FCC Starting Work on 2 Potential Spectrum Auctions at First Carr-Led Meeting
New FCC Chairman Brendan Carr laid out an aggressive agenda for his first meeting as chair, with two items on future spectrum auctions, including a look at the upper C band. The FCC will also tackle wireless emergency alerts and robocalls and ways of strengthening the call-blocking capabilities of carriers. In addition, commissioners will consider an NPRM on the volume of broadcast commercials.
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The FCC's open meeting is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Feb. 27 at FCC headquarters.
“This meeting shows that the agency will be laser focused on accelerating efforts that can get more spectrum into the marketplace,” Carr said. An item on the AWS-3 auction wasn’t a surprise. Former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel had teed up an NPRM that wasn’t expected to be controversial (see 2501060044). Carr pulled the NPRM from circulation his first week in office (see 2501270055).
The FCC will vote to “kickstart the process for reauctioning a large number of AWS-3 spectrum licenses that have sat in inventory for years,” Carr said. “This auction will be a win-win,” and the NPRM “will ensure that the Commission is on track to meet its statutory obligation to complete this auction by June 23, 2026.” The auction will be the first of full-power licenses since 2022.
Carr said commissioners will also vote on a notice of inquiry examining an auction of C-band spectrum in the 3.98-4.2 GHz band. That spectrum is located above the C-band licenses sold in 2020, which Carr termed “the most successful auction in history.” The FCC wants “to hear your views,” he said.
Wireless industry officials said the NOI was more of a surprise but not completely unexpected, since CTIA and others have pushed for a second C-band auction. But that would require further action from Congress. It is expected that Carr will be aggressive in moving forward on spectrum issues (see 2412020043).
In a third wireless item, Carr is seeking a vote on rules for wireless emergency alerts. These alerts “are proving to be a life-saving tool,” but they can be “unexpected and jarring, causing some consumers to experience alert fatigue and opt out of receiving future WEA messages altogether,” he said: “Additionally, in active shooter or similar scenarios a loud alert may put a consumer in danger, undermining its very purpose.” The order would give emergency managers and consumers “greater flexibility” on alerts, he said.
The FCC was active on alerts under Rosenworcel. Most recently, the agency released rules for new multilingual templates for alerts (see 2501080029).
Also on the February agenda is an order expanding the reach of the do-not-originate lists and strengthening call-blocking capabilities, Carr said. "Do-Not-Originate lists are a proven tool for blocking apparently illegal calls and [the proposed rules] will ensure that reasonable Do-Not-Originate lists are utilized by all U.S. providers in the call path.”
September’s agenda originally included a draft order that would have expanded requirements to block calls based on do-not-originate lists, but the item was pulled prior to the meeting.
Commissioners will also vote on an NPRM on enforcement of the 2010 Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (Calm) Act, Carr said. “I don’t like them, and I’m pretty sure you don’t either,” he said of loud commercials. The FCC has “recently seen an uptick in consumer complaints” about them.
The draft NPRM would seek comment on “additional actions the Commission could take today to make sure TV viewers aren’t inundated by exceedingly loud commercials,” Carr wrote. The FCC similarly sought comment on the effectiveness of Calm Act enforcement in 2021, under Rosenworcel (see 2105210043), but that proceeding didn’t prompt new rules or an increase in enforcement actions. Multichannel video programming distributor groups said at the time that most complaints the FCC receives lack enough specifics to be acted on, or they concern programming that isn't covered, such as streaming services.