T-Mobile submitted a paper to the FCC, written by Stanford University economists Gregory Rosston and Andrzej Skrzypacz, explaining T-Mobile’s proposal for rules restricting bidding for the incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum. “We have developed a ‘Dynamic Market Rule’ ... which is a general auction framework for a contingent spectrum-aggregation limit that will allow the marketplace to determine if such a limit will impair auction revenues to the point of reducing the amount of spectrum cleared,” the paper said (http://bit.ly/1bBOx1V). “This paper provides a set of straightforward steps for DMR that are discussed in widely accepted economic terminology. This framework would test the market with the spectrum aggregation limits in place and then provide a seamless relaxation of these limits if the forward auction does not meet the revenue target.” Meanwhile, Sprint filed a paper at the FCC making a case for aggregation limits by Martin Cave and William Webb, U.K.-based economists. “There is evidence that robust competition among wireless operators benefits both customers and the wider economy by spurring innovation and lowering prices,” the paper said. “In recognition of this, governments and regulators in Europe have worked to design auctions in ways which maintain competitive pressures. This effort has led them in many cases to impose spectrum-aggregation limits on the amount of sub-1 GHz spectrum which any operator can acquire.” Mobile Future on Monday released a paper by the Analysis Group arguing against spectrum aggregation limits (http://bit.ly/14uwIIr). “Assessing data from past spectrum auctions in Europe, Canada and the United States, the analysis shows that use of spectrum caps and other bidder participation restrictions actually have been harmful to wireless consumers, as well as competition and innovation,” Mobile Future said.
Three of four Europeans can’t access 4G/LTE in their home towns and virtually no rural area has 4G service, said the European Commission on Thursday. By contrast, over 90 percent of people in the U.S. have 4G access, it said. EU members Ireland, Cyprus and Malta have no 4G services at all, and only Germany, Estonia and Sweden have advanced 4G rollout, it said. The “EU is teetering on the edge of network collapse,” said Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes. With global mobile traffic predicted to grow by 66 percent a year, and more people wanting to watch video on their smart devices, more spectrum must be made available or “the whole thing falls apart,” she said. The EU isn’t to blame for the situation, the EC said. It has made huge amounts of spectrum available to meet the needs of high-speed wireless broadband, but spectrum is allocated at the national level, it said. National problems have caused procedural and licensing delays, while spectrum auctions have left mobile operators without the cash needed to roll out networks, it said. Combined with the fragmentation of 28 national markets, operators have no real chance to develop an EU-wide mobile strategy it said. The prices companies pay for spectrum can be 50 times higher in one EU country than in another, and on average, spectrum rights are nearly four times more expensive in the EU than in the U.S., it said. To alleviate the situation, the EC is consulting on better coordination of spectrum licensing to help operators take advantage of economies of scale which could come from deploying 4G in the same spectrum band in several nations at once and give consumers 4G access sooner, it said. The EC has also begun the preliminary phase of enforcement under Europe’s radio spectrum policy program to authorize EU-harmonised spectrum suitable for 4G (870 MHz), it said.
The hotly contested debate over spectrum aggregation and unlicensed spectrum rules will likely continue at Tuesday’s House Communications Subcommittee oversight hearing on the FCC’s spectrum auction, according to advance testimony that circulated Monday. Representatives from T-Mobile and AT&T will offer opposing arguments for why the implementation or lack of a spectrum cap for larger carriers will reduce the amount of revenue from the auction. Meanwhile, broadcasters plan to lay out their top concerns about participation incentives, spectrum repacking proposals and interference issues, among other issues, according to prepared testimony. The hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn, and the following witnesses are set to testify: FCC Senior Advisor and Co-Lead, Incentive Auction Task Force, Gary Epstein; Harold Feld, senior vice president, Public Knowledge; Kathleen Ham, T-Mobile vice president-federal regulatory affairs; Rick Kaplan, NAB executive vice president-strategic planning; Joan Marsh, AT&T vice president-federal regulatory affairs; and Preston Padden, executive director of the Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition.
The FCC moved another step closer to an H-block auction, with the Wireless Bureau releasing a public notice on the auction of 10 MHz of already cleared paired spectrum at 1915-1920 MHz and 1995-2000 MHz. The H-block auction is designated Auction 96 by the commission and is to take place “by or as early as” Jan. 14, Monday’s notice said. The FCC approved a report and order on the auction at its June 27 meeting (CD June 28 p1).
The FCC should revisit rules barring foreign investment in broadcasting and relax regulations on AM radio to promote minority media ownership, said FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai at a Minority Media & Telecom Council breakfast Wednesday, part of the MMTC’s Access to Capital conference. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel also attended the breakfast, and also suggested possible rule changes to favor minority media ownership. Pai called the foreign investment rules “an anachronistic relic,” and said changes to them would help minority businesses by increasing the availability of capital, which he called “the lifeblood of a business."
Companies from across the telecom industry urged the FCC last week to reform its rules for assessing regulatory fees. Commenters said change is necessary to ensure no provider is at a competitive disadvantage. An NPRM last month sought comment on several reforms, including changes to the Interstate Telecommunications Service Providers fee category, reallocation of full-time equivalent (FTE) employee fees, and limitations on regulatory fee increases (http://bit.ly/13YxqAR).
Europe is on the “cusp of an amazing transition” but innovations from connected cars to 3D printing rely on fast, pervasive networks, said Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes Monday at a European Commission-hosted conference on a single European telecom market. Just 2 percent of EU homes have broadband speeds above 100 Mbps, and European mobile data speeds are half those of the U.S., she said. Combined, the U.S., Japan and South Korea have 88 percent of the world’s 4G connections, Europe 6 percent, she said. With current trends unsustainable, the EC is preparing to propose a single telecom market. Representatives from the telecom, consumer electronics, financial and consumer sectors agreed such a plan is necessary, but differed over its key elements and feasibility.
Reform of the nation’s electronic privacy laws will move forward this Congress while lawmakers wrestle with recent reports of broad government surveillance of Americans’ telephone and computer activity, said senior aides to the House and Senate Judiciary committees, during a Monday panel at the NCTA Cable Show. Last week the Guardian newspaper published an order by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that gave the National Security Agency authority to collect phone data from millions of Verizon subscribers (CD June 7 p1). Aides to lawmakers on the House and Senate Commerce committees on a separate panel also said the FCC’s management of the spectrum incentive auctions will continue to be a major focus for their committees.
Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., said he’s concerned that the FCC may be seeking to exceed the congressional intent of the broadcast spectrum auctions authorized by the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act. He expressed the concern in a letter sent Tuesday to FCC acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn. “I believe the Commission should adhere to congressional intent and its mandate under law” when designing the broadcast spectrum auctions, Dingell wrote. “I am concerned that the commission may be acting or planning to act beyond such mandate in implementing the Act.” He asked Clyburn to respond to several questions about whether the commission believes it should complete international spectrum coordination with Mexico and Canada before reallocating and reassigning broadcast frequencies; whether the law permits the FCC to revise the model it uses to predict broadcast interference; and if the law permits the commission to conduct a weighted reverse auction. Dingell asked Clyburn to respond by June 28.
Comcast wants lawmakers to encourage more access to unlicensed wireless spectrum while carriers will tell them to free up more federal and broadcast spectrum for licensed wireless commercial use. That’s according to witness testimony that circulated ahead of Tuesday’s Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing on the wireless market scheduled for 2:30 p.m. in 253 Russell. Some lawmakers previously urged the FCC to maximize the reallocation of spectrum for licensed use in the commission’s upcoming incentive auction in order to maximize revenue for the build out of FirstNet.