Small Carriers See Middle Ground Possible on License Sizes for Incentive Auction
LAS VEGAS -- The FCC should at least consider selling 600 MHz spectrum in smaller license sizes than economic area (EA) licenses, FCC acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn said Tuesday, following a keynote at the Competitive Carriers Association’s annual conference. Carrier executives told us the FCC may be considering license sizes somewhere between EAs and the much smaller cellular market area (CMA) licenses, possibly something along the line of component economic area licenses (CEAs), a category previously developed by the FCC. CCA recently adopted a position in favor of CMAs over EAs for the incentive auction (CD June 20 p1).
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"One of the reasons that we've been talking about putting out in the notice all of those questions to kind of flesh things out is we recognize not only the importance but the benefits of having a wide range of opportunities for all sizes, all types of carriers,” Clyburn told reporters as she left her speech at CCA. “That is something that I am personally interested in and that’s why I wanted a robust opportunity for ideas.” Clyburn said she didn’t want to “prejudge” whether another license size makes more sense or “get ahead” of her fellow commissioners as well as FCC staff. The FCC sought comment on the size of licenses for the auction in last year’s NPRM on auction rules.
CEAs would be a mid-size license. The nation is divided into 354 CEAs, about twice as many as the number of EAs and less than half the more than 700 CMAs. Carrier officials at the CCA conference conceded there are real differences of opinions among the association’s members on whether CMAs are too small. FCC officials have repeatedly indicated they would like to sell the 600 MHz spectrum licenses in a single size, so all spectrum sold in the auction is more or less interchangeable within a given market. One carrier executive said if the FCC sold seven sets of licenses in the 600 MHz band and used CMAs, it would have to deal with more than 5,000 licenses.
"There’s talk of a middle ground, but nobody knows what it is,” said Grant Spellmeyer, vice president at U.S. Cellular. “It’s tough,” said Sprint Vice President Larry Krevor. “Obviously, we'd prefer EAs, but we understand [the push for] CMAs and we're not objecting to it.”
Clyburn’s speech at the CCA meeting on some levels was a victory lap on the 700 MHz interoperability agreement unveiled last week (CD Sept 11 p1), as she likely nears the end of her acting chairmanship, with Tom Wheeler waiting in the wings, industry officials said. Clyburn got two standing ovations from CCA members, at the beginning and end of her remarks.
"When I was sworn in as acting chair of the FCC in May, I knew there was a limited amount of time to try to make a lasting impact,” Clyburn said. She said she has tried to focus on “high impact” issues that are generally “pro-consumer and pro-little guys and little gals.” She said she also wanted to focus on a few issues that like 700 MHz interoperability were “longstanding” and difficult and “would benefit the most from a little extra push."
The FCC will make sure that all parties live up to the 700 MHz agreement, Clyburn said. “Be assured … that we will be watching at the FCC implementation of the agreement with a very, very, very close eye,” she said. “This issue is too important to me and to the members of CCA to not see it through.”