The FCC notified the NTIA it plans to start an auction of licenses in the 1695-1710 and 1755-1780 MHz bands as early as September 2014. In doing so, the FCC satisfied a requirement of last year’s spectrum law, the FCC said (http://fcc.us/ZNM3n7). “As directed by Congress in the Spectrum Act, NTIA recently identified the 1695-1710 MHz band as the 15 megahertz of spectrum between 1675 MHz and 1710 MHz to be reallocated from federal use to non-federal use,” the FCC said. “The Spectrum Act now requires the Commission to allocate this identified spectrum for commercial use and to license the spectrum by February 2015. Our goal is to ensure that the Commission has adequate time to conduct this auction and complete the subsequent licensing process prior to the Spectrum Act’s deadline.” The 1695-1710 MHz is part of the 1675-1710 MHz band, which provides weather satellite downlinks, and was the subject of a Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee working group, which looked at sharing in the band. The 1755-1780 MHz band has been a longtime target for carriers for reallocation for wireless broadband. A government official said the move is mostly ministerial and provides options for the FCC to reallocate the 1755 MHz spectrum, though many questions remain. “We are happy that both the FCC and NTIA are working to move these two pairings to auction,” said CTIA Vice President Chris Guttman-McCabe. “Clearing this spectrum and moving the bands to auction will bring tremendous, measurable benefits to our economy, our citizens and our country.” “T-Mobile has worked closely with the FCC, NTIA, and federal users to make these bands available for mobile broadband use and today’s designation marks a critical milestone in this process,” said Senior Vice President Tom Sugrue. “When paired with spectrum the FCC already has under its jurisdiction, these frequency blocks can provide an additional 80 MHz of valuable spectrum adjacent to the AWS-1 band, and expand US leadership in LTE mobile broadband deployment.” Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member John Thune, R-S.D., said he was glad to see the FCC taking steps to pair and auction together the 1755-1780 MHz and 2155-2180 MHz wireless spectrum bands according to a news release following the publication of the letter. Thune commended Commissioner Ajit Pai for advocating the FCC use of its notify-and-auction authority and said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has “once again shown he clearly understands the tremendous potential of commercial mobile broadband and the importance of making more public resources available to the private sector for development,” the news release said. Thune urged NTIA and the White House to concentrate their efforts on reallocating the 1755-1780 MHz band “for as much exclusive, non-federal use as is feasible. Cleared spectrum is the best way to meet consumer demand and raise revenues needed to relocate current users and reduce the deficit,” he said. Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., said she too was pleased by the FCC’s letter: “Pairing the 1755-1780 MHz band with 2155-2180 MHZ band makes sense not just for revenue purposes, but also for innovation in our ever growing digital economy,” she said in an email sent via her spokesman. “The clock is ticking on the AWS-3 spectrum reallocation. We must find a timely solution that address both our economic needs and our national security challenges.” Last congress Matsui introduced the Efficient Use of Government Spectrum Act which sought to require the FCC to pair for commercial auction the 1755-1780 MHz band with the 2155-2180 MHz band (CD April 27 p5).
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., said Thursday at a subcommittee oversight hearing he’s concerned the FirstNet board is not sufficiently consulting state officials as it develops the first interoperable public safety network. Walden’s comments echoed the recent complaints of state public safety officials who told lawmakers they're not adequately involved in the decisions being made by the FirstNet board. The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act requires that the FirstNet board represent the interests of a broad range of stakeholders, including: public safety; states, territories, tribes and localities; and urban and rural representation.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., reintroduced her Global Free Internet Act this week (http://1.usa.gov/1082MC4). The bill -- which has California Democratic Reps. Anna Eshoo, Mike Honda and Doris Matsui as original cosponsors -- would create a task force to monitor and respond to actions by foreign and domestic governments “that deny fair market access to Internet-related goods and services, or that threaten the technical operation, security, and free flow of global Internet communications,” said a Lofgren release(http://1.usa.gov/Ydifh2). The task force would be composed of leaders of executive branch agencies, as well as four people nominated by congressional leadership and four people who are not government employees and who have been “nominated by the Internet itself” and “would hold public hearings, issue reports, and coordinate the activity of the U.S. government to respond to domestic and international threats to the Internet,” the release said. In a statement, Lofgren said: “For the Internet to remain a platform for innovation and prosperity, we need to address undue restrictions on Internet commerce and the global free flow of information.” The bill would ensure that a commitment to an open Internet be prevalent in U.S. foreign and trade policies, said Public Knowledge Vice President-Government Affairs Christopher Lewis in a statement (http://bit.ly/Xoxlom). “The Global Free Internet Act can provide much-needed balance to US efforts to ensure an open internet that promotes free speech around the world,” Lewis said.
