Carriers are playing games on their level of interest in 600 MHz spectrum in the buildup to the TV incentive auction, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said at a news conference after Thursday’s meeting. After the commission’s Aug. 6 meeting, Wheeler said pointedly it was up to carriers whether they want to play in the auction (see 1508060028). Sprint since said it wouldn't bid and Verizon this week downplayed its need for additional low-band spectrum (see 1510200058). Wheeler was president of CTIA and has a long history in spectrum auctions. “I think we’ll have a very successful auction,” he said, chuckling, noting the auction starts in just 157 days. “I think what we’re seeing right now is the marketing has begun, everyone is positioning a little bit,” he said. “This is all pre-auction shenanigans that one can expect [to] happen in any kind of a marketplace.” Wheeler said the key goal of the auction is getting more spectrum in play for wireless broadband, not bringing in huge revenue. He was asked about broadcaster concerns that the voluntary incentive auction isn’t really voluntary. “There are no armed FCC agents holding guns to heads,” he said. “You are free to decide whether or not you want to participate.”

The FCC approved an NPRM on spectrum frontiers, spectrum at 24 GHz and above for 5G, Thursday. Commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O’Rielly were critical of the approach in the NPRM. As some predicted (see 1510190067), they partially dissented. Pai said the NPRM leaves out critical spectrum bands that deserve more discussion. The NPRM tees up for further investigation the 28, 37, 39 and 64-71 GHz bands, the FCC said in a news release. The NPRM wasn't released Thursday.

Three incentive auction items that had been on the agenda for Thursday’s FCC meeting were approved and won’t be part of Thursday’s session, agency officials said in interviews. An item involving proposed rules for broadcaster channel sharing was released Wednesday after being approved by the full commission. Rules on interference after the auction between wireless carriers in the 600 MHz band and broadcasters, and an item defining when broadcasters and unlicensed users need to vacate their spectrum to make way for the new wireless owners, have also been approved, they said.

Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo sounded a note of caution on the outlook for the TV incentive auction, on a Tuesday quarterly earnings call with analysts. Shammo said the 600 MHz spectrum that will be auctioned by the FCC doesn’t fit well with the 700 MHz spectrum Verizon already owns. Verizon reported earnings of 99 cents per share on revenue of $33.2 billion, which was slightly above analyst estimates.

With Sprint dropping any pursuit of licenses in the TV incentive auction, questions remain about how big T-Mobile will go in pursuit of low-band spectrum. Both carriers had pushed the FCC to adopt rules setting aside 30 MHz of “reserve” spectrum for carriers without substantial low-band holdings in an individual market. Industry officials said that one complicating factor is that T-Mobile USA parent Deutsche Telekom ultimately will decide how much T-Mobile USA can spend, and DT is subject to German regulations limiting how much debt it can carry.

FORT LAUDERDALE -- The extent of small carrier bidding in the TV incentive auction remains an open question, with the bidding to start March 29, industry officials said at the Competitive Carriers Association annual meeting, which closed Friday. The FCC plans to set aside 30 MHz of “reserve” spectrum in many markets for companies without significant low-band spectrum holdings in that market.

Sprint’s decision to sit out the TV incentive auction, after lobbying hard for a spectrum reserve, teaches a valuable lesson, Free State Foundation President Randolph May said Wednesday in a blog post. “The foremost lesson is one I have tried to hammer home for many years,” May wrote. “Absent a true market failure -- and there is not one with respect to the marketplace for broadband services, including wireless services, the Commission needs to quit trying to manage competition.” May’s comments miss the point of Sprint’s advocacy, Larry Krevor, vice president-legal and government affairs-spectrum, said in an email. “Yes, Sprint supported strengthening the spectrum reserve, along with virtually the entire wireless communications industry, other than Verizon and AT&T,” he said. But the record makes clear Sprint’s focus was on persuading the FCC to minimize the “impairment” 600 MHz winners would suffer from remaining TV broadcast operations, Krevor said. “Sprint’s efforts helped the Commission improve the quality of the auctioned spectrum, thereby producing better spectrum for all auction participants to bid on and higher auction revenues.”

FORT LAUDERDALE -- Competitive carriers view the guidance offered by the FCC Tuesday evening (see 1510060058) on business practices during the quiet period around the TV incentive auction as mostly positive, industry officials at the Competitive Carriers Association convention told us Wednesday. The FCC has faced recurring questions about the quiet period, which starts when companies file short-form applications to bid in the auction (see 1508130043). Carriers have warned a prolonged quiet period could have a “chilling effect” on how they do business. Broadcasters, meanwhile, had some praise for the guidance, though it could hurt small law firms (see 1510070082).

Sprint’s decision not to participate in the TV incentive auction raises big questions about the FCC’s decision to restrict bidding on parts of the spectrum to just competitive carriers, said Charles Golvin of Abelian Research on a webinar Monday sponsored by Recon Analytics. Golvin and other analysts discussed big recent trends in the wireless sector, including the changing nature of AT&T, as it becomes more than a traditional carrier.

Sprint’s announcement that it won't participate in the TV incentive auction (see 1509280059) shows the Department of Justice was dead wrong in urging the FCC to devise rules for the auction that would guarantee Sprint and T-Mobile came away with spectrum, said Fred Campbell, executive director of the Center for Boundless Innovation in Technology, Thursday in a blog post on the RedState webpage. “Though it’s no surprise, it’s now obvious the country’s federal experts on competition and antitrust matters were wrong in their analysis of Sprint’s alleged need for low-frequency spectrum in order to compete,” he said. A Sprint spokesman responded in an email: “Sprint’s decision to not participate in the 600 MHz Incentive Auction provides no basis for critiquing the FCC’s public policy decisions in establishing the incentive auction structure, rules and procedures... Throughout these proceedings, Sprint consistently advocated for an auction structure with the best chance of promoting competition and thereby spurring wireless broadband innovation and benefiting consumers. The FCC’s auction decisions reflect a fair balancing of these goals along with other public policy considerations in a truly innovative and complex undertaking.”