Wireless Spectrum Auctions

The Wireless ISP Association urged a single-round, sealed-bid 2.5 GHz auction format, in a call with FCC Office of Economics and Analytics staff. There's “strong interest among WISPA’s members in participating,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 20-429. WISPs seek to buy licenses “for targeted areas.” The auction's “lack of fungibility contrasts with other spectrum auctions where the licenses are typically offered for an unencumbered area,” the group said, “in equal-size spectrum sizes.”

Comcast's Peacock, with 54 million signups, is rolling out to Europe later this year to Sky's 20 million customers, and the next aim is global availability of the streaming service, said the company Thursday. Comcast executives waved off the need for more mergers and acquisitions as a prerequisite to become a viable international streaming power, during a call with analysts. "I love the company we have," and more organic growth is ahead without further acquisitions, said CEO Brian Roberts. "I think we do have the scale. We don't need M&A."

AT&T and Verizon's Cellco Partnership were by far top recipients of C-band flexible use overlay licenses in Auction 107. Per our breakdown of an FCC Wireless Bureau public notice Friday, Verizon received 3,518 licenses and AT&T 1,620. Others included U.S. Cellular with 253 licenses, T-Mobile (141) and Canopy Spectrum (83). Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel called the licenses "the sweet spot for 5G deployment [due to] the right mix of capacity and propagation that will help us reach more people in more places faster. With these licenses in hand, more carriers can deploy mid-band 5G." The C-band auction was approved under former Chairman Ajit Pai and was “no walk in the park,” Commissioner Brendan Carr said Monday. “We must do more than implement the tough spectrum decisions the FCC made over the last few years if we are going to extend U.S. leadership in 5G,” he said: “We must move forward with a number of new spectrum proceedings too.”

5G has a role to play in infrastructure and closing the digital divide, FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said on an Axios webinar Friday, as Congress debates whether wireless will be a major part of infrastructure spending plans (see 2107150046). Much of the discussion has been on extending the reach of fiber networks, Rosenworcel said. “We really need to have robust connections to those towers … to make sure our wireless networks can deliver all that 5G has to offer.” About 50 million Americans are on 5G , Rosenworcel said. She noted the importance of 5G to IoT. Next-generation machine learning and artificial intelligence are “where the real 5G revolution comes,” she said. Rosenworcel said the FCC “made a mistake” last administration putting too much emphasis on high-band spectrum, repeating a criticism she made as a minority commissioner. Millimeter-wave 5G requires “lots of ground-based facilities,” which are “really costly” to deploy, she said. Mid-band is “the sweet spot” and “how we’re going to deploy 5G,” she said. “We’re doing a lot to fix where we were.” The FCC started the C-band auction, the first mid-band auction for 5G, under former Chairman Ajit Pai (see 2012080040). "The last FCC took unprecedented action to advance American leadership in 5G,” Pai emailed now. “A key part of that plan was freeing up spectrum for the commercial marketplace,” he said, noting the citizens broadband radio service and C-band auction. “Notably, today's leadership voted against each and every one of these measures,” he said: “The agency is now going backward on mid-band by putting on ice the 2.5 GHz auction and the 4.9 GHz initiative." Commissioner Brendan Carr "is proud that he voted in favor of freeing up more than six gigahertz of spectrum for licensed 5G services," a spokesperson emailed: “There is work ahead if this Commission is going to match the pace and cadence it hit with mid-band spectrum over the past few years.” Rosenworcel says the 2.5 GHz auction would come following the 3.45 GHz auction. Mid-band means more 5G outside urban centers, she said now. "That future is not quite here yet.” Broadband is becoming “critical infrastructure,” said Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon. Governments “should care,” he said. “I have not met a single government that does not worry about how they can build 5G and how fast.” Amon also noted the debate in Congress: “For the first time, you have a cellular technology that can really replace, or augment, fiber deployment,” which will be easier to build in rural areas. Amon predicted most major U.S. cities will have 5G in 2021, and it will cover the “majority of the country” by Dec. 31, 2022. Most Manufacturing Institute members report they hope to use 5G in their plants by year's end, said Executive Director Carolyn Lee: “They also recognize that the speed with which 5G is deployed will really impact their ability to be globally competitive.”

OneWeb and advocates for opening 12 GHz to 5G butted heads Wednesday whether there's wireless demand here. “Where is CTIA [support], where is Verizon [support]?" said OneWeb North American Director-Government and Regulatory Engagement Eric Graham in a Broadband Breakfast virtual panel Wednesday. He said their silence and AT&T opposition to opening the band indicate a relative lack of wireless interest. Replied RS Access CEO Noah Campbell, NCTA says its members want access, and AT&T shows interest in an auction if there's a mobile allocation. Dish Network Executive Vice President-External and Legislative Affairs Jeff Blum said it's "telling" that non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite interests didn't offer their own technical study in the docket 20-443 comment cycle (see 2107080055) refuting the RS Access-commissioned study showing satellite/terrestrial sharing of the 12.2-12.7 GHz band is feasible. Graham said the burden of proof is on 5G petitioners to make the case for sharing. Blum and Campbell focused on the need for the spectrum for 5G. Graham argued terrestrial service is a harmful interference risk to NGSO fixed satellite service (FSS) downlinks to user terminals. Graham said the 12 GHz swath is part of a 2 GHz-wide band of Ku spectrum available for satellite use, but terrestrial uses in the 10.7-11.7 GHz band makes it more difficult if not impossible for NGSO FSS constellations. Blum said the band isn't inherently needed for NGSO-provided broadband, citing Amazon's planned Kuiper constellation not using that spectrum. He and Campbell disputed the interference threat. Now that the record's closed, 5G interests will seek to engage with NGSO interests, said Blum.

