Most Support FCC-Run C-Band Auction, T-Mobile Says; Rivals File at FCC
There's “widespread agreement” mid-band spectrum is needed for 5G and the C-Band Alliance’s plan to make available only 180 MHz is “inadequate to meet those requirements and promote a competitive environment,” T-Mobile representatives, accompanied by auction economists, told the FCC.…
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Most also want an FCC-run auction, it said. “Bidders know and understand the rules, policies, and practices the Commission has developed over more than twenty years of conducting spectrum auctions,” T-Mobile said: “These rules, policies, and practices are not easily replicated and offer full transparency, including for any payment terms.” The carrier sees growing support for clearing the band “by deployment of alternative transmission mechanisms, such as fiber.” The reps met staff from the Wireless and International bureaus and offices of Economics and Analytics; Engineering and Technology; and General Counsel. The CBA didn’t comment on the filing posted Monday in docket 18-122. “Our market-based process with the … auction design offers the quickest way to free up C-band spectrum for wireless 5G while protecting a content distribution system that serves nearly 120 million American households every day,” a CBA spokesperson emailed: The auction design “developed by the world's leading auction design experts is fast, efficient, fair, effective and transparent, and, combined with FCC oversight, serves the public interest.” America's Communications Association said it answered staff questions on a proposal made with the Competitive Carriers Association and Charter Communications. “The transition to fiber can be accomplished within eighteen months in urban areas (Stage 1), within three years in the majority of the remaining areas (Stage 2), and within five years for a few hard-to-reach areas (Stage 3),” ACA estimated. “The staggering of the transition among different types of areas means that, for a limited period of time, urban areas where the lower 370 MHz of the band has been cleared will neighbor areas where that spectrum is still used to provide satellite service to earth stations.” The Wireless ISP Association said it filed a recent study that “shows that current C-band earth stations are vastly overprotected, and right-sizing those protections can result in gigabit fixed broadband services for more than 80 million Americans, particularly in underserved communities.” The study was co-sponsored by WISPA, Google and Microsoft. An FCC decision is expected by the end of the year (see 1907090064).