Time for FCC to Make Decision on Key Spectrum Band, 4G Americas Tells FCC

The record shows that spectrum reallocation usually takes longer than expected, McDowell said in an interview. “The brutal truth is that the federal government does not have an incentive to relinquish spectrum for auction and it probably won’t unless Congress can change the law or if the president makes it a priority for each cabinet level agency to surrender spectrum,” he said. The letter said that, under the spectrum law, the FCC must license the 2155-2180 MHz band by February 2015. In the letter, “4G Americas makes terrific points in that the clock is ticking and 24 months will pass a lot more quickly than most folks would expect. If you look backwards the incentive auction legislation was being written two years ago and that period of time seemed to pass very quickly.” McDowell said “the other administrative law of physics is that everything takes longer than expected, so absent a sense of urgency the government could have a hard time meeting that Feb. 22, 2015, deadline."

Carriers have long sought to have that spectrum paired with 1755-1780 MHz in an auction. The clock is ticking, 4G Americas said. “One year ago today, President [Barack] Obama signed into law the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 containing Title VI on Public Safety Communications and Electromagnetic Spectrum Auctions,” said the letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, the other four FCC members and NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling.

The FCC remains “very focused on making more spectrum available, and on the statutory deadlines for licensing additional bands” in the spectrum law, Wireless Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman said. In the past six months, the agency “has issued two significant notices of proposed rulemaking -- on broadcast incentive auctions and the H block -- and in the coming months we expect to issue a third notice on the remaining 55 MHz required to be licensed by February 2015,” she continued: “We're committed to meeting all statutory deadlines,” including those for bands with federal incumbent users.

The FCC has made good progress on the incentive auction of broadcast spectrum authorized by the act, the letter said. “Our members are actively engaged in the incentive auctions proceeding which promises to free up spectrum,” the group said. “There is another band of spectrum that industry also requires, the upper band of which the Spectrum Act identified for licensing in two years -- 2155-2180 MHz, by February 22, 2015. Industry has repeatedly stated its strong interest in having a cleared 1755-1780 MHz band, currently allocated to a number of federal systems including Defense, paired in auction with 2155-2180 MHz.”

In its letter, 4G Americas said 1.7 GHz/2.1 GHz “is an internationally-harmonized band” for LTE and “the best band for LTE roaming in the Americas available in the near term, and hence of great value.” But time is running out, the group said, since the FCC must notify NTIA 18 months prior to an auction. “Eighteen months from today is August 2014 -- which would not provide the Commission much time to conduct an auction and license the spectrum by February 2015,” the letter said. “Given the cooperative efforts of Defense and other federal users in making this band available, we therefore urge the Commission to notify now that it plans to auction 1755-1780 MHz paired with 2155-2180 MHz."

Industry officials said Friday the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee has four working groups looking closely at the future use of the broader 1755-1850 MHz band, including sharing and possibly clearing part of the band. But indications at Thursday’s CSMAC meeting (CD Feb 22 p3) were that several of the working groups won’t have their final reports ready before mid-June, industry sources said.

"It is now well known that clearing even the bottom 25 MHz of the 1755-1850 band for auction is an immensely complex and expensive process,” said CSMAC member Michael Calabrese, director of the New America Foundation’s Wireless Future Project. “There are 3,300 different spectrum assignments to a myriad of federal uses, mostly military, including satellites, electronic warfare and precision-guided missiles. The four multi-stakeholder working groups convened through CSMAC are expected to adopt final reports by early summer, which will be the appropriate time for the FCC and NTIA to determine what sort of private sector access to the band is feasible and the timing for any auction. In any case, the working group output to date suggests that there will be at a minimum a lengthy transition period during which carriers will need to share the band to a considerable degree with federal systems that cannot clear out quickly."

"CTIA agrees with 4G Americas that timing is critical for NTIA and the FCC to agree that the two bands, 1755 to 1780 MHz and 2155 to 2180 MHz, will be auctioned as a pair,” said CTIA Vice President Chris Guttman-McCabe. “As CTIA has advocated over the last several years, it is imperative that the federal government work to bring additional spectrum to market in line with the spectrum legislation, the National Broadband Plan and the President’s commitments. Pairing the 1755 and 2155 MHz bands will be a significant step toward delivering on those goals."

Fred Campbell, former FCC Wireless Bureau chief and director of the Communications Liberty & Innovation Project, said the Obama administration has put too much emphasis on spectrum sharing. “Clearing government spectrum for commercial use produces more value for consumers than sharing,” Campbell said. “The FCC has initiated proceedings on spectrum sharing in the 3.5 GHz and 5 GHz bands, but not on spectrum clearing. Without an FCC proceeding on spectrum clearing, there is no forum for public comment on the potential to clear the 1755 to 1780 MHz band. The FCC should take action to fully consider all of the potential options for meeting the administration’s goal of clearing 500 MHz of spectrum."

"Everyone with an issue before the FCC would like the commission to move more quickly,” countered public interest lawyer Andrew Schwartzman. “While I understand why some stakeholders will be anxious, the commission is proceeding on a schedule which will enable it to complete an auction within the deadline."

But Jonathan Spalter, chairman of Mobile Future, told us “delay is not an option” and the government needs to move on the band. “Our citizens and our economy depend on the federal government moving quickly to free up more spectrum -- especially in the critical 1755-1850 MHz band,” Spalter said. “It is vital our policy-makers at the FCC and NTIA continue to move forward rapidly with the plans to auction the 65 MHz of spectrum mandated for 2015 and to free-up underutilized government spectrum holdings to ensure our nation continues to have a mobile broadband infrastructure that is the envy of the world. We've no time to waste. The impact of delay or roadblocks will be measured by more than just the frequency of dropped calls. It will also be measured by missed economic opportunity, slower innovation, and sluggish job growth for American communities."

Chris Pearson, the group’s president said, “4G Americas commends the efforts of the FCC to make more mobile wireless spectrum available for citizens of this great country,” said . “Yet, there is much work to be done, and 4G Americas wants to encourage all U.S. government stakeholder entities to continue their progress regarding pairing 1755-1780 MHz with 2155-2180 MHz in light of the timelines outlined in the Spectrum Act, which requires notification to NTIA 18 months prior to an auction. Providing more internationally harmonized spectrum will create jobs, help the economy, improve service and raise billions of dollars for the U.S. Treasury.”