Future spectrum auctions will be a bust unless the FCC first requires interoperability in the lower 700 MHz band, said McBride Spectrum Partners Senior Partner Vincent McBride, in comments filed at the FCC. “Any future spectrum auctions will be inconsequential and largely an unavoidable disaster without first ruling on and enforcing interoperability across the entire 700 MHz and 600 MHz spectrum bands,” he said (http://bit.ly/12hmRrM). “The fact of the matter is that any sound and prudent judgment based on the situation will tell you that interoperability is a prerequisite before any incentive auctions can take place. The benefits of interoperability are widely shared, and especially meaningful to consumers."

NAB, Verizon Wireless, AT&T and high-technology companies wrote the FCC Friday urging the agency to limit the size of the duplex gap and guard bands built into the new band plan for the 600 MHz band, made necessary by an incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum. The duplex gap and guard bands were one of the most contentious topics at an all-day workshop on the band plan at the commission Friday.

T-Mobile US emerged from last week’s merger of T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS having achieved its main goal in that deal -- gaining access to additional spectrum to expand its LTE network and other services to make it more competitive against Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint Nextel. The merger, which closed Tuesday, increased T-Mobile’s average spectrum holdings in the top 25 U.S. markets from 63 MHz to 76 MHz (CD May 2 p9). The addition of MetroPCS’s spectrum, along with other recent spectrum deals, means T-Mobile is in a good position to meet its burgeoning spectrum requirements in the near-term. But industry experts told us the carrier is highly likely to be an active participant in upcoming auctions for additional spectrum, if the FCC implements acceptably pro-competitive rules.

Fred Campbell, chief of the Wireless Bureau during the FCC’s 2008 auction of 700 MHz spectrum, said experience shows that imposing too many rules on an auction can have a chilling effect on bids. Campbell and other speakers discussed the pending incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum during a webinar Thursday sponsored by his group, the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Communications Liberty & Innovation Project, and law firm Wiley Rein.

If President Barack Obama appoints FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn as the agency’s interim chair upon FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s departure, addressing interoperability in the 700 MHz lower B block will be one of her “higher policy priorities,” said Louis Peraertz, Clyburn’s aide, during an FCBA event Tuesday. Earlier this month, the FCC Wireless Bureau extended the deadline for smaller carriers to build out on the band (CD April 9 p1). Clyburn is hoping to resolve interoperability “fairly quickly,” because it will give options to customers in urban and rural areas, Peraertz said. Interoperability is an important part of the agency’s band plan, but it’s also complicated, said Renee Gregory, Genachowski’s aide. Genachowski’s office continues to be engaged on the issue, she said. FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel believes issues with interoperability on the band demonstrate that the agency needs to ensure similar problems do not arise when they address the 600 MHz band, said David Goldman, Rosenworcel’s aide.

A recent filing by the Justice Department on spectrum and competition isn’t consistent with last year’s Spectrum Act, top Republican members of the House Commerce Committee said in a letter to FCC commissioners. If the commission adopts spectrum aggregation limits as part of incentive auction rules, it could doom the auction to failure, the legislators wrote.

The FCC released more details on a planned May 3 workshop on the 600 MHz band plan tied to the spectrum incentive auction. Originally announced April 4 (CD April 5 p11), Friday’s public notice on the workshop (http://fcc.us/11oRZUl) said it will involve a panel of “FCC experts” who will lead a day-long roundtable discussion on the 600 MHz band plan, alternative proposals, and the “technical tradeoffs” between them. The FCC notice described some features of the band as “novel,” such as auctioning generic blocks instead of specific frequency blocks, blocks designated specifically for uplink and downlink, and guard bands. The FCC said they received “a broad range of commenter views on how and where to configure the uplink and downlink blocks in the band plan.” The release said participants at the workshop will “focus on technical issues involving licensed, flexible use wireless services in the 600 MHz band and interference issues raised by the coexistence of mobile services and television stations in the band.” Other band plan issues “such as the use of guard bands or channel 37 by licensed or unlicensed transmissions” may be covered in a future workshop, said the FCC. The workshop will be from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. May 3 in the Commission Meeting Room.

T-Mobile representatives explained the carrier’s 35 x 35 MHz proposal for a band plan after the incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum, in a series of meetings at the FCC. T-Mobile also explained the plan in some detail in an FCC filing (http://bit.ly/11lz3G1). “T-Mobile is grateful to the FCC for its interest in maximizing licensed spectrum in the 600 MHz auction,” the carrier said. “T-Mobile favors a band plan that maximizes paired spectrum, promotes interoperability, and enhances competition."

Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse went on the attack against his two biggest competitors, Verizon Wireless and AT&T, during a keynote Thursday at the Competitive Carriers Association’s spring show. Hesse said the FCC needs to protect competition as the IP transition moves forward and called on the FCC to wrap up its spectrum aggregation rulemaking before the incentive auction.

The incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum is especially critical to T-Mobile, Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray and other company officials told FCC officials last week in a series of meetings (http://bit.ly/16S2YJn). “Because T-Mobile has virtually no low-frequency spectrum, the 600 MHz auction offers the only foreseeable opportunity to acquire spectrum with superior in-building penetration and expansive coverage properties,” Ray said, according to a filing at the commission. “First, maximize the amount of paired spectrum available in the 600 MHz auction, second, maximize participation in the 600 MHz auction by providing meaningful opportunities for competitive carriers to participate and win, third, require interoperability across the entire band.” Ray said T-Mobile hopes for an incentive auction next year.