Alltel secured complete ownership of partnerships with Palmetto in the Carolinas for $455 million Thurs. The move is part of what on analyst called a “land grab” in the region as carriers of all sizes try and get as much spectrum as possible coming up on the AWS auctions. Most reports of the acquisition included rumors of a possible Verizon Wireless takeover of Alltel.
Wireless Spectrum Auctions
The FCC manages and licenses the electromagnetic spectrum used by wireless, broadcast, satellite and other telecommunications services for government and commercial users. This activity includes organizing specific telecommunications modes to only use specific frequencies and maintaining the licensing systems for each frequency such that communications services and devices using different bands receive as little interference as possible.
What are spectrum auctions?
The FCC will periodically hold auctions of unused or newly available spectrum frequencies, in which potential licensees can bid to acquire the rights to use a specific frequency for a specific purpose. As an example, over the last few years the U.S. government has conducted periodic auctions of different GHz bands to support the growth of 5G services.
Latest spectrum auction news
Three senators introduced a bill targeting local content on satellite radio. The NAB-backed legislation, coupled with a companion bill in the House, is intended to hold XM and Sirius “accountable” to the national nature of their FCC licenses, the NAB said. The move is the latest salvo in old arguments between satellite radio and the NAB. The SDARS licenses were originally auctioned with national rights only, and the sides have long been at odds over how much satellite can localize its service.
An omnibus telecom bill the Senate Commerce Committee is drafting will include a “white space” provision to encourage broadband deployment, Committee Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) said Tues. “Tweaking” would bridge differences between his bill (S-2332), which would enable TV white spaces to be used by unlicensed devices, and another (S-2327) introduced by Sen. Allen (R-Va.), he said. Stevens expects to move to a markup of the overall bill now that 16 of 17 planned telecom hearings have been completed, he said.
Vodafone will likely drive a hard bargain in negotiations with Verizon for its 45% of Verizon Wireless, said industry sources we spoke with amid rumors the U.S. carrier made a buyout offer this weekend. A report of an informal bid by the U.K. paper The Business wasn’t confirmed by the firms Mon. Reports pegged the bid at about $40 billion. Industry sources said the number would almost certainly go higher if a deal happens at all, because Vodafone isn’t in nearly as precarious a position internationally as some have thought.
The FCC should reverse course on a change to its auction rules for the upcoming advanced wireless services auction, said rural wireless carriers in a petition for reconsideration. The shift would make it harder for smaller players to bid as part of a consortium, they said.
T-Mobile disputed Justice Dept. arguments for letting the FCC allow blind bidding in a June advanced wireless services auction to block bid signaling seen in past auctions. DoJ’s logic is out of date, T-Mobile said. “The Dept.’s analysis is flawed, and its reliance on the results of Auction No. 11 to support non-transparent bidding in Auction No. 66 is completely misplaced,” T-Mobile said. In a March 3 filing DoJ cited 1996-97 misconduct in Auction 11. Auction 11, long a subject of debate, was among those in which Mario Gabelli allegedly exploited rules encouraging small investors to buy licenses. “Mercury PCS used the last few digits of its bids to identify a specific BTA and thereby to signal another bidder, High Plains Wireless, that unless High Plains ceased bidding on a block of spectrum in the identified BTA, Mercury PCS would bid up the price for spectrum in another BTA that High Plains sought to buy,” DoJ said. DoJ admitted the FCC fined Mercury and changed its auction procedures. DoJ said it has identified at least one other example of bidders bending rules, in auction 58 for PCS licenses in Roanoke, Va. The Auction 11 example is irrelevant, T-Mobile said, calling the Roanoke case “one isolated example” after Auction 11. “If the Dept. has harbored concerns about the Commission’s transparent bidding practices, it has had ample opportunity to voice them before, during or after any of the fifty wireless auctions that have been conducted since Auction No. 11,” T-Mobile said.
Despite rosy industry predictions and a strong nudge from the European Commission, widespread mobile TV uptake in Europe is far from certain, an analyst said Fri. The technology is “heavily overhyped by the vendor community,” said Strategy Analytics’ Nitesh Patel. Carriers not convinced of the opportunity are forced by competitive threats inside and outside the industry to think seriously about choosing a strategy to pursue the technology, he told us.
Except for a few major carriers, “the vast majority of commenters” want the FCC to deny designated entity (DE) status to smaller companies that have material relationships with major in-region wireless carriers in the pending advanced wireless services auction, DE Council Tree told the FCC in reply comments. “The only commenters that opposed the Commission’s plan to update its designated entity eligibility rules for the future were 2 national carriers, 2 designated entities associated with national carriers, and CTIA,” Council Tree said. T-Mobile asked the FCC for a quick decision, so as not to delay the auction. “Given that the record support for the recommended changes is flimsy at best, the Commission should do everything within its power to prevent this proceeding from derailing the most important spectrum auction since the mid-1990s,” T-Mobile said. The key is to hew to the auction schedule, equipment maker Ericsson said: “To delay the auction would inject a level of uncertainty that would vastly undermine the upcoming auction and would negatively impact the very same small entities that the Commission seeks to protect in this proceeding.”
Identities of high bidders in June’s advanced wireless services (AWS) auction would be secret until the sale ends, under rules apparently headed for FCC approval. Sources said despite wireless carriers’ opposition, the Wireless Bureau seems inclined for the first time to embrace nondisclosure provisions. The proposal got backing this week from the FTC’s Bureau of Economics.
VoIP carriers would benefit from passage of pending telecom legislation, because even E-911 compliant companies face too many obstacles to getting linked with public safety access points (PSAPs), said Dana Lichtenberg, telecom aide to Rep. Gordon (D-Tenn.). This is in part because too many in Congress think the FCC’s VoIP E-911 order “is all that was needed,” she said. Lichtenberg -- speaking at an enterprise VoIP conference held Wed. by the Information Technology Assn. of America (ITAA) -- said Gordon wants more resources for PSAPs, since many of the failures to meet the recent deadline were theirs. She said at least some E-911 language, alongside cable franchising issues, will be in a “stripped down” version of coming House telecom legislation. She held out hope the bill would remain bipartisan.