Unlicensed spectrum provisions as proposed in the FCC’s Oct. 2 notice of proposed rulemaking on the incentive auction have sparked one of the biggest likely fights over auctions rules -- the 700 MHz guardbands and how much spectrum will likely be set aside for unlicensed use. Republican Commissioners Robert McDowell and Ajit Pai both are questioning whether the proposal allocates too much spectrum to unlicensed use at the expense of licenses carriers need to offer wireless broadband, industry and agency sources said. The future of the proposal likely will be determined by who wins Tuesday’s presidential election, sources agree.
Unlicensed spectrum provisions as proposed in the FCC’s Oct. 2 notice of proposed rulemaking on the incentive auction have sparked one of the biggest likely fights over auctions rules -- the 700 MHz guardbands and how much spectrum will likely be set aside for unlicensed use. Republican Commissioners Robert McDowell and Ajit Pai both are questioning whether the proposal allocates too much spectrum to unlicensed use at the expense of licenses carriers need to offer wireless broadband, industry and agency sources said. The future of the proposal likely will be determined by who wins Tuesday’s presidential election, sources agree.
An FCC order that would let Tribune emerge from bankruptcy is expected to circulate after the election, possibly as early as the end of the week and probably before Thanksgiving, industry officials said. Commission approval, as Tribune attorneys and executives have repeatedly reminded commission officials in ex parte discussions, is the remaining holdup to the company’s more than three-year bankruptcy proceeding. CEO Eddy Hartenstein spoke with aides to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Oct. 26 to press this point, a notice of the ex parte conversation said (http://xrl.us/bnxm4u).
A big question in the wake of the release of FCC data on the aftermath Hurricane Sandy is whether a public broadband safety network (PSBN) can largely ride on commercial networks, some said. The commission said 25 percent of cell sites in 158 counties across 10 states and Washington, D.C., were out of service following the storm (CD Oct 31 p1). The number was down slightly as of Wednesday. (See separate story). The new FirstNet board is starting its work developing an architecture for the national wireless public safety network. Officials noted that no network can survive every threat.
The presidential campaigns of President Barack Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney have begun efforts to select candidates for their administrations’ top communications positions, whichever candidate wins Nov. 6. Such efforts include preliminary plans for who might replace any outgoing administration officials, if Obama is reelected, and if Romney becomes president, determine who would be nominated for high-level telecom positions in the new administration. We recently interviewed former and current Democratic and Republican government officials to understand who will likely help each candidate make the necessary agency appointments if his campaign wins next Tuesday. The campaigns declined to comment, as did those said to be directly involved in the early-on planning efforts.
Spectrum policy historically has been viewed as essentially non-political, but that’s changing rapidly. The most recent example is last week’s FCC order that should mean greater use of the wireless communications service band for wireless broadband (CD Oct 17 p1). Industry observers told us that the politicization of spectrum has been all but inevitable, as the world goes wireless.
AT&T is raising questions about one part of Softbank’s proposed buy of a majority stake in Sprint Nextel that so far has gotten little attention, namely, provisions in the Communications Act limiting the ability of companies with more than 25 percent foreign ownership to invest in U.S. spectrum licenses. The restriction in Section 310(b)(4) provides for wiggle room, since the FCC needs to impose the restriction only if it finds doing so is in the public interest. Industry sources said Friday they do not expect the foreign ownership provisions to present an impediment to approval of the Softbank/Sprint deal.
Career FCC staff, trying to finish media ownership rules, are set to release statistics on ownership of all U.S. radio and TV stations to include those results in the forthcoming draft order, agency officials said. They said the Media Bureau may release, as soon as Thursday, aggregate information on what Form 323 biennial ownership reports say about who holds various classes of broadcast licensees. That data from 2009 and 2011 -- to be presented in aggregate form for the first time and after delays releasing it -- would then update the record, agency officials said. Bureau staff appear to be nearing an end to drafting the quadrennial media ownership order that was due to have been finished in 2010, agency officials told us this week.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear a case challenging a 2009 FCC wireless zoning shot clock order may have much bigger implications for the commission and other regulatory agencies, lawyers and analysts said this week. The court granted cert Friday in Arlington, Texas v. FCC, in a case that could mean high court review of the broader Chevron doctrine. The doctrine requires federal courts to defer to an agency’s interpretation of a statute, as long as that interpretation is deemed “reasonable.” The doctrine dates to a 1984 case, Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear a case challenging a 2009 FCC wireless zoning shot clock order may have much bigger implications for the commission and other regulatory agencies, lawyers and analysts said this week. The court granted cert Friday (CD Oct 10 p15) in Arlington, Texas, v. FCC, in a case that could mean high court review of the broader Chevron doctrine. The doctrine requires federal courts to defer to an agency’s interpretation of a statute, as long as that interpretation is deemed “reasonable.” The doctrine dates to a 1984 case, Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council.