No broadband-related actions President Joe Biden asked the FCC to take in his Friday executive order on competition can easily proceed until there are additional commissioners to secure a Democratic majority, EO supporters and opponents told us. The directive encourages the FCC to at least bring back rescinded 2015 net neutrality rules and act against some other communications sector practices. Congressional Democrats have become increasingly frustrated by Biden’s slow nominations process (see 2106160056). (For the EO's tech provisions, see 2107090060.)

Industry experts said the 3.45 GHz auction, to start Oct. 5, is likely to be a success, with AT&T and Dish Network in particular seen as keen to pick up more mid-band spectrum. But questions remain about the level of data provided by the government. Upfront payments, the first expression of bidder interest, are due July 21 (see 2106090078). The reserve price for federal agencies to clear the spectrum and for the auction to close is $15 billion.

CTIA and other commenters urged the FCC to use caution as it considers adopting out-of-band emissions in the 24 GHz band aligned with limits adopted at the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference, in filings posted Tuesday in docket 21-186. NTIA supports adoption of the WRC limits (see 2106280039). Comments were due Monday (see 2105260023). WRC-19 adopted emission limits not at the edge of the 24 GHz band, “but rather, as a limit on the total radiated power” wireless base and mobile stations can radiate into any 200 megahertz of the 23.6-24.0 GHz passive Earth Exploration Satellite Service (EESS) band,” CTIA said. WRC recommended two sets of limits for base stations and user equipment, one that applies now, and another set of limits for equipment brought into use after Sept. 1, CTIA noted. “As CTIA and other commenters have explained throughout this proceeding, the Commission’s existing OOBE limits are sufficient to protect EESS operations from interference,” the group said: The part used for wireless is separated by 250 MHz from “EESS passive sensing operations in the 23.6-24.0 GHz band.” The limits approved by the WRC “will provide even greater protection to passive EESS operations than is necessary, while still allowing for robust 5G deployment in the band," CTIA said. Nokia said its 24 GHz equipment can meet the initial limit of -33 dBW/200MHz before a Sept. 1, 2027, deadline and is working on the Phase 2 limit of -39 dBW/200MHz. “This effort requires close cooperation with radio frequency integrated circuit vendors to develop next generation of chipsets that can offer improved Power Amplifier linearity for the restrictive emission limit by the 2027 deadline,” Nokia said. The FCC’s current -13 dBm/MHz unwanted emissions limit below the lower 24.25 GHz edge of the band “should be maintained for mobile operations in the 24 GHz band because that limit provides adequate interference protection” of EESS passive systems, Qualcomm said. If the FCC adopts “substantially more stringent unwanted emissions limits” approved by the WRC “they should only be applied to mobile service base stations and handsets -- and not to any of the other operations” FCC rules allow, Qualcomm said. The FCC should be “cautious when it modifies its rules governing spectrum that has already been auctioned so as not to disrupt ongoing planning and deployment activities,” T-Mobile commented. The WRC limits “should apply only to mobile … and are not applicable to fixed operations permitted in the same band,” the carrier said. Opening the 26 GHz band for licensed use should be an FCC priority, CTIA said: “Because the Commission has already made spectrum in the 24 GHz and 28 GHz bands available for 5G, moving forward with the 26 GHz band is a rare opportunity to make a wide, contiguous swath of spectrum available for already globally harmonized, licensed use.”

The House Appropriations Committee’s proposed report on the Financial Services Subcommittee-cleared measure to fund the FCC and FTC in FY 2022 seeks further work on changes to USF contribution rules and wants additional study of how municipal broadband can expand connectivity access. The committee was still considering the underlying bill late Tuesday afternoon. Dueling panels of telecom policy officials disagreed on how lawmakers should translate into legislation the $65 billion broadband component in a bipartisan infrastructure package framework President Joe Biden endorsed last week (see 2106240070).

Telecom-focused lawmakers want to see more information on how a bipartisan infrastructure proposal President Joe Biden backed Thursday structures broadband spending. Some Democrats also cited a likely follow-up bill to address, via budget reconciliation, infrastructure spending not in this compromise as a potential vehicle for more connectivity money. The Biden-backed deal includes $65 billion for broadband, the same the administration previously offered during unsuccessful talks with Senate Republicans (see 2105270072).