FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell is questioning whether the time frame for a voluntary incentive auction of broadcast spectrum laid out by a top FCC official last week is realistic. Amy Levine, a senior aide to Chairman Julius Genachowski, predicted an auction would occur in the next 18-24 months (CD March 7 p3). McDowell suspects it could take at least twice as long, given the complexities involved.
FCC nominees’ chances of Senate confirmation remain uncertain even if Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, lifts his hold on confirmation of Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel, communications industry lobbyists said. A House Commerce Committee request for LightSquared documents from the FCC could appease Grassley, but political dynamics in the Senate may still stand in the way of confirming new commissioners, they said. Top House Commerce members indicated last week that the committee would share with Grassley.
The FCC Thursday ordered Verizon Wireless, the SpectrumCo partners and Cox to file mostly unredacted versions of the marketing agreements they signed as part of a broader deal that includes the sale of AWS licenses to the carrier. The letter (http://xrl.us/bmxh5j) was signed by Wireless Bureau Chief Rick Kaplan and outlined a ruling that had been sought by opponents of the spectrum deals. He asked Verizon Wireless and the cable operators for the documents by the end of Monday.
An FCC decision to put off a key policy call on how Dish Networks can use spectrum it’s buying from TerreStar and DBSD creates significant uncertainty for the future of the frequencies, industry officials said Monday. The International Bureau released an order late Friday (http://xrl.us/bmwqn9) that approved Dish’s purchase, but denied its request for a waiver of the integrated services rules for the spectrum (CD March 5 p1). FCC officials hope to wrap up a rulemaking notice on the use of the spectrum by the end of the year. Industry officials said Monday the delays now built into the deal underscore the complications of bringing online for broadband any of the spectrum bands delineated in the FCC National Broadband Plan.
An FCC decision to put off a key policy call on how Dish Networks can use spectrum it’s buying from TerreStar and DBSD creates significant uncertainty for the future of the frequencies, industry officials said Monday. The International Bureau released an order late Friday (http://xrl.us/bmwqn9) that approved Dish’s purchase, but denied its request for a waiver of the integrated services rules for the spectrum.
Public Knowledge, which has informally asked the FCC’s Wireline and Wireless bureaus to investigate usage-based data caps, is considering formally asking for an investigation, Legal Director Harold Feld said in an interview Wednesday. “The longer this issue persists the more likely we are to do it,” Feld said of filing a formal complaint.
Public Knowledge, which has informally asked the FCC’s Wireline and Wireless bureaus to investigate usage-based data caps, is considering formally asking for an investigation, Legal Director Harold Feld said in an interview Wednesday. “The longer this issue persists the more likely we are to do it,” Feld said of filing a formal complaint.
New numbers compiled by UBS show what could be a troublesome trend for the FCC, with Verizon Wireless and AT&T continuing strong subscriber growth, as Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile fall further behind. The numbers, gathered from the most recent company reports, come as the FCC prepares the 2012 version of the Wireless Competition Report. The agency is also likely to consider rules that could potentially limit Verizon and AT&T participation in upcoming spectrum auctions, including the eventual voluntary incentive auction of broadcast spectrum.
Verizon’s plan to buy AWS licenses from SpectrumCo and Cox, and marketing agreements tied to the deal, are running into opposition similar to opposition that aimed at AT&T’s failed bid to buy T-Mobile. But this time around T-Mobile is leading the charge, with Sprint Nextel also emerging once again as a prominent opponent. Public interest groups and other competitors also filed petitions to deny.
The spectrum provisions in the payroll tax extension will only get the Obama administration part of the way toward finding 500 MHz for wireless broadband. The legislation won’t free up nearly as much spectrum as expected, industry and government officials said. The FCC National Broadband Plan projected that voluntary incentive auctions of broadcast spectrum would yield 120 MHz for broadband. That figure appears now to be down to 60-80 MHz, with a big chunk of the 120 MHz lost in part because of language sought by the NAB protecting TV station signals along the Canadian and Mexican borders, industry and government officials said.