Kaplan Says Finding Spectrum for Broadband Won’t Be Easy
FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Rick Kaplan stressed the importance of spectrum sharing in making more frequencies available for wireless broadband, at an FCBA wireless lunch Thursday. Kaplan said questions need to be answered about the 1755 MHz band, a key target of carriers. Kaplan, a former aide to Chairman Julius Genachowski, moved to the bureau in late June.
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The second question Kaplan fielded during the lunch was on the commission’s current push to make more spectrum available for broadband. The FCC hasn’t given up on finding “wide swaths” of spectrum, he said. “It’s going to be a combination of things,” he said. “Cognitive radio, and things like that. … But there’s also things we think can work over time as long as we're well coordinated.” Kaplan said all configurations of sharing should be examined, including government sharing with commercial users and government agencies sharing with each other.
Asked about 1755-1780 MHz band, a government band industry wants to convert to commercial use, Kaplan said many unknowns remain. The FCC has been watching closely as NTIA prepares its recommendations. NTIA officials concede clearing the band won’t be easy (CD May 26 p4). “We have had lots of exchanges,” Kaplan said. “What comes out of that process will help determine what our course may or may not be.”
"Freeing up more spectrum for broadband is not an easy task. We never thought it would be easy,” Kaplan told us. “It’s a multi-faceted process. Our primary objective right now is for Congress to give the commission incentive auction authority as well as to work on the areas identified in the National Broadband Plan, to get those swaths of spectrum that we think are available for broadband built out. That’s very important.”
Kaplan said some openings still exist and some bands can be reallocated to broadband. “We do think there’s still a number of opportunities,” he said. “They're limited. We've identified them. We know what they are. We have to move on them first, quickly, while also on a parallel track exploring ways in the future, through new technologies and creative thinking, to make the most of a finite resource."
Work continues on the FCC’s review of the AT&T/T-Mobile deal, Kaplan told the FCBA event. “We're still sort of full steam ahead and completing our analysis.” No decision has been made on 700 MHz interoperability rules, the subject of an April workshop at the commission (CD April 27 p1), he said. “It’s one of those issues that we're thinking about on a regular basis and trying to figure out exactly what the best next steps are."
Despite criticism by some small wireless carriers (CD Aug 2 p1), the Wireless Bureau is playing a key role on Universal Service Fund reform, Kaplan said. “We've been very engaged in the process,” he said. “We've been a part of it from the start. … Any suggestion that we haven’t been involved is not accurate.”