STEVENS: FCC'S 800 MHZ REBANDING PLAN MUST BE ‘SELF-FINANCING’
Senate Appropriations Committee Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) said any 800 MHz rebanding plan that involves relocating incumbents must be “self-financing.” In a letter to FCC Chmn. Powell made public Tues., Stevens said he wasn’t weighing in on either side the complex proceeding about mitigating public safety interference at 800 MHz. But he said that if Nextel must give up spectrum at 700 and 800 MHz to eliminate public safety interference, it must get replacement bands elsewhere. He said an auction wouldn’t be needed to do this.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
The letter, written March 26, comes as the FCC works toward a vote at its April 15 agenda meeting on a plan to fix interference in the band. Stevens warned any plan the FCC adopts must be “self-financing” because his panel wouldn’t earmark funds for it. “Whoever bears the cost must be willing to provide a guarantee that the necessary funds will be available even if they encounter financial difficulties or file for bankruptcy,” Stevens said. “We cannot afford another NextWave, especially when homeland security is involved.”
Stevens’s belief that an auction wouldn’t be needed for replacement spectrum runs counter to arguments made by some wireless carriers. Some have backed an auction voucher for Nextel for 1.9 GHz spectrum, although the idea doesn’t appear to have majority support on the 8th floor (CD April 6 p1). Wireless carriers have been advocating an auction of 1.9 GHz spectrum. In contrast, the consensus plan endorsed by Nextel and numerous public safety groups entails a spectrum swap in which Nextel would gain 10 MHz at 1.9 GHz in exchange for spectrum it would give up elsewhere to engineer a rebanding plan. Meanwhile, the FCC is mulling a staff proposal that wouldn’t involve the 700 and 900 MHz bands that are part of the consensus plan, but would reband at 800 MHz and give Nextel 1.9 GHz for a price. Under the draft, Nextel would pay for incumbent retuning at 800 MHz and would pay the difference between that and the value of 10 MHz at 1.9 GHz (CD March 11 p1). The consensus plan would set a $850 million cap on Nextel’s payment for public safety and private wireless relocation.
On the technical details of the proceeding, Stevens deferred to the FCC. “Given the complexity of the issues involved and the importance of the homeland security considerations, I believe the FCC has the expertise to judge the relative merits of the various positions,” he said. But in stressing that the plan must pay for itself, he said: “As the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I can tell you that our committee does not have the ability to appropriate any funds for this purpose. Any proposal that seeks to divert auction proceeds from the Treasury to cover the cost of relocation would be treated the same as direct spending from the Treasury by the Senate Budget Committee. Both concepts would score equally against the budget.”
Stevens said he had heard the suggestion that rebanding could occur within 800 MHz “without moving anyone to 1.9 [GHz].” Stevens said he hoped FCC engineers would consider that option and assess whether that could be done without causing interference. “If it cannot, and Nextel must give up its spectrum in the 700 and 800 bands to eliminate interference to first responders, it must be given replacement spectrum elsewhere,” Stevens said. “As the author of the spectrum auction program, I do not believe an auction would be required in this instance.”
In other areas, Stevens noted that some wireless companies had voiced a need for 3G spectrum, citing service rules for the 1.7 and 2.1 GHz bands the FCC has adopted. “I understand that the Commission is considering possible assignment by auction additional spectrum in the 1.9 GHz band even in the event that Nextel is relocated to the 1.9 GHz band,” he said. “I urge you to make all these various spectrum bands available for 3G uses and applications as soon as possible.”
By not taking a side in the ongoing battle over the 800 MHz proposals, Stevens’s letter appeared to offer some -- but not complete -- support for consensus plan advocates. “He has taken a very thorough review of this and decided not to weigh in one side or the other,” said Verizon Wireless Vp Howard Wooley.
Meanwhile, Reps. Fossella (R-N.Y.) and Engel (D-N.Y.) wrote an op-ed in the New York Post this week on the 800 MHz plan, saying Nextel was mostly responsible for the interference in this band. It said analysts had estimated the consensus plan could leave public safety as much as “$1 billion in the red -- a bill the American people ultimately would be forced to foot.” They said the plan “has the potential to become the ‘$1 Billion Tax Increase Plan on the American People.” Nextel has argued that the $850 million it has pledged to pay to relocate incumbents under the plan represents the best estimate of retuning costs.