Low-Band Spectrum Is Special, Critical to Rural Deployments, Wheeler Says
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated service rules for the incentive TV auction Thursday, a senior FCC official confirmed Friday, for a vote at the agency’s May 15 open meeting. Meanwhile, Wheeler made clear in a blog post that he considers low-band spectrum, like the 600 MHz spectrum to be offered in the auction, to be special. Parts of the proposed auction rules could see further revisions as other commissioners make their case for revisions, industry and agency officials said.
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One big question is whether the spectrum aggregation rules will be tweaked to give all carriers a chance to buy more of the spectrum, agency officials told us, citing concern that up to 50 percent of the spectrum could be set aside for smaller carriers. AT&T warned Wednesday it might sit out the auction if the rules are not changed (CD April 17 p1). FCC Republicans Ajit Pai and Mike O'Rielly are expected to lead opposition to the spectrum aggregation rules, industry officials said.
Advocates of unlicensed spectrum are making a concerted push to ensure that a maximum amount of spectrum will be made available for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use, agency officials said. The advocates, including public interest groups, met with Wheeler Friday. Wheeler also met Friday with the Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition, said Executive Director Preston Padden. “We came away encouraged about the prospects for a successful Incentive Auction,” Padden said in an e-mail.
A senior FCC official said Friday the service rules circulated by Wheeler are little changed from the rules on which industry and public interest groups were briefed three weeks ago (CD April 4 p1). Wheeler is expected to circulate spectrum aggregation rules April 24 (CD April 17 p1). The FCC’s Incentive Auction Task Force is taking the lead on the service rules, with the Wireless Bureau leading on spectrum aggregation rules, agency officials clarified.
"The Incentive Auction is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to expand the benefits of mobile wireless coverage and competition to consumers across the Nation -- particularly consumers in rural areas -- offering more choices of wireless providers, lower prices, and higher quality mobile services,” Wheeler said in the blog post (http://fcc.us/1gH8EJw). “Getting the Incentive Auction right will revolutionize how spectrum is allocated. By marrying the economics of demand (think wireless providers) with the economics of current spectrum holders (think television broadcasters), the Incentive Auction will allow market forces to determine the highest and best use of spectrum."
In a key passage, Wheeler notes that the two largest carriers, Verizon and AT&T, control most low-band spectrum, though he doesn’t cite them by name. “Not all spectrum frequencies are created equal,” he said. “Spectrum below 1 GHz -- such as the Incentive Auction spectrum -- has physical properties that increase the reach of mobile networks over long distances. The effect of such properties is that fewer base stations and other infrastructure are required to build out a mobile network. As a “legacy of earlier spectrum assignments” only “two national carriers control the vast majority of low-band spectrum,” he said. “As a result, rural consumers are denied the competition and choice that would be available if more wireless competitors also had access to low-band spectrum."
The draft service rules report and order proposes a 600 MHz band plan with specific paired uplink and downlink bands based on industry recommendations, agency officials said Friday. The rules are designed to accommodate variations in the amount of spectrum that will be sold to prevent the “least common denominator market” from limiting how much spectrum will be sold nationwide.
The proposed rules call for Partial Economic Areas as the license size for all spectrum sold, and adopt technical and services rules governing adjacent 700 MHz band and require device interoperability across the 600 MHz band, officials said. Carriers will bid for blocks of spectrum, but unlike the 700 MHz auction, won’t know specifically where the block is located in the band plan. The auction would close when there’s no more demand in the forward auction, at which point the FCC would have to determine that the proceeds are adequate to pay broadcasters to give up their spectrum, cover the cost of running the auction, fully fund FirstNet and meet other congressional directions as well, officials said.
The rules also provide for unlicensed use of both the 600 MHz guard band and Channel 37, with a separate rulemaking expected to follow to look at changes to existing technical rules governing the use of unlicensed devices in the 600 MHz spectrum, officials said. But use of Channel 37 will likely be limited by exclusion zones, protecting radioastronomy and medical devices already using the spectrum.
The rules for broadcasters that sell their spectrum are designed to preserve the coverage area and population served by broadcasters as of Feb. 22, 2012, the date the Spectrum Act was enacted, and adopt the methodology described in Bulletin No. 69 (OET 69) on the coverage area and population served by each station, relying on updated computer software and current data, officials said. The order commits the FCC to making the transition as smooth as possible, they said. But it also requires broadcasters to clear the spectrum no later than 39 months after the repacking process becomes effective.