Licensed Wireless May Get Less than Expected in National Broadband Plan

Wireless carriers may get less in the FCC’s National Broadband Plan than meets the eye, commission officials indicated Monday. Although the plan recommends that 300 MHz of spectrum be made available for wireless broadband over the next five years and 500 MHz total over 10 years, FCC officials made clear Monday that not all will be dedicated to licensed use. The plan also provides substantial detail in its recommendations for the Universal Service Fund, including a phase-out of the high-cost fund. The plan will be presented to FCC commissioners Tuesday. They won’t vote on the plan, only on a mission statement setting out goals for U.S. broadband policy.

"The plan is in beta, and always will be,” says the executive summary. “Like the Internet itself, the plan will always be changing -- adjusting to new developments in technologies and markets, reflecting new realities, and evolving to realize the unforeseen opportunities of a particular time.”

The FCC released copies of the plan Monday at a background media briefing. As expected, the plan is long, 340 pages plus appendices. Most aspects have been publicly discussed in detail by Chairman Julius Genachowski and other FCC officials over recent weeks, so there are few surprises. An FCC official said the plan probably will prompt dozens of rulemakings. The plan says the FCC will “quickly” publish a timetable of proceedings needed to carry out recommendations.

"Spectrum policy must be a key pillar of U.S. economic policy,” the plan says. FCC officials clarified Monday that the plan doesn’t propose making 500 MHz of additional spectrum available for auction and for use in carrier networks, but getting that much spectrum in play for wireless broadband. One recommendation is that the FCC free up within the next 10 years “a new, contiguous nationwide band for unlicensed use."

Of the 300 MHz to be made available more quickly, 120 MHz would come from broadcast TV spectrum, through a proposed 2012-2013 mobile futures auction. Ten MHz would come though the sale of the D-block, 20 MHz through the use of wireless communications service spectrum and 40 MHz from AWS-2 and AWS-3 spectrum yet to be scheduled for auction but already in the FCC’s spectrum pipeline. Ninety MHz would come from the mobile satellite spectrum band. The WCS spectrum would be made available first through an order this year, under the plan’s timetable. AWS 2 and 3 and the D-block spectrum would be sold throgh auctions next year.

One of the big questions has been the FCC’s intentions for the MSS spectrum. The plan discusses a need to speed up terrestrial use of spectrum, for example through close cooperation with L-Band licensees and foreign governments to “accelerate efforts to rationalize” ancillary terrestrial component-authorized spectrum “to make it suitable for broadband ATC service.”

The plan recommends several steps for increasing the efficiency of broadcasters’ use of spectrum, such as by updating rules about the separation of TV service areas and setting up a licensing framework to allow two or more stations to share a 6 MHz channel. FCC officials reiterated that they're confident broadcasters will be willing to sell some spectrum as they make their operations more efficient.

Broadcasters aren’t the only target. The plan recommends that the FCC and the NTIA develop a “joint roadmap” to identify federal and other spectrum that can be made available for broadband. The FCC would also release a “spectrum dashboard” to make clearer how spectrum is being used and would set up a review of spectrum allocations to be done every three years. The report recommends that the FCC and the NTIA develop better methods for measuring spectrum utilization.

The plan also recommends, as expected, that the FCC “consider free or very low-cost wireless broadband as a means to address the affordability barrier to adoption.” The plan says the FCC could require in auctions for “one or more spectrum bands” that advertising-supported free or low-priced service be offered.

USF changes are discussed in a section about “inclusion.” The plan calls for the creation of the Connect America Fund, which would “replace all of the legacy High-Cost programs” with a new program aimed at advancing universal broadband deployment. The new fund would provide funding only in areas where there is “no private sector business case” for providing “broadband and high quality voice-grade service,” the plan says. There would be “at least one subsidized broadband per geographic area” and support would be available to incumbent and competitive carriers.

The FCC would create a new mobility fund to provide “one-time support for deployment of 3G networks, to bring all states to a minimum level of 3G (or better) mobile service availability.” The plan proposes that $15.5 billion total be shifted from high-cost to broadband support over the next decade through “common sense reforms.” Under the proposed timetable, an overhaul of USF would start immediately and legacy high-cost programs would be eliminated 2017-2020.

