House Lawmakers Gear Up for Spectrum Oversight, Imminent Legislation
Several FCC officials plan to aggressively assert before the House Communications Subcommittee Thursday that the broadcast TV incentive auction is on track to happen in 2016’s first quarter, with the agency set to receive applications this fall. They will testify that the auction and freeing up more spectrum remains a key priority. Lawmakers in that subcommittee are gearing up to reintroduce the Federal Spectrum Incentive Act as soon as this week, before breaking for a two-week recess, a House staffer told us. The hearing is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn.
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Reps. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif., introduced HR-3674 in December 2013. It never advanced but received wide praise and attention. The legislation would have provided financial incentives for government agencies to give up portions of their spectrum. It would have created a Federal Spectrum Incentive Auction Fund. Communications Subcommittee leadership -- Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. -- also co-sponsored the bill, and it received a favorable mention from the White House. Guthrie and Matsui co-chair the committee’s spectrum working group.
“To more efficiently utilize our nation’s airwaves, America needs a ‘National Spectrum Plan’ -- one that will require a healthy mix of licensed and unlicensed spectrum bands,” Matsui plans to say in her opening statement Thursday. “It is time for the public and private sectors to work together and create a new pipeline for spectrum reallocation or sharing. Congress must look for creative ways to produce more spectrum.”
“We are working with our federal partners to identify additional spectrum that might be reallocated or made available on a shared basis,” FCC Incentive Auction Task Force Chair Gary Epstein, Office of Engineering Technology Chief Julius Knapp, Wireless Bureau Chief Roger Sherman and Wireless Deputy Bureau Chief John Leibovitz plan to tell the subcommittee in joint testimony Thursday. They're the hearing’s only witnesses. The FCC’s spectrum work has “benefited greatly from the bipartisan support and encouragement of Congress,” they will say.
The GOP memo for the subcommittee hearing described the FCC’s focus on potentially increasing unlicensed spectrum use in the 5 GHz band. “It has been widely accepted that the most usable spectrum for mobile broadband services falls below 3 GHz,” the GOP memo said. “However, in light of the congestion below 3 GHz, the increasing use of spectrum in the 5 GHz band -- previously considered ill-suited to mobile broadband, and technology innovations, the use of higher band frequencies for consumer mobile broadband must be reconsidered.” It noted the FCC’s recent look toward 24 GHz for mobile radio service. The Democrats’ memo also discussed many of those items and flagged spectrum aggregation roles as a key issue to watch.
CTIA and NAB briefed House Commerce staffers at the request of both Democrats and Republicans Monday (see 1503230042), providing an update on the incentive auction. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler testified earlier this week that broadcasters worry that the auction funding is too low and that they want an insurance fund (see 1503240055).
That auction is “essential to meet the continuing need for spectrum, especially sub-one gigahertz spectrum,” with the AWS-3 auction confirming “strong market demand for more spectrum,” FCC officials will testify. “We believe that carriers have ample interest and financial capability to participate vigorously in the Incentive Auction.” They also plan to affirm commitment to exploring other bands, citing the interest of Congress in using the 5 GHz band. The FCC “will continue to press towards finding sharing solutions to make available this additional spectrum for ‘gigabit Wi-Fi’ and other unlicensed uses,” the officials will say.
Matsui and several lawmakers from both parties in the House and Senate reintroduced the Wi-Fi Innovation Act earlier this year, asking the FCC to test the upper 5 GHz band. “I also believe that unlicensed spectrum should be part of our spectrum plan,” Matsui will say in her opening statement. “It is important for the FCC to develop a testing process on the upper 5GHz band this year. It is time for the FCC to bring together, in one room … engineers from both the auto and technology sectors … to see if they can co-exist … without interference in the 5GHz band.”
Industry stakeholders have told us spectrum policy has more bipartisan potential and should be addressed in the broader overhaul of the Communications Act that GOP leaders are pursuing. Rick Boucher, a former Democratic lawmaker who’s now honorary chairman of the Internet Innovation Alliance, is hopeful lawmakers can get “another auction scheduled fairly quickly” and focus on freeing up government-held spectrum, he told us recently. “Maybe they should be given incentives.”