LAS VEGAS -- The FCC is doing what it can to minimize the disruption that will be caused by what's expected to be an unusual quiet period tied to the TV incentive auction, FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Roger Sherman said on a panel at CTIA. The FCC has faced recurring questions about the quiet period, which starts when potential licensees file short-form applications to bid in the auction (see 1508130043).

LAS VEGAS -- Broadcasters will come to the table to offer spectrum in next year’s TV incentive auction, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told CTIA Wednesday at its convention. Wheeler also said, emphatically, the FCC has a plan for making more spectrum available for mobile broadband. “I’ve talked to most of the CEOs of major broadcast organizations and I think they’re going to show up” for the incentive auction, Wheeler said.

The FCC will begin issuing specific information and deadlines about the incentive auction sometime this fall, said Incentive Auction Task Force Chairman Gary Epstein and Vice Chairman Howard Symons in blog post they described as a road map for the process leading up to the incentive auction. They also announced additional upcoming workshops on the auction in the vein of the recent FCC channel sharing webinar. The next one will concern the recently released auction procedures public notice, and be “shortly after Labor Day,” the IATF said. FCC officials had indicated last week more information on the timetable was forthcoming (see 1508130043).

The agreement the FCC worked out with Canada on a band plan tied to next year's U.S. TV incentive auction is expected to boost prices for TV stations that decide to sell their spectrum in U.S. cities along the border, industry officials said Tuesday. The provision is deep in the statement of intent with Canada, on page 13 of the agreement, which was unveiled Friday (see 1508140049). The agreement discusses the “equation for calculation of opening bid prices for U.S. television stations.” It says the formula used will be the “base clock price x U.S. population x (US constraints + 2.3 x Canadian constraints).”

The U.S. and Canada finalized a Statement of Intent (SOI) establishing both a framework and timeline for repurposing TV spectrum for mobile broadband on both sides of the border, said Gary Epstein, chairman of the FCC Incentive Auction Task Force, Friday in a blog post. Industry officials said last month Canada had released a Consultation on Repurposing the 600 MHz Band last year and was on its way to addressing a post-incentive auction world (see 1507220071).

The FCC will launch a proceeding by the end of the year looking at a recent agreement between NAB and white spaces device manufacturers on revised rules for the white spaces data base, the FCC said in a footnote of its Part 15 order released Tuesday. The various items approved by the FCC last week and released Tuesday shed new light on the FCC majority's thinking as it worked through a number of key decisions on the TV incentive auction, now expected to start March 29. Throughout, the FCC explains it faced a tough balancing act as it drew up rules for the auction.

The first consumer devices containing a chipset allowing Wi-Fi in the TV white spaces are likely to be broadly available in the 2017-2018 time frame, H. Nwana, executive director of the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA), said in an interview. Nwana left as head of spectrum for U.K. regulator Ofcom in early 2014. Nwana also said he doesn't expect the U.S. to drive the growth.

Wireless mics will be able to use new bands and share spectrum in the TV band, said a Wednesday FCC order issued with the support of four members and a partial dissent by Commissioner Mike O'Rielly. The order, which was deleted from Thursday's meeting agenda, allows all licensed users in the TV band to use the reserved 4 MHz in the duplex gap and allows wireless mics to operate in TV bands even within the contours of TV stations as long as the TV signals are at a low enough threshold, an FCC release said. The order also allows wireless mics to operate in portions of the 900 MHz band, the 6875-7125 MHz band and the 1435-1525 MHz band at specified times and places, coordinated with aeronautical mobile telemetry, the release said.

The FCC approved updated Part 15 rules, which provide additional protections for hospitals that use wireless telemetry in channel 37. In an usual development, the rules include a proposal by Commissioner Ajit Pai that allows hospitals to apply for a waiver giving them expanded protection zones upon the filing of a waiver request. The agency approved the order on a 5-0 vote Thursday.

Broadcasters and public interest groups lost their fight to keep all TV stations out of the duplex gap between uplink and downlink frequencies bought by carriers in the upcoming broadcast incentive auction. That was as expected (see 1507300042), though it left both broadcasters and the public interest groups upset. The FCC approved 3-2 the “procedures” for the auction, after a contentious debate. Commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O’Rielly said the rules could set the auction up for failure.