Thune Says Spectrum Legislative Package Possible by Year's End

Both Senate Commerce and the House Communications Subcommittee will dig into these wireless issues Wednesday in separate simultaneous hearings. Both chambers are eyeing legislation. The House is specifically considering the Federal Spectrum Incentive Act (S-887/HR-1641), which would allow federal agencies to recover some of the profits of auctioning their spectrum, and a new bipartisan staff draft of what lawmakers are calling the Spectrum Pipeline Act, which industry observers told us Monday is a good start but needs more substance identifying specific bands and a timeline for auction (see 1510050055).

“There’s the sense there may be revenue at the table, so this may be advantageous both for government agencies and for the private sector that’s not quite starving for spectrum but very anxious to get more,” Schatz said. “I think there’s tremendous potential here, but if we go the traditional route, it’s going to take five years before we free up the amount of spectrum the private sector needs, so I think we have to continue to look for an innovative solution that’ll generate revenue for agencies and free up spectrum a little quicker than the normal process.”

“We’re hoping that the hearings are going to shape and give us the sort of foundation, ideas that we want to incorporate into a bill, but we’ve got to do something to fill the pipeline,” Thune said. “When we get past the incentive auction this next year, there’s nothing out there. And we’ve got huge demand out there.” Wednesday's hearing will be the second Senate hearing on the topic this year.

“We do have back and forth,” Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said when asked about bipartisan negotiation on spectrum legislation Tuesday.

“I am encouraged by the broad engagement of Members on this Committee to promote wireless broadband deployment,” Thune will say in his opening statement at Wednesday's hearing. “Members on both sides of the aisle are working on a bipartisan basis to develop pragmatic concepts into actionable legislation, as well as trying to identify new bright ideas. I invite all of our members to continue working with one another to understand these issues, to create a fulsome record, and to craft broadband deployment legislation for action in this Congress.” He will emphasize new developments in rural broadband deployment. “Machine-to-machine and machine-to-farm communication is already delivering new productivity gains -- and promises much more benefit for American farmers, environmental stewardship, and the economic future of rural communities,” Thune will remark.

The House’s Spectrum Pipeline Act draft “is intended to help establish a more consistent and predictable supply of spectrum going forward through a formal process between the Congress, the FCC, the NTIA, and other agencies,” House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., intends to say. He will credit his staffers and those of House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., for work on the draft.

The Democratic memo from Pallone’s office attributes the draft to Walden and Clarke, as does Pallone in his opening statement. “Importantly, the discussion draft recognizes the importance of unlicensed spectrum to meet consumer needs,” said the Democratic memo, dated Tuesday. “The bill requires the agencies include in their reports a discussion of how to establish the appropriate balance of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. The draft further directs the FCC to submit a report to Congress that analyzes the effects of rule changes and plans for spectrum sharing between 3.55-3.65 MHz.”

“Increasing the efficiency of how more than 60 federal agencies and departments use over 240,000 frequency assignments is not an easy task, but it’s one this subcommittee should tackle,” House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., plans to say in her opening statement. “The Spectrum Pipeline Act of 2015 is an important step in this process. Building on the success of the AWS-3 auction, the draft under discussion today calls for a plan for the relocation or sharing of spectrum bands held by federal agencies and a timeline for bringing this spectrum to auction. Recognizing that federal agencies operate very differently than commercial wireless providers, we also need a plan to incent federal agency participation.”

Both Eshoo and Walden co-sponsor the Incentive Act. “The success of the AWS-3 auction earlier this year highlighted the incredible demand for spectrum in the marketplace,” Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., a sponsor of the Incentive Act, plans to say. She will urge support for the bill now: “Last Congress the Committee reported the bill with strong bipartisan support.”

“Together, the pair of bills we are looking at this morning have the potential to establish a spectrum pipeline to meet consumer needs well into the future,” Pallone will say. “Together these bills are the first step in authorizing new auctions that can help serve the skyrocketing mobile needs of consumers.”

“One way we can continue to free up additional spectrum is through use of the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act,” Walden will also say. “Under the CSEA, commercial providers bear the cost of moving federal incumbents to clear spectrum. Given the budgetary pressures facing the country -- and the significant challenges our defense agencies face as a result of fiscal belt-tightening -- we have an opportunity to work together to optimize the value of underutilized spectrum and upgrade equipment and services used by federal agencies.”

PCIA President Jonathan Adelstein will praise the Wireless Innovation Act (S-1618), a bill from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and other Senate Republicans that focuses on both reallocation and easing wireless siting. “Clearing and auctioning Federal spectrum is necessary, but it will not help ease the wireless data crunch in the very near future,” Adelstein will testify before the Senate. “We certainly need more spectrum, and I urge you to pursue policies to make more available for commercial use.” Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., one of its backers, told us last month that the legislation could be the base bill for Thune’s desired package (see 1509150061). CEA President Gary Shapiro, who won't testify, issued a statement Tuesday calling for Congress to free up more spectrum for consumers and lauding the backers of the Incentive Act.

Public Knowledge backs the Federal Spectrum Incentive Act and “the goals” of the Pipeline draft, government affairs counsel Phillip Berenbroick will testify before the House. “Given the enormous benefits of unlicensed spectrum, any legislative effort to increase the licensed spectrum pipeline should also expand the amount of spectrum made available for license-exempt use.” Congress should look at “opportunities to allow for unlicensed sharing of bands where Federal users reside, ranging from a cut for unlicensed, or Wi-Fi dividend,” Berenbroick will recommend, citing the ideas of FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, “to the FCC examining the possibility of an unlicensed underlay, while establishing mechanisms to protect critical bands and prevent interference.”

“Thought needs to be given to metrics for assessing what and how much incentives should be given for what [and how much] concessions,” Jeff Reed, Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee member and founder of the research group Wireless@Virginia Tech, will testify before the House. “Furthermore, how those incentives are distributed within federal organizations make a difference in how cooperative the elements in those organizations will be with the transition.” Build trust, he will recommend.

The House hearing begins at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday in 2322 Rayburn, and the Senate hearing at 10 a.m. in 253 Russell. NTIA Associate Administrator Douglas Kinkoph is another witness scheduled to testify before the Senate. His testimony wasn't available Tuesday.