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FCC Needs Broad Look at Options on Spectrum Decisions, Baker Says

The FCC needs to take a close look at broadcast TV spectrum and whether it can be reallocated to meet the growing needs of wireless carriers, Commissioner Meredith Baker said during an interview on C-SPAN’s Communicators to be telecast Saturday. But Baker said other spectrum, including that now in the hands of the Department of Defense, also must be looked at closely.

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“All ideas should be on the table,” Baker said. “Broadcasters actually have 294 MHz of spectrum and what we're talking about for these future networks is we're going to need in the range of 800 MHz. It’s not the golden egg. I think it might be part of the solution.” Asked specifically about Defense Department spectrum, Baker replied, “I think it’s a valid question to ask.” She noted that NTIA, when she was acting administrator, completed a report on federal spectrum use. “NTIA actually did do a federal strategic plan looking at the spectrum that the federal agencies use,” she said. “We need to do the same thing at the FCC and then we need to bring those two plans together.”

One step that would help is launching additional testbeds beyond the one now in place to examine spectrum sharing between government and commercial users, Baker said. The commission’s probe of spectrum for reallocation shouldn’t be “anti-broadcast” and it shouldn’t be “acrimonious,” she said. “The broadcasters are also looking for new business models,” Baker noted. “The mobile video standard was just set. So [what] I think we ought to take a look at is do those broadcast rules need to be attached to that service.”

Meanwhile, Baker said she continues to question whether the FCC needs to impose new net neutrality rules. “I am not convinced that we actually have a problem that we need to address,” she said. “I am actually very happy with the chairman’s process that he has put in place on this. We have just appointed a technical advisory committee and we're going to have workshops to look at how networks actually operate.” Baker questioned whether the rules should apply to wireless networks. “I am most familiar with the wireless networks and clearly there has to be prioritization on wireless networks for them to be able to work,” she said. “We'll be working with the industry to make sure that we come up with something that’s reasonable, I hope.”

Baker predicted that in approving the National Broadband Plan in February, the regulator will start a new round of inquiries rather than reach conclusions on many key issues. “All of these decade-old problems, whether it’s universal service or intercarrier compensation or special access, they all are kind of walking around the FCC saying ‘if you solve me, you've solved broadband for America,'” she said. “What I hope is that we'll get a comprehensive look and we move forward to solve all of them, but that probably won’t be by Feb. 17th. … I think that we will have action plans shortly thereafter. I think that hopefully [the plan] is going to set out goals that we can make actionable work on throughout the next year. I think we'll be very busy.” Baker said she agreed the Universal Service Fund was ripe for review: “We need to do it in a transparent way and we need to do it in a cooperative way.”

Baker declined to comment on a reported deal that would give Comcast control of NBC Universal. In general, the FCC should move quickly to evaluate mergers, she said, citing the long approval process for the Sirius purchase of XM. “We have a 180-day shot clock on this,” she said. “I think that Sirius-XM took 500 days.” The FCC also shouldn’t “attach conditions that are extraneous to the actual deal” before the commission, she said.