Several House and Senate lawmakers are introducing legislation aimed at permitting cellphone users to unlock their phones so they can be used on different networks, they said this week. Momentum to amend U.S. copyright law on cellphone unlocking surged after top telecom officials in the administration advocated this week for legislative fixes to give consumers greater control over their devices (CD March 5 p1).
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., praised the FCC for its NPRM approved Wednesday (CD Feb 21 p3) on increased unlicensed use of the 5 GHz band. “There is no doubt that America’s Wi-Fi industry is rapidly growing in both communications and innovation,” Matsui said. “The unlicensed economy has a multiplier effect that will only continue to grow as Americans rely more and more on their tablets, smartphones, and devices for everyday use."
The federal government’s broadband initiatives must continue, said FCC commissioners Thursday at the Federal-State Joint Conference on Advanced Services. But such programs need more accountability and a sharper focus, they said. Panelists emphasized the importance of digital literacy, and telco executives promoted a message of grassroots outreach in encouraging broadband adoption. “We are going to approach adoption with a little more nuance than we have in the past,” Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, the conference’s new federal chair, told the summit. The FCC will be looking at “how to quantify how much can be saved when services migrate online and how citizens and consumers can help by sharing in those savings,” she said, describing an intention to look at the accountability of sustainable broadband programs to find out which are “truly sustainable” and strengthen the successes.
Internet policy makers are girding themselves for future fights with those in the international community who seek to impose new restrictions and regulations on the Internet. While lawmakers Tuesday commended the work of U.S. delegates to oppose new international regulations at the recent World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), they said at a joint Congressional hearing on the topic they must redouble efforts to combat further restrictions on the Web.
The NTIA concluded Friday that more work must be done to understand the challenges to federal agencies with operations in the 5350-5470 MHz and 5850-5925 MHz bands before the agency can conclude that they can be safely reallocated for Wi-Fi or other unlicensed use. The NTIA report comes after FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced plans at CES for a proceeding on the two bands (http://xrl.us/bn953e). NTIA had no comment beyond the report.
Four House Commerce Committee Democrats sought more interoperability in the lower 700 MHz band, in a letter sent Monday to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. “A single lower 700 MHz band with nationwide scope would benefit all customers because it would enable consumers to use the same devices across multiple carrier platforms as well as roam to and from networks inside and outside of the 700 MHz band,” it said. The letter was signed by House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo of California, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania, and Doris Matsui of California. The lawmakers said reducing the number of bands in the lower 700 MHz would assist first responders by adding value, reducing costs and creating “more redundancy options for public safety broadband capabilities.” The FCC approved an interoperability rulemaking notice at its March meeting. Genachowski said at the time regulation may not be needed and encouraged industry players to come up with a voluntary, industry solution (CD March 22 p2). AT&T Executive Vice President of Federal Relations Tim McKone said the letter “fails to address the main issue: the interference caused from the adjacent Channel 51 television stations.” That interference “is the main reason there has been such little deployment to date by A Block license holders,” McKone said in an email statement. “Forcing carriers to place interfering radios in their smartphones will result in less efficient spectrum utilization and, importantly, a poor consumer experience.” AT&T has been the leading opponent of an interoperability mandate.
The FCC will provide broadband for nearly 75,000 low-income people who lack service, in 14 projects across 21 states and Puerto Rico as part of its Lifeline broadband adoption pilot program. It'll run 18 months, start Feb. 1 and subsidize service for a year, the Wireline Bureau said Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bn68f8). The bureau will collect and analyze data in the final three months, it said. The variety of projects will include five wireless broadband projects, seven wireline broadband projects and two that'll offer wireline or wireless, the FCC said. Seven will test discounted service in rural areas, including two on tribal lands, and seven in urban and suburban areas. Tested variables will include use of digital literacy training, equipment types, subsidy levels, speed ranges and usage limits, the bureau said. Lifeline has saved more than $210 million in 2012, the bureau said, saying that’s higher than its target. The FCC reiterated its Lifeline reforms, such as eliminating Link-Up subsidies and putting in place measures to limit one Lifeline subsidy per household. The broadband adoption pilot will cost $14 million, to come from the overall Lifeline savings, the commission said. Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., said in a separate news release she was pleased with the FCC’s expansion of the Lifeline program for universal broadband adoption. “We must close the digital divide in this country and the FCC moving forward today to establishing a broadband adoption pilot program through the USF will move us closer to that goal,” she said.