The plan also has a long list of recommendations for making carrier infrastructure deployments easier. The plan proposes that the commission set rental rates for pole attachments as “low and close to uniform as possible.” The plan recommends rules that would lower the cost of the pole attachment “made ready process” and urges that the FCC improve the collection and availability of information poles, ducts, conduits and rights-of-way that companies need to expand their networks. It also recommends that the Department of Transportation condition federal financing of road and bridge projects on states’ and localities’ allowing joint deployment of conduits by qualified parties.

The plan calls for some new spending that would have to be authorized by Congress, but the only big funding request is $12 billion to $16 billion for part of the cost of a national public-safety network. “The vast majority of recommendations do not require new government funding; rather they seek to drive improvements in government efficiency, streamline processes and encourage private activity to promote consumer welfare and national priorities,” the plan said.

The plan recommends that the FCC move forward on rules to require data roaming for wireless carriers and to allow increased use of wireless backhaul. It also recommends the collection of information on broadband prices by market.

The plan lays out six central goals: At least 100 million U.S. homes should have affordable access to actual download speeds of at least 100 Mbps and upload speeds of at least 50 Mbps per second; the U.S. should “lead the world in mobile innovation”; every American should have access to “robust broadband service, and the means and skills to subscribe if they so choose”; every U.S. community should have access to 1 Gbps service at anchor institutions such as schools, hospitals and government buildings; every first responder should have access to a nationwide interoperable broadband public safety network; and every American should be able to use broadband to track and manage their real-time energy consumption.

Genachowski said in an interview with the Associated Press that his goal is to make the U.S. more competitive against the rest of the world. “So why did we recommend the goal of 100 megabits to 100 million households?” he said. “Because that will make us the largest market in the world for high-speed Internet. And it will mean that if you're an innovator from any country in the world, you will want to come here to develop and launch your innovation."

Many groups released comments Monday, although the plan won’t be formally released until Tuesday. Public Knowledge is particularly encouraged that the plan devotes significant attention to competition policies, said President Gigi Sohn. The FCC “has produced a balanced, comprehensive and forward-looking plan that should serve the country well,” she said. “The U.S. has long needed such a plan to keep pace with other countries, and this plan, if implemented, will accomplish that objective."

The FCC “gets an A+ for delivering a vision that could bring low-cost, world-class high-speed Internet access to all communities,” said the Media Access Project. “But the real test begins now, and the final grade will depend on the Commission’s execution of future proceedings that will be required to transform the National Broadband Plan into reality."

The U.S. needs “ambitious objectives” that test the limits of our ingenuity” in its broadband policy, said Google CEO Eric Schmidt. “As with the space race in the 1960s, America needs a national effort by our scientists, engineers, companies, educational institutions and government agencies. Just like that great national adventure, we need near-term and long-term goals."

But the Wall Street Journal took Genachowski to task in an editorial Monday. “In 2009 alone, broadband providers spent nearly $60 billion on their networks,” the paper said. “Absent any evidence of market failure, the best course for the FCC is to report back to Congress that a broadband industrial policy is unnecessary. Instead, … Genachowski is moving to increase the reach of his agency and expand government control of the Web."

"I do not think it is ungraceful to acknowledge the hard work and good faith of Blair Levin and his team, while at the same time suggesting that an overly ambitious and diffuse plan, with too much government direction, ultimately is likely to make it more difficult to achieve the widely shared goal of getting broadband to the increasingly few unserved areas and the increasingly few unserved citizens,” said Free State Foundation President Randolph May.

The NAB raised red flags about the broadcast TV provisions in the plan. “Broadcasters are beginning the rollout of mobile DTV service,” the group noted. “Any reallocation of TV spectrum that would prevent or limit this service would give a competitive advantage to subscription-based mobile TV services offered by wireless phone providers like Verizon and AT&T. Moreover, the mobile DTV service offered by broadcasters will never encounter ‘capacity strains’ due to heavy use."

"Eliminating rules hampering the terrestrial re-use of MSS spectrum is low hanging fruit,” said lawyer John Kane. “It’s a no-brainer. The plan proposes a number of steps to hasten the deployment of ATC in the L band and urges other government agencies to cooperate. It proposes to give S-band licensees more flexibility, including perhaps elimination of the satellite requirements altogether, although complete flexibility might come at a cost. … The important theme is the emerging attitude -- the FCC should relax unnecessary restrictions, coax resolution of coordinations and move quickly to support flexible ATC deployment in the L band and mobile services in the S band, whether as ATC or as a stand-alone terrestrial mobile service.”