Trump Asked for Nothing on C Band, Pai Says; 2020 FCC Auction Eyed
President Donald Trump asked for nothing on the C band (see 1911180065) when he called Oct. 30, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai told reporters. “The president called me and told me that Sen. [John] Kennedy had called him and he was just calling to ask what the issue was.” Pai recounted after Friday's commissioners meeting that Trump “did not express a view on the merits of the proceeding at all. It did not affect our decision.”
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The Louisiana Republican legislator questions where the money will go and the compensation of the satellite operators (see 1911210056). Republican GOP commissioners told us that speed is important to them in reallocating the satellite spectrum for 5G.
Creating incentives to get incumbents to give up their spectrum is critical, as is speed, Commissioner Brendan Carr told reporters. Carr met with C-Band Alliance members in the days before the meeting. CBA sought to run an auction, which Pai implicitly turned down when he said he will propose his agency run bidding.
“I don’t get the sense that anybody is dug in in opposition to the approach that we’re pursuing,” Carr said. “Within this framework, there can be the right incentives for everybody.” Money hasn’t been his main goal, Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said. “I’m looking forward to reading [the proposal] and seeing what we’ve entailed,” he said: “I’m trying to figure out how it fits together.”
Carr, Pai and others said a 2020 auction is possible. For an auction to succeed, existing licenses have to be willing to be participate, O’Rielly said. “I’m certainly hopeful that it will be next year,” he said: “I’ve been pushing for speed since day one -- the need to get critical mid-band spectrum out there, the need to have this particular band given how it’s treated internationally for 5G service and the harmonization.”
Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said the most important thing is moving off high-band spectrum for 5G and focusing on the mid-band. The regulator needs to “figure how we can succeed as fast as we can,” she said.
Fellow Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks noted he backs an auction run by his agency. The FCC should complete an auction “as quickly as possible,” Starks said.