The FCC’s likely failure to find a bidder for the 700 MHz D-block to build a national public safety broadband network may mark the end of a flawed concept, said John Kneuer of Rivada Networks. Rivada and other system integrators believe the preferred solution would be public safety operations riding on existing networks in a variety of bands, the former NTIA administrator said in an interview.
The FCC got a “wake-up call” when the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered the agency to explain its failure to review fully the environmental impact of 6,000 Gulf Coast communications towers before granting them licenses, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said Wednesday in a statement. Wireless industry officials said the ruling’s impact is yet to be seen (CD Feb 20 p2). “For years, I have been disappointed with the FCC’s failure to get serious about its environmental responsibilities,” Copps said. “Now the D.C. Circuit has affirmed something this agency should have acknowledged a long time ago: that the National Environmental Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act require the FCC to take a hard look at the effects of communications towers on migratory birds.” The FCC must live by federal environmental law, Copps said. “This means more than just checking the boxes required by the statutes -- it means taking a thorough look at whether our rules and practices contribute to millions of needless bird deaths,” he said. The American Bird Conservancy, meanwhile, which sued the agency, said the decision will force the FCC to assess towers’ environmental impact. “Given the large number of bird deaths caused by towers, an environmental review is long overdue,” the group said. “This is a huge victory for migratory birds and the millions of Americans who love to see them each year.” The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that five million to fifty million birds die each year from collisions and other accidents caused by communications towers.
The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, in a divided decision, ordered the FCC to explain why it failed to fully review the environmental impact of 6,000 Gulf Coast communications towers before granting them licenses. The court said the FCC didn’t apply the proper National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) standards and didn’t give meaningful notice of pending tower applications. Industry sources said that while the decision raises some red flags for wireless carriers and tower companies, the net effect remains uncertain. Judges Judith Rogers and Merrick Garland agreed in the decision while Judge Brett Kavanaugh dissented.
Theoretical analysis and actual testing make clear that the FCC can ease the spectral mask for wireless communications service (WCS) spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band without hurting satellite radio, the WCS Coalition told the FCC in a filing. The group accused Sirius of seeking rules that would kill wireless broadband in the band.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin wants to delay an en banc hearing on net neutrality, scheduled for Feb. 26 in Cambridge, Mass., to an unspecified date, commission aides were told late Thursday. The FCC’s monthly meeting scheduled for Washington, then moved to Cambridge, is back in Washington where commissioners will take up media and wireless items. Martin had hoped the meeting that day in Cambridge would be devoted only to the net neutrality debate. For a time Thursday, commissioners were under pressure to vote on at least some of the agenda items ahead of time to clear the schedule so only the hearing would remain, said agency officials.
Sprint Nextel and the FCC head to court March 18 over the carrier’s challenge of a September order that the carrier claims violates the administrative procedures and is an abuse of FCC authority. The agency order fundamentally and illegally rewrites the landmark 2004 800 MHz rebanding agreement among Nextel, the FCC, public safety and others, Sprint Nextel said. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is to hear oral argument March 18.
The FCC is expected to face pressure from small and midsized carriers to open the D-block and sell it for commercial use rather than as a national public safety license, regulatory and industry sources tell us. Pressure is expected to be especially intense since C-block spectrum is selling at an average price of 76 cents per MHz per POP, compared to $2.66 for the B-block, sought in many cases by smaller carriers. Verizon Wireless is by all accounts the likely high bidder for the C-block and, sources say, small carriers are likely to complain that it’s getting the spectrum at a bargain price.
Consumers Union, the Consumer Federation of America and other public interest groups opposed Verizon Wireless’s proposed acquisition of Rural Cellular Corp. Their biggest objection was that RCC’s customers, now on a GSM-based network, would be shifted to Verizon’s CDMA network. The change would mean reduced choice for consumers, the groups said in a petition to deny filed with the FCC.
U.S. investment in basic research in communications and other technology often isn’t immediately followed by research and development, creating a “valley of death,” the Phoenix Center said in a paper distributed Tuesday and commissioned by the Commerce Department. Phoenix Center President Lawrence Spiwak told us: “Everyone is pretty much in agreement that basic research serves a very useful social goal -- the private sector isn’t going to invest in this stuff because it’s too expensive and there’s very little return… Our general recommendation is that if the government is going to spend all this money at the first stage [of research] maybe they need to think about policies at the second stage.” Among the Phoenix Center’s suggestions is increased government support for intermediate support after basic R&D is completed. The money could be directed through the government’s Advanced Technology Program or the Small Business Innovation Resource program, but other programs also could be used, the center said. Another possibility is changing tax credits for research. “Our research does show that the Valley of Death is a phenomenon that may, in fact, be a consequence of the U.S. Government focusing its R&D investment activities upon early-stage, basic research, with less attention paid to intermediate stage projects,” the paper said. Co-author Tom Koutsky of the Phoenix Center said: “It would be a mistake for government to largely limit its activity to basic research. Attention needs to be paid to intermediate stage, applied research or the government would see diminishing returns on the billions of dollars that it invests in R&D.”
The FCC should rewrite the band plan and revise channel assignments for the 700 MHz public safety service, said the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council, speaking for all major public safety groups. The FCC should cut the number of sets of nationwide interoperability calling channels from two to one and use the spectrum to create a nationwide interoperability travel channel, the council said in a petition for rulemaking filed at the agency.