Proposed spectrum aggregation rules for the TV incentive auction could mean as much as 50 percent of the spectrum offered for sale in some markets would be set aside for competitors to Verizon and AT&T and off limits to any carrier that already has a dominant sub-1 GHz spectrum position in that market, FCC and industry officials tell us.

The FCC will seek comment on the proper market-by-market “trigger point” for the TV incentive auction, after which the FCC will limit bidding by carriers that already have lots of low-band spectrum, an FCC senior official said Friday. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated a draft of the rules Thursday for a vote at the FCC’s May 15 meeting, the official confirmed, saying the only issue on which the agency plans to seek further comment is the trigger point.

AT&T and Verizon aren’t the only carriers complaining about proposed FCC spectrum aggregation rules for the TV incentive auction. U.S. Cellular said the restrictions could end up restricting its rights to bid in some markets, in a meeting with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, Chief of Staff Ruth Milkman and others at the agency. “Such a proposal would place U.S. Cellular at a significant disadvantage to at least three of the four national carriers in acquiring the spectrum likely necessary for the deployment of 5G technology in the next decade in its operating markets,” the carrier said (http://bit.ly/1gTXf9v). It said the rules as written would let carriers with less than 44 MHz of low-band spectrum in a market buy unlimited amounts of 600 MHz spectrum, while those with 45 MHz couldn’t buy any.

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai said Thursday he cannot support spectrum aggregation rules for the TV incentive auction that would freeze some carriers from bidding in some markets where they already hold licenses for substantial amounts of low-band spectrum. Pai spoke at a Mobile Future forum. Chairman Tom Wheeler planned to circulate late Thursday draft spectrum aggregation rules for a vote at the FCC’s May 15 meeting.

Broadcom warned that carrier offload, extended range hot spots and other broadband applications will be precluded unless the FCC provides unlicensed channels of at least 6 MHz with 40 mW maximum power. The “Super Wi-Fi” standard continues to be important to delivering wireless broadband services in the 600 MHz band, and the FCC should preserve white space channels wherever possible, Broadcom said in an ex parte filing in docket 12-1268(http://bit.ly/RFFlBQ). Broadcom also highlighted the standard-setting effort to establish 802.11ac, the standard that expands operations in the 5 GHz band, it said. Establishing an inadequate duplex gap and guard band “would both unnecessarily increase the risk of harmful interference to licensed services and preclude unlicensed broadband services in these frequencies,” it said. The filing recounts meetings with FCC Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Jessica Rosenworcel, Ajit Pai and Mike O'Rielly, and with staff from Chairman Tom Wheeler’s office.

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.

The FCC must stand firm on spectrum aggregation rules for the TV incentive auction, Carri Bennet, general counsel to the Rural Wireless Association, said in an email. On Wednesday, AT&T hinted it might not bid in the auction if the FCC imposes rules as proposed by agency staff (CD April 17 p1). “The FCC has a big task in front of it to ensure that the auction is a success,” Bennet said. “RWA believes that everyone will be unhappy about some aspects of the order. The important thing is to ensure that as many companies as possible are able to participate so that there is the potential for more competition in this spectrum band. By stamping its feet and threatening not to participate because it isn’t getting its way, [it] highlights AT&T as the 800-pound gorilla bent on perpetuating a mobile wireless duopoly. RWA trusts that the FCC will stand its ground.” NTCA made a similar comment. “It is unfortunate to see AT&T resort to a thinly veiled threat of not participating in the upcoming 600 MHz incentive auction to seek out policies favorable to its business plan,” NTCA said in a news release. “It’s important, however, that the Commission balance various competing concerns for the licensing of a limited public resource -- especially one that has as much value as this low-band spectrum that AT&T and many others clearly desire."

AT&T may take a pass on next year’s TV incentive auction if the FCC adopts the spectrum aggregation rules expected to be proposed by Chairman Tom Wheeler, the carrier said in an ex parte filing made Wednesday at the commission. The FCC started briefing industry on the rules Friday (CD April 14 p1). AT&T raised the possibility in an ex parte letter on a meeting Monday between Vice President Joan Marsh and Renee Gregory, wireless adviser to Wheeler.

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.

Briefings are getting started at the FCC this week on the second part of TV incentive auction rules set for a vote at the commission’s May 15 meeting, spectrum aggregation rules to be approved concurrent with auction service rules (CD March 10 p1), said agency and industry officials. Commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O'Rielly are likely to raise objections with Chairman Tom Wheeler if he proposes rules that could limit bidding by Verizon and AT&T in what is expected to be a 2015 auction.