Internet stakeholders will need to participate in the debate over this Congress’s Internet policies if they want to win on issues like e-commerce sales taxes and cybersecurity, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Tuesday at an Internet Association event. Grassroots opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) was a turning point in the dialogue on Capitol Hill over Internet-related issues, Wyden said. “For the first time, the technology sector had beaten the middle man,” he said. “We've got to find a way to build on that, and that’s why your work is so incredibly important today.” Regulators and other lawmakers also outlined how upcoming policy discussions would involve the Internet community.
The Senate’s most senior statesmen pledged to protect the nation’s broadcasters from any FCC effort that would force them to relinquish spectrum for the incentive auctions, Tuesday at the NAB state leadership conference. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy, D-Vt., and former Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, touted the importance of broadcasters in communicating lifesaving information to local communities during emergencies and put a spotlight on the importance of retrans consent. The Judiciary Committee will attempt to pass a reauthorization bill this session to extend the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA), which expires Dec. 31, 2014 (CD Jan 17 p1). On a separate panel, FCC commissioners Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel discussed their decision-making processes on media issues.
Prices in FCC spectrum auctions have been on the rise since the mid-2000s, but factors beyond the tradeoff between supply and demand make it difficult to say that rise is evidence of what the government says is a “spectrum crunch,” said Scott Wallsten, senior vice president-research for the Technology Policy Institute (TPI), at a TPI-led event Friday. In a report released Tuesday, Wallsten examined FCC data from the 69,000 spectrum licenses it has sold through auctions since 1996. The agency has been holding spectrum auctions since 1994. The data included in the report shows that while spectrum prices are continuing to rise, “the rate of price increase has probably been slowing” (http://bit.ly/WmcTWk)
MetroPCS was forced to contemplate a merger with T-Mobile after MetroPCS found itself unable to buy enough spectrum either in FCC auctions or on the secondary market, MetroPCS said in a filing at the SEC Monday, made in preparation for a shareholder vote on the deal. MetroPCS, which is to report Q4 earnings Tuesday, said the shareholder vote will take place March 28 in Richardson, Texas. Under the deal unveiled in October (CD Oct 4 p1) Deutsche Telekom will buy the smaller carrier to merge it with T-Mobile USA, its U.S. subsidiary.
4G Americas marked the one-year anniversary of the 2012 spectrum law Friday with a letter urging the FCC to move forward on an auction of the 1755-1780 MHz band, long viewed by carriers as one of the most valuable bands for wireless broadband. Commissioner Robert McDowell said Friday he shares the group’s concerns.
The FCC said it updated the portion of its website dedicated to providing resources about the incentive spectrum auctions to broadcasters. The new Learn Everything About Reverse Auctions Now (LEARN) site features a staff summary of the broadcast incentive auction process, the agency said. “The new and improved LEARN website provides easy access to current, clear, concise and accurate information designed to help the nation’s broadcasters make informed business decisions about participating in the incentive auction,” said Gary Epstein, the FCC’s incentive auction task force chair. View the site here: www.fcc.gov/learnprogram.
Policymakers and telecom industry leaders must ensure opportunities for small, minority-owned business are created and that the openness and proliferation of innovation aren’t stifled by regulation, said current and former members of Congress. The way broadband and mobile devices will be used in the future is “mindboggling,” said Cliff Stearns, former chairman of the House Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. “There’s convergence, yet there is sort of a digital divide,” he said Wednesday at a Minority Media & Telecom Council event. Mobile broadband and other technologies are creating enormous opportunities for individuals and economies around the world, said David Grain, Grain Communications CEO. Over the next five years global mobile data use and higher speeds are expected to grow, he said. “We should recognize that the picture isn’t universally bright."
LAS VEGAS -- Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said this week she’s still considering whether the FCC should impose an interoperability mandate for the lower 700 MHz band, a top priority of small carriers led by the Competitive Carriers Association. In March, the commission released a notice of proposed rulemaking examining (http://xrl.us/bn98rf) issues related to a mandate. Chairman Julius Genachowski and other officials said then that the FCC should put off imposing any requirement until industry groups have a chance to work out a voluntary agreement.
AT&T executives, telecom attorneys and professors spoke with FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology officials Friday “to exchange ideas on computational complexities associated with assessing the feasibility of repacking television stations in the context of the incentive spectrum auctions,” an ex parte filing said (http://xrl.us/bn93x7). The group discussed the repacking assignment processes and algorithms under consideration, and sought information on the public release of data and models relating to repacking constraints. That would let AT&T and other interested parties “provide more informed comment on the proposed repacking processes and auction designs,” the filing said. AT&T emphasized that it was in the “early stages” of examining these issues, and it had not yet drawn any conclusions about which auction design would be optimal. The FCC should make sure the incentive spectrum auction’s reverse auction is simple in order to encourage small broadcasters to participate, Jim Winston, executive director of the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, told agency officials in a separate meeting, a NABOB ex parte notice said (http://xrl.us/bn94e6). “Many small broadcasters will not have the resources to hire auction consultants and the process should be as straightforward as possible so that such licensees will be able to participate without hiring consultants,” the notice said. “Because there is a concern that some of the licensees inclined to sell their spectrum will be owned by minorities, the Commission should include specific policies in the auction process that encourage minority licensees to retain all or a portion of their spectrum."
Large, Small Wireless Carriers Clash Over Spectrum Screen, Holdings Evaluation in Auction Proceeding
Large and small carriers reiterated their stances on how the FCC should structure a spectrum screen, in replies to a notice of proposed rulemaking in docket 12-269. Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile and public interest groups urged the commission to separately evaluate a licensee’s spectrum holdings below 1 GHz. AT&T and Verizon Wireless asked the commission to allow the screen to function as a safe harbor. Replies were due Monday.