property; and shot clocks that could speed the tower siting process. “We need to tie these disparate efforts together in a single whole,” she said. “By streamlining the process, we can provide a way forward for state and local governments."

"Simplicity must be our incentive auction gospel,” said Rosenworcel regarding the upcoming broadcaster incentive auction. Simplicity will yield more interest in the opportunities these auctions provide for broadcasters, which will in turn lead to more spectrum, she said. Rosenworcel also wants all spectrum auctions to be put on a timeline.

FCC Chief Engineer Julius Knapp said he wants a process that is simple for the participants, in the end. Like a car is complex under the hood but easy to operate, that is also what the FCC is trying to do, he said: “Yeah, it’s complicated when you get into the details of how the repacking works, and so forth, but we've tackled complicated issues before.” Other FCC officials have made a similar analogy. There’s no “collective mind think” about whether to participate in the incentive auctions, said Susan Fox, Disney vice president-government relations. Clarity in auction rules is helpful, she said, because the more complex they are, the harder it will be for broadcasters to make an economic decision about what their options are.

In the aftermath of Sandy, which “wreaked havoc” on the Northeast, the commission needs to have “an honest conversation” about network reliability in the wireless and digital age,” said Rosenworcel. She cited the nearly one in four cell tower sites not working in the immediate aftermath of the combined hurricane/nor'easter. In a nation where over one-third of households rely strictly on cellphones, people are “more vulnerable” in the face of natural disasters, she said. “By choosing wireless and IP networks, we are choosing to go without the independent electrical source that traditionally powered copper plant.” The U.S. “shouldn’t sacrifice safety” in the process, she said.

The commission needs to have a “comprehensive discussion” about access to fuel, priority under the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, back-up communications deployments, maintaining backhaul, and harmonization with state and local authorities, Rosenworcel said. There should also be a discussion about how to help consumers prepare for the next severe-weather event, with longer lasting back-up batteries and solar chargers, she said.