Wireless Spectrum Auctions

Telecom-focused lawmakers are hopeful they will be able to reach a final deal in the coming days to include a short-term extension of the FCC’s expiring spectrum auction authority in a potential continuing resolution to extend federal appropriations past Sept. 30 (see 2209090053). Talks Wednesday appeared to be strongly coalescing around a stopgap reauthorization through Dec. 16 -- in line with the likely expiration of the overall CR -- but there’s been no final deal, lawmakers and lobbyists told us. Lawmakers believe the temporary renewal will give them more breathing room to reach a deal on a broader spectrum legislative package during the lame-duck session (see 2208090001).

Former FCC commissioners Harold Furchtgott-Roth, Robert McDowell and Mike O’Rielly questioned during a Hudson Institute event Wednesday the pending move by FCC Chairwoman to take on the 13 GHz band in a pending notice of inquiry in light of other bands waiting for action (see 2209200071). They also spoke of concerns with federal infrastructure spending and on the reauthorization of FCC auction authority (see 2209210076). All three do work for Hudson.

Top government speakers promised on Monday the U.S. government is moving forward on a long-awaited national spectrum strategy. But a top DOD official at NTIA’s Spectrum Policy Symposium warned federal users also have strong continuing needs, and clearing 3.1-3.45 GHz, a top candidate band for 5G, would be prohibitively expensive.

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chair Doris Matsui, D-Calif., led filing Thursday of the Digital Equity Foundation Act to create a nonprofit foundation to disburse funding for digital equity, inclusion and literacy projects and support related activities. The measure mirrors parts of an earlier Airwaves for Equity proposal to endow a digital equity foundation using future FCC spectrum auction revenue (see 2202230058) but doesn’t mention a specific funding source. The foundation would “supplement, but not supplant,” existing NTIA and FCC connectivity funding programs, including ones Congress created via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Lujan’s office cited the success of other congressionally established nonprofits, saying they were a way of leveraging public-private partnerships. “Critically, this legislation also ensures” the decision-makers who created the nonprofit “will consist of experts that reflect the diverse communities that are in need of these investments, who will work closely with federal agencies to support and uplift digital equity-focused programs,” Lujan said. “This legislation will jumpstart us down the road to lasting digital equity and inclusion nationwide,” Matsui said. Without “sustained investments in digital adoption and inclusion efforts at the community level, the huge new investments in broadband infrastructure and affordability won’t close the digital divide,” said New America’s Open Technology Institute Wireless Future Project Director Michael Calabrese: “A Digital Equity Foundation dedicated to this work and, if possible, funded by future spectrum auctions, will provide a sustainable way to address the broadband adoption side of the digital divide.” Lujan’s office cited support from 10 other public interest groups, including the American Library Association, National Hispanic Media Coalition, Public Knowledge and the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition.

Ahead of an NTIA spectrum policy symposium Monday, the Aspen Institute released a paper Thursday urging the U.S. government to “issue a 10-year plan with clear national goals to release more spectrum into the commercial marketplace.” The paper follows a May meeting at the institute, which included FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson and is seen as a possible precursor to a long-awaited strategy (see 2208150035). “The National Spectrum Strategy should make a clear statement of national spectrum goals -- agreed to by the FCC and the Administration -- that sets a roadmap for rulemaking and administrative actions over the next decade,” the paper said: “Clear, quantifiable goals provide a lodestar for whole-of-government action. They also help various stakeholders plan for the future and can influence technology development and resource allocation by private actors.” The strategy should plan for the allocation of three of four bands, below 15 GHz, each offering approximately 400 MHz of bandwidth, Aspen said: “Realizing this goal would enable multiple network operators to use 400 MHz channels in lower, better propagating bands as a foundation for multi-gigabit 6G.” The paper proposed making the highest bands, above 95 GHz, unlicensed by default. “Although the FCC recently authorized use of bands above 95 GHz, technology is still in early stages and the band is only sparsely used,” the paper said. “Given the inherent limited and highly directional signal propagation at these frequencies along with the super abundance of bandwidth, any concerns raised regarding interference in these bands should take a back seat to maximizing spectrum access and innovation.” Aspen suggested the White House “could set out the country’s overall spectrum goals through an Executive Order.” The group supports revising congressional budgeting to be “spectrum policy neutral.” Current scoring rules “consider inflows of auction revenues but do not account for economic benefits of other spectrum authorization approaches,’ Aspen said. “As a result, spectrum auction directives are often legislated as a ‘pay for’ to offset some Congressional spending priority. Congress should consider revising the rules to level the legislative playing field for other ways of making spectrum available into the commercial market, such as unlicensed or shared uses.” CTIA appreciates "the report’s focus on ensuring a balanced spectrum policy and its recognition of the need for additional licensed spectrum to meet growing demand and support the development of next-generation wireless networks,” a spokesperson emailed. “We must not lose focus on the pressing need for a pipeline of exclusive-use, licensed commercial spectrum, especially mid-band spectrum, in order to maintain America’s leadership of the emerging 5G economy.”

