Incentivize Federal Agencies to Reallocate Spectrum, Carriers Tell Lawmakers

Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., said he’s “obviously concerned and [I] understand about the gravely increased need for spectrum,” and asked panelists if the government is doing enough to stave off a spectrum crunch. CTIA President Steve Largent told lawmakers the government is not willing to part with the spectrum it has: “We have to find a mechanism to coerce the government to give up some of its spectrum.” Largent said he thought keeping the FCC’s incentive auction on schedule is important and could be complicated due to the vacancies at the commission. Competitive Carriers Association President Steve Berry agreed, saying the government owns “an exceedingly large amount of spectrum and they need to be more efficient.”

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., repeated his call for a federal spectrum inventory. “We don’t even know how [federal spectrum] is being used and how efficiently it is being used,” he said. “We need at least a road map.” Warner previously authored the Spectrum Optimization Act (S-415), the Spectrum Relocation Improvement Act (S-522) and has advocated for legislation to mandate national radio spectrum inventories in legislation such as the RADIOS Act (S-455).

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., endorsed the call to urge federal spectrum users to be more efficient in their spectrum use, in prepared remarks. Federal policymakers should encourage a “balanced spectrum” approach that provides more capacity for unlicensed spectrum use, said Rockefeller, who didn’t attend the hearing: “It is important that Congress and the FCC be forward-looking in making quality spectrum available in various spectrum bands for the next-generation of innovative unlicensed services."

Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member John Thune, R-S.D., said the FCC should focus on “getting more spectrum into the marketplace, to the parties that value it most.” That, he said, is “ultimately the best way for federal policymakers to encourage new services and spur competition. Unfortunately, some voices, including the Department of Justice, are calling for the Federal Communications Commission to micromanage the allocation of spectrum among wireless carriers.” Thune said he agreed with the top Republican members of the House Commerce Committee who previously told FCC commissioners that a recent Justice filing that raised spectrum aggregation concerns (CD April 15 p7) wasn’t consistent with the Spectrum Act and could lead to a failed auction (CD April 23 p1). “The FCC should not be distracted by proposals that could lead to less spectrum being made available and less auction proceeds being realized for national priorities like deficit reduction and FirstNet,” said Thune. “American consumers, including those farmers, students, and executives I mentioned earlier, are driving the mobile economy. They -- not the government -- should pick who wins in the marketplace.”

Berry said the wireless industry is at a crossroads and policymakers need to consider ways to make the market more competitive. The FCC should restore interoperability in the lower 700 MHz band, safeguard competitive carriers’ access to spectrum by updating the spectrum screen used to evaluate wireless acquisitions and structure the spectrum auction in a way that encourages and rewards participation by a range of competitive carriers, he told lawmakers. “Increasing competition in the wireless market should be at the forefront of future policy decisions,” said Consumers Union Policy Counsel Delara Derakhshani. The government should put in place rules to permit smaller entities to bid and purchase spectrum in the upcoming FCC broadcast incentive auction, said Derakhshani.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., asked panelists whether consumers should be permitted to legally unlock their cellphones, something which is banned due to a provision in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Under the DMCA, those who unlock their phones without permission from their carriers may be subject to civil lawsuits, criminal fines or imprisonment. Klobuchar is the author of S-481, which would direct the FCC to begin a rulemaking that ensures consumers can circumvent the technological protection measures that prevent their handsets from being used with other networks. Wireless devices are very expensive, said Derakhshani. “If consumers pay for a device, they should be able to use it in the way they wish.” Largent said there has to be an ability for the carrier to recoup the costs of selling a subsidized phone, and once that cost has been recovered carriers will “gladly” unlock the phones. He said many mobile devices have a list price of $700 or more and are sold by carriers for $99.

Comcast wants the panel to “remove unnecessary regulatory barriers that impede the efficient and intensive use of existing unlicensed spectrum resources,” said Senior Vice President-Business Development Thomas Nagel. Wi-Fi networks are “invaluable,” and have become the interoperable communications standard for consumers, he said. Unlicensed spectrum plays an “important role in facilitating communications” during times of crisis when licensed wireless networks are unavailable or experience heavy traffic, said Nagel. He said many Americans used Wi-Fi to remain connected after cellular access became limited during emergency weather events like Superstorm Sandy and terrorist attacks like the Boston Marathon bombing. Doug Webster, Cisco vice president-service provider routing, mobility and video marketing, said more licensed and unlicensed spectrum must be allocated for wireless broadband access. “We are in the midst of an absolute avalanche of mobile data,” he said. “It is imperative that we address the looming spectrum crunch in the U.S.”