The 600 MHz band plan endorsed by the...

FCC Thursday (http://bit.ly/16VDKNL). According to the letter, in a meeting Tuesday with Wireless Bureau staff, Feld said there is no consensus in favor of the “down from 51” plan, contrary to a statement by Commissioner Ajit Pai (CD May 21 p4) and a blog post Wednesday from the NAB, AT&T and Verizon endorsing that plan (CD May 22 p4). “Pai ignored objections to the AT&T/VZ/NAB plan and support from consumer groups (including Public Knowledge), competitors such as Sprint, or tech companies such as Microsoft,” said Feld in a post from his own blog, which is also referenced in the ex parte (http://bit.ly/13Mx7pT). Feld commended the Wireless Bureau for issuing a rulemaking notice to explore the different band plans. “The Public Notice issued by the Bureau enhances transparency and facilitates a full exploration of all possible approaches and their respect tradeoffs, creating a richer and more robust record for any ultimate decision by the Commission,” said Feld. Feld also spoke with Wireless Bureau staff about market variability and TV white spaces. “The problem in rural areas is not a dearth of licensed spectrum, but economic circumstances that make licensed wireless unprofitable,” Feld said. “Reclaiming vast amounts of rural broadcast spectrum would starve TVWS [TV White Spaces] and thus worsen, rather than alleviate, the problem of rural wireless broadband.” Feld said confining rural broadband to spectrum that isn’t used in large markets would make it difficult for licensees to purchase equipment, and they “would therefore face the problem faced by rural 700 MHz A and B block licensees denied interoperability today.” However, Feld said market variability could also prevent broadcasters from holding out for higher spectrum prices in the most congested markets.