Steve Berry, who is leaving the Competitive Carriers Association at the end of the year (see 2209130072) after 13 years as president, told reporters a top priority for the rest of the year is getting Congress to fully fund the rip and replace program needed to remove Chinese gear from small carrier networks (see 2209090053). The program faces a $3.08 billion shortfall. “We need to get that done, we need to secure our networks,” he said: “It was a decision made by Congress. Now we’ve got to make sure that they actually pay for it.”

Additional money to fully fund the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program and a short-term extension of the FCC’s expiring spectrum auction authority both remain under consideration as additions to a planned continuing resolution to extend federal appropriations past Sept. 30, but talks remain highly fluid, lawmakers and lobbyists told us last week. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and other committee leaders left open the possibility of a short-term auction authority renewal as a stopgap, telling us they hadn’t reached a deal during the August recess on a broader spectrum legislative package.

T-Mobile, as expected, dominated the 2.5 GHz auction (see 2208300021), winning 7,156 licenses for $304.3 million, covering 2,724 counties, the FCC announced Thursday. But T-Mobile wasn’t the only bidder -- the FCC said 63 bidders won a total of 7,872 licenses. The auction had gross proceeds of $427.8 million. Among other large carriers, Cellular South bid $11.9 million for 38 licenses. Verizon won nine licenses for $1.5 million. AT&T and Dish Network didn’t get any licenses. AT&T had made an upfront payment of only $1,000, versus $20 million by Verizon and $25,000 by Dish. PTI Pacifica was the second-highest bidder, at $17.7 million. TeleGuam Holdings bid $16.6 million for the mid-band spectrum. By number of licenses won, the No. 2 bidder was North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation, with 107, followed by Evergy Kansas Central with 54. “This really was T-Mobile’s auction,” Recon Analytics’ Roger Entner told us: “Everyone else either got the scraps that T-Mobile didn’t want or watched how it unfolded.” Down payments by winning bidders are due Sept. 16, final payments Sept. 30, the agency said. The FCC’s auction authority expires Sept. 30, absent action by Congress. “With most of the available spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band located in rural areas, this auction provides vital spectrum resources to support wireless services in rural communities,” the FCC said.

On one of the big spectrum inquiries of the summer, most commenters agreed the FCC can do more to address spectrum offshore needs, though there was little consensus on what the agency should do. One big area of disagreement is the role unlicensed should have. Replies were due Friday on a notice of inquiry commissioners approved 4-0 in June (see 2206080055) and most were posted Monday in docket 22-204. In initial comments, carriers urged caution (see 2207280032).

Backers of a bid to fully fund the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program believe appropriations legislation, including a likely continuing resolution to extend federal payments past Sept. 30, is the most viable vehicle for formally allocating the additional money, due to concerns about delayed action on the House-passed (see 2207280052) Spectrum Innovation Act (HR-7624). Senate Commerce Committee leaders are grappling during the August recess with how to respond to HR-7624, which would allocate some proceeds from a proposed auction of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band for rip and replace reimbursements, given disagreements on spectrum policy priorities (see 2208090001).