Incentive Auction R&O to Be Released in Spring, Task Force Says

A report and order establishing the framework of the incentive auction will be presented to the FCC this spring, announced the Incentive Auction Task Force in its update presentation at Thursday’s open commission meeting. The R&O will be followed by two public notices and comment periods to finalize every aspect of the auction, applications from prospective bidders will begin to be accepted in early 2015, and the auction itself will be held in mid-2015, said task force’s Chairman Gary Epstein. The NAB and CTIA praised the commission’s timeline, though some broadcast attorneys told us they're concerned about a lack of specificity and the commission’s plans for reaching out to broadcasters. “We are on course at speed to get this thing done,” said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.

The initial report and order will contain details of plans from FCC staff for the 600 MHz band plan, the structure of the reverse and forward auction, the method for integrating the two auctions and “the full range of post-transition issues”, Epstein said. Some of the issues laid out in the R&O will be detailed proposals for rules, while others will be dependent “on the commission determinations on the report and order,” he said. After the R&O, the commission will issue the auction comment public notice, which seeks comment on activity rules and pricing questions. Then the commission will issue an auction procedures public notice, which will incorporate comments from the previous PN and announce “final procedures” for the auction, Epstein said.

Epstein also discussed plans for extensive testing of the software and equipment that will be used in the auction. That testing will include a mock auction and software demonstrations, to allow the commission to develop better user interfaces for those participating in the auction, he said. “I am happy to see a line dedicated to Auction Bidding System demonstrations starting next year and well before the start of the auction itself, Wheeler said. Commissioner Ajit Pai said the FCC should create an expert panel of stakeholders to test all of the software and procedures for the auction, echoing a point repeatedly made in the past by the NAB. “One of the first things that we need to get right is the repacking software, Pai said.

The task force also unveiled plans for extensive broadcaster outreach. Though Epstein initially said that outreach would begin after the R&O is issued, he later said the task force wouldn’t wait for the order after that sequence of events was questioned by Commissioner Mike O'Rielly. The commission’s outreach efforts would involve meetings with targeted “broadcaster constituencies” and specific stations, Epstein said. That plan raised a red flag for former NAB Counsel Jack Goodman, however. “It’s essentially strong-arming,” he said. “A one on one meeting, the purpose of which is that you give up your channel?” Another broadcast attorney compared the proposed meetings to a college student being called into the dean’s office. “It’s an uncomfortable situation when someone who is overseeing you suggests you should move elsewhere,” said the attorney.

The commission also hasn’t released enough information about efforts to coordinate across international borders, said Goodman. The update announced only that the commission would continue to work on international coordination as the auction approached. However, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn did say that she had recently traveled to Mexico to meet with her Mexican regulatory counterparts. “Our regulatory neighbors truly appreciate this agency’s coordination efforts, on the 600 MHz band issues, and recognize how this can offer mutual benefits to both countries,” Clyburn said.

The commission shouldn’t “use other broadcast-related proceedings to persuade TV broadcasters to relinquish spectrum in the incentive auction,” NAB said in a released statement after the update. “I've never seen a more open and transparent process, said Preston Padden of the EOBC in an interview. CTIA called the commission’s timeline “reasonable.”