The FCC Monday quietly released the last of the big items approved at the FCC’s May 15 meeting -- new mobile holdings rules (CD May 16 p5). The FCC posted the item on its Web home page Tuesday. The FCC previously had released only a short fact sheet explaining the order (http://fcc.us/1h5tojV).

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe asked FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to consider setting aside TV spectrum in Indian Country for tribes to use. Rules for the incentive TV auction are “great for small carriers,” but the FCC could do even more good by designating some of the 600 MHz spectrum for the use of the tribes, wrote Dave Archambault, chairman of the Fort Yates, North Dakota-based tribe (http://bit.ly/1jBoMNn). “Best evidence” suggests that broadband deployment in tribal areas is under 20 percent, he said, and the 600 MHz spectrum is ideal for “comprehensive wireless service.”

The FCC approved service rules for the TV incentive auction and provisions that restrict bidding in the auction, over strong objections by FCC Republicans Ajit Pai and Mike O'Rielly. Both Republicans warned Thursday that the rules as structured could lead to a failed auction next year.

The chief of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division sent the FCC a letter Wednesday endorsing spectrum aggregation limits, set for a vote at Thursday’s open meeting. Meanwhile, net neutrality isn’t the only issue to attract protesters at the FCC. (See separate report in this issue.) A small group of protesters showed up at the FCC Wednesday to hold up signs urging commissioners not to forget the TV incentive auction as net neutrality takes much of the attention headed into the meeting. “Focus on Auction,” one sign read. “No Spectrum = No Net to Open,” a second said.

The FCC took in late ex parte filings by a host of companies and groups commenting on TV incentive auction rules, but posted them with a notice they had come in after last Thursday’s sunshine notice. The FCC is to vote on service and spectrum aggregation rules for the TV incentive auction Thursday at its open meeting. Under FCC rules, FCC officials can call parties to ask questions after the sunshine notice, which otherwise cuts off industry lobbying. U.S. Cellular filed an ex parte notice after a company official spoke Sunday and Monday with Wireless Bureau Chief Roger Sherman at Sherman’s request. The carrier had previously expressed concerns that in some markets it could be barred from buying 600 MHz spectrum because of the low-band spectrum it already holds. U.S. Cellular said it would prefer spectrum aggregation limits to the draft rules circulated for a vote by commissioners (http://bit.ly/RNoLzF). Most of the other ex parte filings were made after the Thursday cutoff but reflected earlier meetings at the agency.

Some House Democrats want the FCC to reserve spectrum for some carriers as part of the broadcast-TV incentive auction it plans in mid-2015. “A proposal to reserve a portion of the available licenses for carriers with limited nationwide low-frequency holdings will stimulate auction competition and revenues, ensuring opportunity to bid and win spectrum to enhance and extend rural build out and improve coverage in all areas, while guarding against excessive concentration of spectrum resources,” they told FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in a letter dated Friday (http://1.usa.gov/1l43BWs). Signers included Rep. Doris Matsui, Calif., the lead signature, along with Commerce Committee ranking member Henry Waxman, Calif., and Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, Calif. Others are House Judiciary Committee ranking member John Conyers, Mich.; Mike Doyle, Pa.; Zoe Lofgren, Calif.; Ben Ray Lujan, N.M.; Jared Polis, Colo.; Armed Services Committee ranking member Adam Smith, Wash.; and Peter Welch, Vt. In other recent letters from Capitol Hill to the FCC, 78 House Democrats pressured the agency to hold “an equal and fair” auction open to all bidders “on equal terms,” and every Republican on the House Communications Subcommittee demanded the agency not place restrictions on any auction bidders. The Competitive Carriers Association hailed Matsui’s letter: “We completely agree that reserving a portion of the 600 MHz spectrum after revenue targets have been satisfied is good for the wireless industry and the economy as a whole,” CEO Steve Berry said in a statement (http://bit.ly/1omJ1Wq). “Allowing the largest two national carriers to buy up all the spectrum would have devastating consequences.” The FCC, at its Thursday meeting, is expected to vote on an incentive auction item (CD May 12 p2).

Wireless mics are already under increasing pressure to do more with less spectrum, and options under consideration for the devices after the incentive auction don’t fit the sector’s needs, a group representing a broad cross section of wireless mic interests said in an FCC filing. Under the latest development, the FCC is considering a uniform 11 MHz duplex gap in the 600 MHz band, with 4 MHz set aside for wireless mics (CD May 9 p8). “Critical wireless microphone operations cannot be supported in small swaths of spectrum (e.g., 2 MHz or 4 MHz) and where such spectrum abuts adjacent wireless services, the utility of the spectrum will be greatly reduced,” the group said (http://bit.ly/1saYbLN).

The public interest must factor into the FCC’s broadcast TV spectrum incentive auction, said Tom Power, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy deputy federal chief technology officer. The agency is putting together what seems to be a “good proposal” that “seems to balance all these interests” of competition and revenue, Power said Friday at a Capitol Hill spectrum policy event hosted by the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council. The FCC will consider an item on the auction at its Thursday meeting.

In the latest twist on unlicensed spectrum and the TV incentive auction, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is proposing a uniform 11 MHz duplex gap in the 600 MHz band plan, following the auction, industry and FCC officials said Thursday. The reconfigured gap, which would separate uplink and downlink spectrum in the band plan, is seen as a compromise that would offer a bone to high-technology companies like Google and Microsoft, as well as public interest groups that want more low-band spectrum dedicated to Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use, industry officials said. Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn are also strong supporters of making more unlicensed spectrum available.

The FCC should perform a cost-benefit analysis on including low-power TV stations in the reverse auction, said company Free Access & Broadcast Telemedia in an ex parte filing Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1qf9siz). “Allowing LPTV into the auction is the seamless way to clear the maximum amount of spectrum expeditiously,” and will lessen the burden on the FCC to relocate stations after the incentive auction, the filing said. “After repacking full service and Class A TV stations, there is a looming shortage of relocation opportunities expected for LPTV in the 600 MHz band,” said the ex parte. The FCC should include such an analysis in its upcoming incentive auction report & order, or at least in the LPTV NPRM proposed for issue after the report and order, the filing said. Including LPTV in the auction would minimize “the harmful unfunded private mandate thrust upon thousands of legitimate, bona fide licensees,” said Free Access. It said the FCC should “consider the most free-market and inclusionary approach to treating all broadcast licensees equitably by allowing LPTV and translators in the auction."