Large License Areas Win Martin’s Support, but McDowell is Key
A fierce debate is being waged on the FCC’s 8th floor on the band plan for the upcoming 700 MHz auction, said sources close to the negotiations. On one side are Chmn. Martin and Comr. Tate, who want to limit the number of small licenses the FCC auctions in the band. On the other side, we're told, are Comrs. Copps and Adelstein, who want a band plan similar to the one used in last summer’s advanced wireless services auction, where half of the licenses were smaller. As the clock ticks down to the April 25 Commission meeting at which the issue will be decided, lobbying is being focused on Comr. McDowell, who we're told is the tiebreaker.
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The Martin band plan would have no cellular marketing areas (CMAs) in the upper 700 MHz band and only one 12 MHz (two 6 MHz paired slices) CMA block in the lower band. The band plan seems to favor the 4G Coalition consisting of DBS and Silicon Valley, participants said, while disappointing regional and rural carriers advocating the Balanced Consensus Spectrum Band Plan. The rulemaking also advances the idea of package or combinatorial bidding favored by the 4G Coalition, said sources. The Martin plan is based on the belief that a nationwide licensee will build out an additional broadband pipe in the most efficient manner.
The Martin plan has plenty of opposition, including from the Broadband Consensus parties. That group submitted a letter urging the FCC to not endorse any plan but merely seek comment on the Martin band plan “without prejudicing the outcome.” The Broadband Consensus plan envisions the lower block being split as follows: One block of paired frequencies split on a CMA basis, one block of paired frequencies split on an economic area basis, and the rest of the unpaired spectrum on a regional economic area group (REAG) basis. The upper band would subdivide the 20 MHz block into two 10 MHz paired frequency blocks, and after subdividing the upper block make one of the 10 MHz blocks available in sizes smaller than REAGs.
In the same letter, the Broadband Consensus parties said that if the Frontline proposal to create a 10 MHz E-block for a commercially run public safety network is accepted, then even less spectrum will be available for smaller carriers. “If the Frontline proposal or any variation thereof is adopted, it will reduce from 60 MHz to 50 MHz the amount of spectrum likely to be of interest” to us, said the Balanced Consensus Plan group.
On a related matter, the National Public Safety Telecom Council (NPSTC) urged the FCC to accept a proposal similar to Cyren Call’s, but didn’t say so directly. The commercial spectrum being made available with the transition to DTV should be “committed to promote public/private use” by creating “a trust or like structure,” said the NPSTC letter. Any public safety network built by a commercial entity “must be built to public safety specified requirements and remain subject to public safety oversight and control,” said the NPSTC. Any nationwide public safety network “must be uniform in design and deployment. It must be available to all agencies; otherwise it will divide not unite,” said NPSTC.
As the FCC races to finalize the 700 MHz rules, NPSTC asked the FCC to scrutinize any proposals to make sure they “encompass defined deployment mileposts and address public safety’s under funding and not simply offer public safety ability to purchase commercial spectrum.” NPSTC also wants the FCC to adopt the Broadband Optimization Plan. It’s expected the Commission will say it can’t adopt BOP because it can’t use commercial spectrum for public safety purposes without auctioning it (CD April 10 p5).