Wheeler Expected to Propose Restrictions if Enough Carriers Bid in TV Incentive Auction
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is proposing a two-stage process for the forward part of the TV incentive auction, industry officials said Friday. The first phase is an unrestricted “put up or shut up” phase, officials said. If bids reach a still-to-be-defined threshold, then Verizon and AT&T could effectively be limited to bidding for a limited amount of “unreserved” spectrum, in what one official said would be a “cage match” contest between the two wireless heavyweights. The proposal doesn’t mention AT&T or Verizon but specifies carriers that own more than a third of the sub-1 GHz spectrum in a market, so that the restrictions could apply to other carriers as well, officials said.
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FCC officials started industry briefings Friday (CD April 11 p1). Industry sources said early indications are that the FCC will allow more spectrum holdings under its screen, something sought by Verizon and AT&T, raising the amount all carriers can hold without going above a spectrum screen. But at the same time, the rules would impose restrictions on spectrum holdings and would treat low-band spectrum differently from higher band spectrum. A number of briefings are scheduled over the next week on various aspects of the auction rules.
"All who want to participate in the auction will be able to bid,” Wheeler said in an emailed statement. “A priority of the auction should also be to fill in the blank white spaces on the coverage maps we see on TV commercials with competitors and consumer choice. In order to assure coverage and competition in rural America it may be necessary to assure no one can monopolize the bidding."
Meanwhile, small carriers made their case for spectrum aggregation limits, in FCC filings, as the agency puts finishing touches on the rules.
The Rural Wireless Association told the FCC low-band spectrum remains critical for small carriers. The group noted that it asked the commission almost six years ago to impose a 110 MHz spectrum aggregation limit for all commercial terrestrial wireless spectrum below 2.3 GHz. “The need for spectrum aggregation limits for all mobile telephony/broadband spectrum below 1 GHz is based on two factors -- technical superiority and scarcity -- which make such spectrum far more valuable than spectrum above 1 GHz,” RWA said (http://bit.ly/QdekEl). “Low-band spectrum has inherent technical superiority for providing coverage in rural markets. ... The technical superiority of low band spectrum does not, unfortunately, equate to greater use of such spectrum in rural areas. The Commission has already recognized that low-band spectrum is a much scarcer resource than high-band spectrum."
NTCA called on the FCC to impose -- prior to the incentive auction -- overall spectrum aggregation limits, with specific limits on spectrum below 1 GHz. “Reasonable spectrum aggregation limits would help loosen the stranglehold that the largest providers have on the market, offering opportunities for competitive providers to obtain spectrum to enter the wireless arena or expand wireless offerings with the addition of new, innovative capabilities,” NTCA said (http://bit.ly/1gS8luF). “Additional players in the mobile wireless market also introduce additional and stronger roaming partners to the benefit of consumers and the market as a whole.”
Blue Grass Cellular said the FCC should revise its spectrum aggregation rules prior to the incentive auction to reflect the greater value of low-band spectrum. “Bluegrass provides the highest quality service to its subscribers, who would otherwise be unserved,” the carrier said in an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1kB4slQ). “The FCC must ensure that Bluegrass has a fair and reasonable opportunity to acquire 600 MHz spectrum in the incentive auction, because this low-band spectrum comes with technological advantages that make it highly desirable for deploying advanced wireless services to rural areas.” Ntelos told the FCC it needs a mix of low-, mid- and high-band spectrum to be competitive. “Unfortunately, NTELOS has found it difficult to obtain low-band spectrum in the secondary market, and the last major low-band spectrum auction occurred six years ago,” the carrier said (http://bit.ly/1gS862y).
Meanwhile, the New America Foundation is raising concerns about unlicensed use provisions in proposed service rules for the auction. Michael Calabrese of the group met with Louis Peraertz, aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. “The public interest is best served by band plan, auction and repacking policies that strike a balance between broadcast stations, licensed mobile operators and ensuring at least 24 MHz of unlicensed access in every market nationwide,” Calabrese said in an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/QdobKk). “We discussed the growing consensus that unlicensed spectrum is both a complement to licensed services and central to the wireless economy, generating more than $200 billion in economic activity each year in the U.S. alone, according to an economic study released this year by the WifiForward coalition.”