CES will give FCC Chairman Ajit Pai an opening to further lay out plans for commission action on the C band, industry officials said. It's the first CES since the broader launch of 5G in the U.S., and numerous federal policymakers are expected to speak. Most policymakers stayed home for the 2019 show because of the prolonged federal shutdown. Industry officials said 2020 is shaping up to be a big year for spectrum and 5G, and for Wi-Fi and unlicensed. Pai is expected to circulate a 6 GHz item, the key Wi-Fi band, most likely for the March meeting.
The FCC’s auction of more than 17,000 numbers in the recently opened 833 toll-free code is potentially significant, American Enterprise Institute's Daniel Lyons blogged Thursday. "Like the higher-profile spectrum auctions that the agency has launched over the past two-plus decades, the toll-free auction represents an effort to root out the vestigial inefficiencies in an outdated command-and-control regulatory system.” Commissioners approved the agency's first-of-its-kind auction in August (see 1908010011).
The Jan. 30 FCC meeting is shaping up to be busy, including likely action on the C band and possibly 6 GHz, based on early indications. The agency has seven weeks to get ready, versus less than three weeks between the November and December meetings. Key staff are being asked to avoid taking time off headed into the meeting because Chairman Ajit Pai anticipates a heavy agenda. This period is typical and gives staff time to celebrate the holidays.
T-Mobile won't stop being the "Uncarrier" after it buys Sprint, CEO John Legere said at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The combined company would join the league of top rivals by market share. After about two hours of friendly questions from the defendant side, states grilled T-Mobile on alternative ways to compete. But they only had about 30 minutes and will complete cross-examination Friday.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai appears to have forestalled further wrath Wednesday from Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La. Pai signaled his willingness to make commission spectrum auction officials available for a second subcommittee hearing on Kennedy's concerns about a potential private auction of spectrum on the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band (see 1910170038). Pai's expected to propose a private auction plan for a vote at commissioners' Dec. 12 meeting (see 1910100052). Kennedy also said Wednesday he plans to file a Senate version of the Clearing Broad Airwaves for New Deployment (C-Band) Act (HR-4855), which would require a public FCC auction of 200-300 MHz of “contiguous” spectrum in the swath by Sept. 30, 2022 (see 1910240046). Kennedy told reporters Wednesday he now expects the hearing to happen Nov. 21, a day later than he expected last week (see 1911070064). He threatened Tuesday to subpoena FCC auction officials amid concerns the commission might be stonewalling his attempts to schedule the officials' testimony. Kennedy didn't take that possibility completely off the table Wednesday after a morning conversation with Pai, but he told reporters he believed the talk “went well.” Kennedy said he “asked [Pai] for his cooperation in having [the officials] appear on [Nov. 21] and he said he would cooperate,” so the hearing can proceed. An FCC spokesperson confirmed Pai “spoke with [Kennedy] this morning about scheduling any witnesses he would need” for the hearing. “We have been working with [Kennedy] on this issue, including through a recent briefing by FCC staff, and we will continue to do so,” the spokesperson said. “If I have to, I'll issue subpoenas, but I don't think we'll get” to that point, Kennedy said. “If you leave folks to their own devices, they'll appear voluntarily. But sometimes others weigh in and suggest that they not be so anxious to testify. I'm not saying that's the case here. But if I do sense that somebody's stalling and re-stalling, I'll subpoena them.” He wants to call in the same group of “senior experts” on spectrum auctions he met with recently (see 1911010052). Kennedy has been working to retain Senate Appropriations Committee-backed pro-public auction language (see 1909190079) in the chamber's version of the FY 2020 FCC-FTC budget bill (S-2524) despite opposition from Senate Commerce Committee GOP leaders. “I'm not going to let this go,” Kennedy said. “I'm going to continue to pursue this issue like a hound from hell. And if the FCC wants to go forward and screw the American taxpayer, I will remind them of the mistake they made every day for the rest of their natural lives.” LightShed’s Walter Piecyk voiced skepticism Wednesday over chances President Donald Trump's administration will side with Kennedy. The administration continues to seem "more interested in winning the Race To 5G and will support” whatever decision Pai makes,” the analyst wrote.
Beyond whatever steps the FCC takes to open up the C band to other uses, spectrum issues will become more complicated and challenging, and incentive mechanisms are needed for incumbents, said Office of Economics and Analytics acting Chief Giulia McHenry at an FCBA CLE Tuesday evening. For auctions, take the prohibited communications rule very seriously, said Jonathan Cohen of Wilkinson Barker, who when at the FCC co-wrote rules for the agency's first spectrum auctions. "It would be a death sentence" for a lawyer to be a conduit for prohibited information, he said.
Lead supporters and opponents of Senate Appropriations Committee-backed pro-public 3.7-4.2 GHz C-band auction language (see 1909190079) in the chamber's version of the FY 2020 FCC-FTC budget bill (S-2524) say they're not budging and expect a long fight. The dispute, which began last month, continued Thursday as Senate Appropriations Financial Services Committee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., and others grilled FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on whether he favors a private auction similar to what the C-Band Alliance proposes. Kennedy and some other lawmakers favor public auction (see 1908230049). Pai is expected to propose a private auction plan for a vote at commissioners' Dec. 12 meeting (see 1910100052).
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is to testify during a planned Thursday Senate Financial Services Subcommittee hearing on the commission's spectrum auctions program, a committee aide said in a notice we obtained. Citizens Against Government Waste President Tom Schatz and Taxpayers Protection Alliance President David Williams are also to be witnesses. The session will begin at 10 a.m. in 138 Dirksen. Senate Appropriations and the FCC didn't comment. The testimony comes amid a bid by subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., to retain Senate Appropriations-backed language on the chamber's version of the FY 2020 FCC-FTC budget bill (S-2524) on pro-public C-band auction and 6 GHz band spectrum policy (see 1909190079). Kennedy's facing off against Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., who want to nix the spectrum text on jurisdictional grounds (see 1909230065 and 1909270024). Pai is believed to be on the cusp of proposing a private auction of the C band, along the lines of what was proposed by the C-Band Alliance, for a vote at the Dec. 12 commissioners’ meeting (see 1910100052).
Some wireless industry stakeholders in the debate over allocating the 6 GHz band have been lobbying to convince lawmakers to file and advance legislation requiring the FCC move forward with a plan that allows for licensed and unlicensed use of those frequencies, lobbyists told us. Such legislation would diverge from the direction of the FCC's current 6 GHz NPRM, which looks at opening 1,200 megahertz of spectrum in the band for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use (see 1810230038).
In a change experts told us could benefit the C-Band Alliance plan, growing conventional wisdom is the FCC is getting comfortable with a private auction, rather than running one itself. Commissioners approved 5-0 with little discussion at their August meeting (see 1908010011) “experimental” auction of more than 17,000 numbers in the recently opened 833 toll-free code. That could provide additional insights on how well such a sale would work. That auction will be in December, run by toll-free numbering administrator Somos.