MSS Rulemaking Expected at July FCC Meeting
The FCC’s Spectrum Task Force is preparing a rulemaking notice that would promote leasing of 90 MHz of mobile satellite service (MSS) spectrum, and it’s expected to circulate for the July 15 meeting, leaders of the task force said at a press conference Friday. The commission is not expected to propose rules similar to those in the order approving the Harbinger-SkyTerra transaction, which requires the nation’s two largest carriers to seek FCC permission before leasing that spectrum.
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The FCC’s National Broadband Plan proposed that the FCC promote deployment of terrestrial mobile broadband in three of the four MSS bands -- the L-Band, the S-Band, and the Big LEO band. “By removing policies that are currently barriers to flexible use of terrestrial mobile wireless service, there is an opportunity to enable the deployment of mobile broadband, while retaining market-wide MSS capability, especially for public safety, rural services, and the federal government,” the FCC said in a press release. The 90 MHz of spectrum is a big chunk of the 500 MHz the FCC hopes to bring online for mobile broadband over the next 10 years. “The item is still in flux,” said Julius Knapp, chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology, who co-chairs the task force with Wireless Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman. “It is consistent with the National Broadband Plan and the ideas that are in there,” Knapp said. “We're asking broad questions rather than about specific details of the current rules.” Knapp said since secondary market rules are already in place, leasing of the spectrum could start relatively soon if the FCC agrees to the charges the task force will propose. “It’s a higher-level set of questions asking for all ideas about how to create value and accelerate terrestrial use,” Milkman said.
Under the proposal, the FCC would change its table of allocations for the S-band, to specifically allow terrestrial service, that would not necessarily have to be ancillary to satellite. The FCC would allow the flexibility to make use of the commission’s secondary market leasing rules for all three bands.
Asked whether the FCC would consider similar strictures as the SkyTerra order, Milkman replied: “Those were transaction-specific conditions that Harbinger and SkyTerra offered” to complete the deal. “One of the advantages of having rules in place like the secondary market rules … is that we don’t have to do the kind of specific conditions that Harbinger wound up offering,” she said. “Our general view about spectrum is the more spectrum we get out there the more opportunity there is for new entrants and incumbents alike."
Knapp said the MSS spectrum could be easily used by carriers and would fit in with the bands they're already using to offer mobile broadband. “This spectrum is right next door,” he said. “It’s right in the neighborhood of both the AWS spectrum and the PCS spectrum, that is so widely deployed today that the equipment would have to be conformed to this spectrum, but it’s not a big adjustment."
The FCC’s movement on the MSS spectrum is slightly sooner than expected, said industry executives, who had believed FCC action on the spectrum wouldn’t come until August or the fall. The accelerated schedule may be a means to help current MSS licensees, like TerreStar and SkyTerra, said one executive. For instance, SkyTerra and its new parent company Harbinger, which operate in the L-band, need the backing to begin work on the 4G terrestrial network. New investor cash for TerreStar, which operates in the S-band, would help in making interest payments on its heavy debt load and show its strength to AT&T, which is launching TerreStar’s new Genus phone in coming months, the executive said. TerreStar lauded the movement of MSS spectrum to the front of line of national broadband plan goals. “The FCC’s commitment to prompt action underscores the importance of reviewing MSS/ATC rules to ensure that they provide the appropriate flexibility and incentives to foster efficient mobile broadband use,” said TerreStar General Counsel Doug Brandon.
By opening the spectrum to terrestrial providers, the FCC is able to avoid having to choose which service it values more, the terrestrial or satellite services, said another executive. After years of wireless providers’ efforts to get the MSS/ATC spectrum available to other providers, relaxation of satellite requirements while leaving the spectrum in the hands of the MSS/ATC licensees allows the two groups to make their own decisions on how the spectrum is used, said the executive. “The FCC is trying to get two groups together to get to their own solution, rather than having the FCC” decide winners and losers.
EchoStar, which has a major stake in TerreStar, also said it approved of the FCC’s intentions with the spectrum. “We believe that additional flexibility for existing spectrum to be used more efficiently will help spur investment while addressing spectrum scarcity for mobile broadband,” said Dean Olmstead, president of EchoStar Satellite Services, in a statement.