CTIA, Blackburn Want to Push Congress on Moving Spectrum Legislation

Blackburn is eyeing advance of members’ individual spectrum measures. "We should advance bipartisan legislation, such as the Guthrie/Matsui Federal Spectrum Incentive Act, which provides incentives for the reallocation of government held spectrum for commercial purposes,” she plans to say in her opening statement of the measure from Reps. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif. She cites the recently introduced Rural Spectrum Accessibility Act from Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., which “encourages spectrum licensees to make unused or underused spectrum available for use by rural and smaller carriers in order to expand wireless coverage and is certainly worthy of further examination as we look to increase rural broadband deployment.” Lawmakers will also discuss the Senate’s Mobile Now legislation, Blackburn says.

Senators sought to include a provision based on the Federal Spectrum Incentive Act in the original version of Mobile Now, but it was cut after negotiations with the Obama administration last Congress. Guthrie and Matsui reintroduced the measure Tuesday. “By providing incentives for government agencies to consolidate their use of spectrum bands, we can encourage innovation in the private sector and lower the cost of wireless technology for consumers,” said Guthrie. Ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., said early this year he was eyeing introducing spectrum reallocation legislation. His spokesman didn't comment Tuesday.

'Go Further'

House lawmakers can build on Mobile Now's “key steps and go further to establish a robust and lasting spectrum pipeline and modernized framework for wireless siting that will fuel investment, create jobs, drive economic growth, and enable the U.S. wireless industry to win the global race for 5G leadership” and “provide a clear plan for additional licensed spectrum across a wide and diverse range of frequencies to meet tomorrow’s needs,” Bergmann will testify. “Government should continue to review spectrum currently allocated for federal use and consider ways to incentivize federal agencies to use their spectrum resources more efficiently and effectively.”

Bergmann will argue “more can be done” beyond the siting provisions in Mobile Now. “To speed deployment of broadband services, CTIA supports streamlined policies for federal agencies to enable small cell deployment on federal lands, properties, and buildings,” he will say. Congress should develop “clear and reasonable deadlines for agency responses with appropriate ‘deemed granted’ remedies, requiring fees to be based on agencies’ actual and direct costs, and fully implementing the 2012 Tax Relief and Job Creation Act’s provisions for common forms and processes” and “address burdensome local permitting processes; modernize right-of-way access and pole attachment policies; and streamline and clarify the historic preservation and environmental review processes,” he recommends. House lawmakers weighed proposals to address some of these issues earlier this year (see 1703210056). He will urge “reasonable shot clocks for new site and collocation permit applications and broader application of existing deemed granted remedies.”

Thune told reporters Tuesday he and House Commerce Committee leaders “have not talked about changes” to Mobile Now as it goes through the House process.

“I am glad they’re taking an interest in it,” Thune said. “If we can synch up our efforts with theirs, we might be able to get this across the finish line.” He told us to expect additional specific legislation on these topics in the Senate: “There will be a follow-on obviously, to what we did in this version of it. We’re looking at ways to provide incentives for broadband deployment and those sorts of things. But it’s a work in progress, still ideas being batted around.”

The Mobile Now Act “is comprehensive legislation that anticipates and promotes the rise of 5G technology,” Ericsson North America Vice President-Government Affairs and Public Policy Jared Carlson plans to testify. “It sets policy goals for spectrum access and eases the burdens we see in the field every day when we deploy network infrastructure. It calls for the critical spectrum needed -- 500 MHz by 2020 -- for commercial use by easing the demands on our networks as consumers and IOT devices access more data-rich services.

Caution

Be careful with incumbent bands, Jennifer Manner, senior vice president for EchoStar and Hughes Network Systems, is to testify on spectrum sharing: “It is critical that any sharing criteria adopted be reasonable and enable both services (including the satellite broadband incumbent) to grow. The same principle needs to be followed in the higher fallow bands.” Satellite operators are eyeing the V band between 40-75 GHz, she plans to say. “In contrast, the mobile industry is looking at V Band and other millimeter wave bands to density their networks in urban markets that may require more capacity. It would make no sense to cut off or severely curtail access to this band for satellite broadband by adopting sharing criteria that overwhelmingly favor terrestrial wireless technologies.” The FCC should consider “adopting a sharing regime that recognizes that terrestrial deployment will be focused in the most urban portions of the country,” she says.

Ruckus Wireless will “ask that the Subcommittee consider a more balanced approach to licensed versus unlicensed spectrum,” says Director-Regulatory Affairs and Network Standards Dave Wright. He will outline overall support for Mobile Now but present this caveat: “In a worst-case scenario, the bill would require the FCC to designate only 100 megahertz for unlicensed. This would vastly under-resource Wi-Fi, the most popular wireless broadband technology in the country … . It would not meet even half of the lowest estimated gap for 2020.”

Blackburn will call the AWS-3 and broadcast TV incentive auctions successful. “It is important that as a general rule we not impose restrictions on who can bid on spectrum,” she says. “The free market is the most effective vehicle for continued spectrum deployment. Well intentioned auction rules can artificially depreciate the value of spectrum.” She will back “a two-sided solution” for the spectrum crunch, focused on deployment of spectrum and its efficiency. “Federal entities should not be permitted to squat on this valuable resource without providing sufficient information detailing how they use it,” she is to say.

Mobile Now is undergoing a hotline process that started in the Senate the week of March 20 and cleared the GOP cloakroom (see 1703300063). Democratic holds prevented its passage last Congress. These were over the confirmation fight involving former Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. “We’re still waiting to see what the Democrats have to say,” Thune said Tuesday, citing “plenty of reason for people to want to work in a bipartisan way to get this done.”