Wireless Bureau Seeks Comment on Alternate Band Plan for Incentive Auction

As expected (CD May 17 p1), the notice seeks comment on “a variation of the Down from 51 band plan” which reverses “the configuration of the uplink and downlink blocks” proposed in an earlier NPRM on auction rules (http://bit.ly/16Kde9i). The plan would require an additional guard band between the 600 MHz downlink band and the lower 700 MHz uplink band “to protect these services from interfering with one another.” Industry officials have already raised concerns about why the bureau is proposing this alternate plan despite industry consensus around the initial preferred band with changes to that plan’s proposal of putting some broadcasters in the “duplexer gap,” surrounded by wireless operations (CD Jan 25 p3). The big concern, industry officials told us, is the revised plan would put base stations nearest to handsets’ transmissions in the 700 MHz sold by the FCC in the 2008 auction.

"Under a Down from 51 Reversed band plan, the Commission would clear broadcast television channels starting at channel 51 and expand downward: the downlink band would begin after a guard band at channel 51 (698 MHz), followed by a duplex gap, and then the uplink band,” the notice said. The notice said the bureau is very concerned about developing a plan that provides maximum flexibility, especially since different amounts of spectrum are expected to be sold by broadcasters in different markets.

"The Down from 51 proposals in the record generally limit the amount of market variation that can be achieved, however,” the notice said. “Specifically, most of these proposals are targeted at repurposing a specific amount of paired spectrum nationwide, and provide limited options for how to offer less spectrum in constrained markets, or additional spectrum in individual markets, and only under certain scenarios.” The notice suggests that “by reversing the uplink and downlink bands, the Down from 51 Reversed band plan framework can maintain a uniform downlink band nationwide and allow for market variation in the amount of uplink spectrum offered without placing high power services in the duplex gap."

Pai was sharply critical of the bureau’s approach, especially since it does not build on the January consensus proposal by NAB, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile and Intel (http://bit.ly/VlZ0qC). “Instead of taking this consensus framework and trying to flesh out further its advantages and disadvantages, today’s Public Notice seeks input on band plans that start with downlink at Channel 51, that permit broadcast television operations in the duplex gap, and that are based on time-division duplexing (TDD),” he said (http://bit.ly/18VDFbn). “In short, it refocuses the agency’s and the public’s attention on a variety of band plans with little or no support in the record. This quixotic enterprise has us tilting at windmills, at serious cost. If the Commission still aims to hold the incentive auction in 2014, we have neither the time nor the resources to focus on band plans that we are highly unlikely to ever adopt."

Pai also questioned whether the bureau had exceeded its authority under the commission’s rules. “Moreover, even if the right questions were posed, this is the wrong way to pose them,” he said. “Under our rules, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau ’shall not have the authority to act upon notices of proposed rulemaking ... except ... where novel questions of fact, law, or policy are not involved.’ It follows inexorably that the Bureau should not seek comment on new 600 MHz band plans on delegated authority. The Public Notice presents several novel questions of policy, novel enough that I had not even seen most of the band plans contained therein until 48 hours ago. This is precisely the sort of decision that the full Commission should make."

The notice explores other proposed band plans as well. The release of the PN came just before CTIA’s annual show in Las Vegas, but top bureau officials are not expected to attend because of cuts to the agency’s travel budget (CD May 17 p6).