Interest is still high in both the House and Senate in including a temporary restoration of the FCC’s auction authority in a continuing resolution to extend federal appropriations past the end of FY 2023 Sept. 30 (see 2309190001), but some on and off Capitol Hill now believe attaching the narrower 5G Spectrum Authority Licensing Enforcement Act (S-2787) is a more viable option for breaking the mandate logjam. Lobbyists believe the chances S-2787 will appear in a Senate-side CR improved considerably after the chamber passed the measure Thursday via unanimous consent.
Disagreements remain about whether the upper 12 GHz band can be reallocated for exclusive-use licenses, as carriers hope, in reply comments in docket 23-352. Some wireless commenters ignored the proceeding on the lower 12 GHz band (see 2309110061) and filed only on what is also called 13 GHz. Broadcasters and the satellite industry continue to raise objections (see 2308140046).
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., declared themselves at odds Monday with the FCC’s decision to delay awarding the spectrum licenses T-Mobile bought last year in the commission’s 2.5 GHz auction while its sales authority remains lapsed (see 2303220077). The senators’ opposition highlights a growing view among Republicans that the FCC is delaying action on the T-Mobile licenses to spur on slow-moving congressional talks on a spectrum legislative package that would restore the commission’s auction authority (see 2308070001), Senate aides and others told us.
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., pressed the FCC Monday to reconsider its decision to hold off on awarding T-Mobile more than 7,000 spectrum licenses it bought last year in the commission’s 2.5 GHz auction while its sales authority remains lapsed. “The FCC appears to be holding onto T-Mobile’s $304 million payment while providing nothing in return,” the GOP leaders said in a letter to Jessica Rosenworcel we obtained first ahead of its release. “If it had been a private company that accepted payment and then refused delivery of goods or services, a customer would be well within its rights to sue for breach of contract. This circumstance is similar, but it is perhaps even more egregiously unfair given the power dynamics: a government regulator is withholding a legitimately obtained good from a regulated entity.”
House Communications Subcommittee leaders told us they plan to continue actively pushing for floor action on the Commerce Committee-approved Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565) when the chamber returns Sept. 12, despite the measure facing continued opposition from some Senate Republicans. House Commerce leaders tried and failed to get a floor vote on the measure before the August recess (see 2307270063). Lawmakers believe the outcome of a pending DOD study on repurposing the 3.1-3.45 GHz band may affect the prospects for reaching a deal to pass a spectrum legislative package that includes language from HR-3565 and other measures (see 2308070001).
CTIA hired Umair Javed, a longtime adviser to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, as senior vice president-spectrum, effective immediately, the group said Tuesday. Javed is responsible for shaping and coordinating CTIA’s spectrum advocacy. “Umair brings exemplary credentials and expertise from his tenure at the FCC, and adding someone of Umair’s caliber to our senior team underscores the critical role spectrum plays in our 5G future,” said CTIA President Meredith Baker: “We need a pipeline of new spectrum auctions, and Umair will help make that a reality.” At the FCC, Javed “helped focus the agency on identifying mid-band spectrum for 5G, oversaw one of the most successful auctions in U.S. history, and launched the FCC’s Spectrum Coordination Initiative to enhance partnerships between agencies and the private sector,” CTIA said.
Congress should continue to fund the affordable connectivity program, the FCC may not be the right entity to regulate AI and the agency's spectrum auction authority should be restored, said former FCC chairs and commissioners at the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council’s 2023 virtual Former Chairs’ Symposium Tuesday. Panelists -- including former acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn and former Chairman Richard Wiley -- also discussed diversity, the failed Standard/Tegna deal, and the confirmation of nominee Anna Gomez. Gomez is “a mainstream Democrat” who will “work well on a bipartisan basis,” said former Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein. “She’s not particularly ideological even though she’s been a strong fighter.”
DLA Piper’s Smitty Smith is leaving the law firm to replace Kathleen Ham as T-Mobile senior vice president-government affairs, when Ham retires Oct. 2, T-Mobile said Thursday. Smith’s title will be senior vice president-public policy and government affairs. Smith is a former FCC and NTIA staffer, who was once seen as a contender to chair the FCC under President Joe Biden (see 2101010001). Smith was also a member of the Biden FCC transition team. At the FCC, he was an aide to former Chairman Tom Wheeler and led the Incentive Auction Task Force. Ham is a longtime T-Mobile official and an FCC veteran where she was deputy chief of the Wireless Bureau and the first chief of the spectrum auctions program, working on some of the first FCC auctions. “Kathleen’s contributions to T-Mobile are numerous,” a spokesperson emailed: “Over nearly 20 years at T-Mobile, she has played a critical role in driving key policy and regulatory efforts, including the completion of the transformational T-Mobile/Sprint merger and obtaining critical spectrum assets that have secured the company’s 5G leadership position.”
The U.S. shouldn’t look to the citizens broadband radio service band as a model for future sharing if only because it’s based on old technology and doesn’t reflect advances in sharing technology, said Peter Rysavy of Rysavy Research at an American Enterprise Institute 5G forum Thursday. Other experts said the U.S. will be hobbled on spectrum until Congress reauthorizes FCC spectrum auction authority.
The FCC appears unlikely to grant T-Mobile special temporary authority to launch service in the markets where it won licenses in last year’s 2.5 GHz auction, which ended almost a year ago. The agency declined to award the licenses, or grant a STA, after its auction authority expired earlier this year (see 2304260058).