Administration’s Long-Term Spectrum Goal Could Be Tough to Hit, Genachowski Says
Ex-FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski thinks the FCC will hit the administration’s 2015 target for freeing up 300 MHz of spectrum for wireless broadband, but hitting a second 500 MHz target by 2020 will take “a lot of work,” he told C-SPAN’s The Communicators (http://cs.pn/19u1Td8). He and ex-Commissioner Robert McDowell sat for a joint exit interview of sorts, which touched on the spectrum auctions, the legality of the Open Internet order, and their proudest achievements on the FCC. The program is to air this weekend.
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"These things take a little longer than expected sometimes,” McDowell said. With only three commissioners left and lots of things going on in Congress, “it could be a while” before the commission is up to full strength. “I'm hopeful it could start in 2014. I think it’s important for it to do so.” There are a “series of very complicated orders” that need to go out to manage this auction, which will be “the most complex in world history,” he said.
There’s “real engagement in the substantive issues,” with the debate not about whether there should be an auction, but what the band plan should look like, Genachowski said. There are a lot of “tricky but important issues,” he said: Symmetrical allocations of spectrum on uplinks and downlinks might not make sense in a broadband world because there’s more data going down than up, he said.
"There’s a lot of game theory going on” about how best to get broadcasters to relinquish spectrum in the still-to-be-scheduled incentive auction, McDowell said. There has been concern among bidders and sellers about the simultaneous nature of the auction, he said. “If you make it simpler, it’s probably going to work better,” he said (see related story, this issue). There are antitrust concerns about something as simple as putting broadcasters in a room and letting them work it out, but more complexity could create more uncertainty and make it less likely that they would relinquish more spectrum, he said.
The auction will “more than raise enough money” to cover what’s been targeted for FirstNet and other items in last year’s spectrum legislation, Genachowski said. The revenue that comes from the auction will be important, but the benefits for the economy in terms of job creation and tax revenue “are much broader than if you just measure the auction revenues,” he said. “The focus on freeing up as much spectrum as possible I think is the right objective."
The Arlington v. FCC decision (CD May 21 p1) was a “very good day” for the commission, Genachowski said. He was “confident” before the decision, and “I'm even more confident now,” he said. The marketplace has shown that the 2010 net neutrality rules are working, with an increase in innovation and investment across the industry since the rules were passed, he said. “I'm concerned about the uncertainty that the litigation is creating."
McDowell called this an area of “very sharp disagreement.” Even after Arlington, that didn’t give the FCC legislative authority; it just gave deference if there was ambiguity in the jurisdiction. But there was none, McDowell said. “I don’t think [Arlington] blows winds in the sail of the FCC’s order, which I voted against, on net neutrality.” It would be “disastrous” if the FCC classified broadband Internet as a Title II service, McDowell said. He hopes the next chairman will “scrap the Title II docket.”
Genachowski thinks more of the Connect America Fund Phase I money will be accepted this time, but the amount accepted the first time “was a good outcome,” he said. They wanted to make sure they “weren’t spending a dollar more than we needed to” to drive broadband buildout to unserved areas. The commission is moving “very quickly” to a second tranche of money that is being “well spent” to get broadband built out to areas that don’t have it.
Getting the agency to “focus on broadband,” and putting net neutrality rules on the books, are among Genachowski’s proudest achievements as chairman, he said. McDowell’s proudest achievement? “Trying to make the case for following the law and the facts,” he said.
"The world isn’t slowing down and waiting for debates about authority to get resolved,” Genachowski said. Some argued that the FCC didn’t have the authority to transform the USF/intercarrier compensation rules, or data roaming rules. But the agency “has to do its work” necessary to the broadband economy, he said. Congress should look at modernizing the Communications Act, but “it would be a mistake for the U.S. economy -- a mistake for our global competitiveness -- for the FCC to slow down.”