The FCC won Tuesday in a court challenge by former 700 MHz C-block spectrum licensee GLH in a defaulted debt case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Still, GLH has options for reducing the payment demand by the regulator, said its lawyer. A judge appeared somewhat skeptical of FCC arguments at oral argument in January (see 1901090057).
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.
House Communications Subcommittee members focused on the spectrum policy fracas between the Commerce Department and the FCC during a Tuesday hearing to a far greater extent than expected (see 1907150020). The quarrel involves NASA and NOAA concerns about potential effects of commercial use of spectrum on the 24 GHz band, sold in the recent FCC auction, on federal technology using adjacent frequencies (see 1905230037). Lawmakers also showed significant interest in the debate over the best plan for clearing spectrum on the 3.7-4.2 GHz C-band, though an industry-focused panel that appeared centered on the issue was truncated amid House votes.
Debate over the best plan for clearing spectrum on the 3.7-4.2 GHz C-band is expected to be the big draw for stakeholders during the House Communications Subcommittee's Tuesday hearing on spectrum policy issues. It won't be the only focus. Six other bands are known to be on subcommittee members' radar amid ongoing Capitol Hill interest in U.S. strategy for taking a lead role in 5G development, lawmakers and lobbyists said in interviews. The panel is set to start at 10:30 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn (see 1907100069).
The FCC made some major changes to its focus in the three weeks the 2.5 GHz educational broadband service order was before commissioners. They approved the order last week, with Democrats Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks dissenting to most parts (see 1907100054). A side-by-side comparison shows significant changes. While the FCC has often changed course on an item on the way to a vote, the decision of Chairman Ajit Pai to post drafts three-weeks before a meeting make the changes more apparent than they were in the past, former officials said.
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. 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).
Commissioners approved bidding procedures for the third high-band auction this year and the largest FCC auction in history based on megahertz to be sold. Discussion during Wednesday's meeting sparked confrontation between Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who partially dissented, and Chairman Ajit Pai. The auction starts Dec. 10.
The FCC approved revised rules for the 2.5 GHz educational broadband service band over partial dissents at the commissioners' meeting Wednesday by Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks. The biggest change from the draft order was that instead of single 100 and 16 MHz licenses, the FCC will offer two 50 MHz licenses. The order also contains language (see 1907030043) sought by Commissioner Brendan Carr addressing licenses held by national nonprofits. Rosenworcel and Starks dissented to all of the order except provisions preserving a filing window for tribal entities seeking new EBS licenses.
The House Communications Subcommittee plans a July 16 hearing on developing a “comprehensive approach” to U.S. spectrum policy, including for 5G. Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., meanwhile, told reporters Tuesday he began circulating a draft of a planned revised version of his Advancing Innovation and Reinvigorating Widespread Access to Viable Electromagnetic Spectrum (Airwaves) Act. The bill, filed last Congress, aims to identify spectrum for unlicensed use and free up mid-band spectrum for wireless industry purchase via an FCC auction (see 1802070054). “Congress has a critical role to play in crafting spectrum policy and facilitating America’s 5G future,” said Doyle and House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J. “We must ensure that consumers are protected and that thoughtful policy choices are made. This hearing will explore how we can best do both.” The panel is to begin at 10:30 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai last month blamed the Commerce Department for recent hiccups in work to free up spectrum for commercial 5G use (see 1906120076). The Airwaves Act draft is “very much a work in progress” that will be shaped by feedback from stakeholders who have seen it, Doyle told reporters. The legislative language "could change between now and when we actually” file the final measure. “Our goal is to get a bill that we can pass with the Republicans and with the Senate,” Doyle said. “It's not going to be easy to do. It's complicated” and “there's not mass agreement amongst all the stakeholders. We're trying to thread a needle.”
The FCC is expected to take up a C-band order in coming months, but several industry officials predict a vote is unlikely before the Nov. 19 commissioners' meeting. Chairman Ajit Pai’s office recently told several parties if they have additional proposals for the band, get them in as quickly possible. Agency officials said Pai is getting close to making decisions, though the commission is waiting for reply comments on the most recent C-band proceeding on a clearing plan. Initial comments came last week (see 1907050035).
The FCC needs to “get creative” to address the homework gap, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said Monday at Digital Equity Summit 2019 in Richmond, Virginia. “Nightly schoolwork now requires internet access” and the homework gap “is real,” Rosenworcel said. She cited Lee High School in Fairfax County, Virginia, where schools are lending wireless hot spots and computers to students who need them to do homework. Rosenworcel encouraged educators to make their voices heard in support of the E-rate program: “Make noise. Make a ruckus.” Under one proposal before the FCC, the E-rate and rural telemedicine programs “could share a single funding cap and slug it out for resources,” she said: “I do not support this approach. We have serious broadband problems in this country. And the FCC has a statutory duty to expand the reach of communications to everyone -- no matter who they are or where they live.” The FCC also needs “better data about where broadband is and is not so communities across the country can build on it to address the Homework Gap,” Rosenworcel said. She backed making more spectrum available for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use, and using spectrum auction proceeds to pay for better connections through a homework gap fund.