Verizon Airfone said Mon. if the FCC holds an auction of 800 MHz spectrum for air-to-ground (ATG) use in early 2006, the company can offer inflight wireless Internet access in 2007. Airfone turned up the heat on the FCC to set an auction date after the Commission released Fri. an order tying up the loose ends that had to be addressed before an auction could take place (CD Dec 12 p1).
Wireless Spectrum Auctions
The FCC manages and licenses the electromagnetic spectrum used by wireless, broadcast, satellite and other telecommunications services for government and commercial users. This activity includes organizing specific telecommunications modes to only use specific frequencies and maintaining the licensing systems for each frequency such that communications services and devices using different bands receive as little interference as possible.
What are spectrum auctions?
The FCC will periodically hold auctions of unused or newly available spectrum frequencies, in which potential licensees can bid to acquire the rights to use a specific frequency for a specific purpose. As an example, over the last few years the U.S. government has conducted periodic auctions of different GHz bands to support the growth of 5G services.
The 9/11 Commission gave the federal govt. an “F” for its work on clearing spectrum for public safety in a final report released Mon. The grade will rise to a “C” if Congress passes the budget reconciliation bill, whose DTV provisions include releasing 24 MHz of spectrum for public safety. Nonetheless, Democrats read the report as savaging Republican policies they say have slowed interoperability funding and aid for first responders. “This is a blistering, scalding indictment,” said Rep. Markey (D-Mass.) at a press briefing Mon.
Two major wireless associations disagreed on at least 2 critical aspects of the FCC’s proposed rules for relocating broadband radio service (BRS) channel 1 and 2 licensees from the 2155-2175 MHz band. While on other points, CTIA and the Wireless Communications Assn. (WCA) disagreed in comments about who’s responsible for deploying comparable facilities on the replacement spectrum and about a sunset of advanced wireless services (AWS) auction winners’ obligations to pay for BRS relocation.
A roadmap to identify uses for spectrum recovered from analog TV cut-off has begun in the U.K., and will proceed aggressively to publish final proposals by this time next year so new services can prepare for the DTV switchover that begins in 2008, telecom regulator Ofcom said. Although new wireless and mobile services are the expected beneficiaries of the spectrum auction, at least some of the frequencies surrendered will be considered for terrestrial HDTV channels, as requested by the BBC and other broadcasters, Ofcom said.
The FCC Wireless Bureau found 3 applicants qualified to bid in Auction 63 for 22 licenses in multichannel video distribution and data service: Braunston Spectrum, MDS Operations and Montana Internet Corp. The auction is set to start Dec. 7.
A draft order equally splitting 40 MHz of 2 GHz band mobile satellite service (MSS) spectrum between TMI/TerreStar and ICO is among several circulating at bureau level, we're told. The FCC earlier this year tentatively decided to give ICO and TMI/TerreStar each 1/3 of the spectrum, soliciting comment on how to allocate the other 1/3. One draft order, still at the International Bureau, would give each firm 2x10 MHz, we're told. No final draft has been circulated on the 8th floor, but that’s expected soon.
The House early Fri. passed 217-215 a budget bill with DTV provisions. Republicans had just enough votes to overcome stiff objections to social service cuts. As expected, no Democrats voted for the bill. But House Commerce Committee Chmn. Barton (R-Tex.) said “aye,” after having vowed to oppose the measure because Arctic oil drilling provisions had been stripped out. The bill heads to conference with the Senate, whose bill passed Nov. 3 (CD Nov 4 p5). A conference schedule hasn’t been set, a House Budget Committee spokeswoman said.
Congress should hasten by 9 months the auction of spectrum freed in the DTV transition, and direct winners’ down payments to public safety use, Verizon Gen. Counsel Steve Zipperstein told reporters Tues. Verizon wants the auction held the first quarter of 2007, he said, but “it will require legislation to do this.” A Senate bill tags April 7, 2009, for the hard DTV transition, setting Jan 28, 2008, for the auction. A House bill would set a Dec. 31, 2008, transition and fixes Jan. 7, 2008, for the auction.
Deep disagreement divides the broadcast and wireless industries on whether the FCC should make TV “white spaces” available for unlicensed wireless broadband after the DTV transition, as shown in a heated debate sponsored Tues. by New America Foundation (NAF) in Washington. The FCC last year proposed to let a new generation of wireless devices use the white spaces, subject to protections against interference for DTV viewers. That proposal has drawn fire from the broadcast industry, which fears harmful interference from new devices.
By the end of the year, the FCC is expected to resolve several wireless proceedings, agency and industry sources said. The Commission is close to acting on a Remington Arms Co. petition and an air-to-ground (ATG) proceeding, plus 2GHz MSS spectrum reallocation, E-911 waiver petitions, designated entities, broadband radio service (BRS) and educational broadband service (EBS) rules. “Remington will be the first, and then ATG, then it’s up in the air,” an FCC source said.