Auction Only One Option for 2.1 GHz Spectrum
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and other commission members are open to alternatives other than an auction as the agency explores how best to use 2155-2175 MHz spectrum now that it has denied applications by M2Z and NetfreeUS seeking licenses to offer national broadband networks in the band, they indicates. A rulemaking notice is expected within days.
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!
Sources disagreed Tuesday as to whether the expected order foreshadows an auction of the spectrum. “As a result of the previously solicited comments where people wanted to purchase the spectrum at auction, the FCC now is forced to proceed to an auction,” said a wireless industry source. “The rule is pretty clear.”
“You're going to see an auction,” said a second wireless industry attorney. Not necessarily, said a third attorney. “Given the current interest in more unlicensed spectrum, and the fact that this is unpaired spectrum, I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the FCC will give serious consideration to making this an unlicensed spectrum band,” the source said.
Commissioners said their minds remain open, in statements released with the order. “The Commission received multiple proposals for innovative use of this spectrum apart from those proposed by M2Z and NetfreeUS, and they deserve due consideration as well,” Martin said. “For example, many have suggested that we should auction this spectrum, while still others suggest that due to the high demand for this spectrum we should consider unlicensed use of the band. Each of these proposals has merit, and consideration of either would be inappropriately foreclosed by granting forbearance in this instance.”
Commissioner Michael Copps said “it has been clear for some time” the FCC should open a rulemaking to examine future use of the band. He said the rulemaking should look at: “(1) opening this band to unlicensed use, as has proved so productive in other bands; (2) designating it for an open access model that would combine wholesale broadband access and a Carterfone mandate; (3) using it to provide free, advertiser-supported broadband service (as initially proposed by M2Z and one other applicant) as well as a fee-based premium broadband service; or (4) allocating it through a traditional, largely unconditioned auction.”
Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said the FCC should have given more serious consideration to the M2Z proposal. He issued a concurrence indicating his general dismay that the FCC still had not decided how to use the spectrum. “While I am pleased that this Commission has indicated that it will finally move forward with plans to put into place a mechanism for allocating the spectrum and requirements for offering service in the 2155-2175 band, I urge my colleagues not to wait for months until we issue an order allowing for the innovative use of this spectrum,” he said. “The Commission has already accumulated a substantial record in this proceeding on the best uses of this spectrum. It is high time for the Commission to seek comment on these issues and it is regrettable that we have not already done so.”
The order said one factor in rejecting the M2Z petition was the speed of service it planned to offer for free. The FCC said at 384 kbps downstream and 128 kbps upstream M2Z “touts this service as faster than dial up Internet access and as meeting ’the Commission’s definition of high speed broadband.'” But, the order said, these transmission speeds are “unremarkable compared to other broadband services currently being deployed.”