Wireless Spectrum Auctions

Aerospace Industries Association, Rural Wireless Associations and Blooston petitions to reconsider the 3.45 GHz band order got pushback Tuesday in docket 19-348. CTIA said in an opposition the AIA petition is an attempt to essentially elevate Part 5 experimental license holders from non-interfering secondary operations to co-primary status through a new coordination framework, and presents nothing new as the basis for a reconsideration. CTIA said it opposes RWA's request the license term for new flexible-use licenses drop from 15 years to 10, since 15 years ensures new licensees have time to deploy service given DOD repurposing. T-Mobile said the FCC correctly rejected a coordination framework for federal contractors, and reversing that would undermine the proceeding's purpose of making more spectrum available for commercial mobile services. It said calls by RWA and small carriers represented by Blooston law firm to license on a countywide basis run contrary to the idea that licensing by partial economic area will better let carriers aggregate the spectrum across similar bands like C. AT&T said the petitions could delay the start of Auction 110, and they recycle previously made arguments. RWA said it backs Blooston's call to reconsider licensing 10 3.45 GHz channel blocks as PEAs, but the agency should license them instead by county. RWA agreed with Blooston that Auction 110 short form application deadlines should be delayed to Q1.

NCTA and cable operators opposed higher power levels in the citizens broadband radio service band, in calls with FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staffers. “Raising the power levels for CBRS would fundamentally alter the nature of the service by undermining the innovative spectrum sharing concept that the Commission enabled when it adopted the CBRS framework, endangering new and innovative approaches to service delivery, inhibiting competition, and undermining auction business cases and expectations,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 19-348. Representatives of Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Enterprises, Midcontinent Communications and CableLabs participated.

The FCC released rules for the 3.45 GHz auction, to start Oct. 5, in a Wednesday Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics public notice. The FCC will auction 4,060 10 MHz flexible-use licenses in the contiguous 48 states and Washington, D.C., the PN said. All will be for 15 years and renewable. Licensees may hold up to four 10 MHz blocks in the band in any market. Short-form applications are due July 21, upfront payments Sept. 2. Staff rejected complaints by the Rural Wireless Association and Blooston carriers that the timing is too aggressive. The timing “is not only consistent with the Commission’s historical timing between spectrum auctions, it is actually considerably longer than the period between most recent spectrum auctions,” the FCC said: “Neither RWA nor Blooston have made any attempt to explain how this auction differs from previous spectrum auctions such that potential applicants need an entire year to prepare.” The agency adopted a $25 million cap on bidding credit discounts for an eligible small business and $10 million on discounts for an eligible rural service provider, same as proposed. “We are unpersuaded by comments suggesting that the adoption of a $25 million cap has inhibited participation by small businesses in recent auctions,” the PN said. It relented on minimum bids. “Given the totality of the comments regarding the proposed minimum opening bid amounts and how they might affect potential new entrants and small carriers, we adopt revised, lower minimum opening bid amounts … as proposed by Verizon and supported by US Cellular and T-Mobile,” the FCC said. The notice adopts 3 cents per MHz/POP for partial economic areas 1-50, .006 cent for PEAs 51-100 and .003 cent for all other markets, with a minimum bid of $1,000. The agency had proposed 6 cents/MHz/POP for PEAs 1-50 and 2 cents elsewhere. The PN rejected AT&T’s request to address the “no excess supply” rule in cases where a bidder wishes to reduce demand from two blocks to none and only one block of that reduction can be applied due to insufficient excess demand. “We disagree with AT&T’s premise that a license for a single block of spectrum in the 3.45 band cannot be used efficiently,” the FCC said. “This auction will bring us closer to 5G service that is fast, secure, resilient, and most importantly, available across the country,” said acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. It had sought comment in a notice commissioners OK’d 4-0 in March (see 2103170061).

“More and more” of AT&T’s spectrum is being redeployed for 5G, and it won’t disclose the makeup, Senior Vice President-Wireless and Access Technology Igal Elbaz told a UBS webinar Friday. Previously, carriers had to take a band out of service and re-farm it, he said. Dynamic spectrum sharing “really allows you to run both 4G and 5G, all in the same band,” he said. The 80 MHz of C band that AT&T bought in the recent auction is “extremely important in order for us, and by the way, for the industry, to scale 5G,” he said. AT&T is “very happy” with its current spectrum position, he said. AT&T will start to deploy C band at year-end, with plans to cover 75 million POPs at the end of 2022 and 200 million at the end of 2023, he said.

Groups representing educational broadband service licensees asked to delay a 2.5 GHz auction until after a better FCC inventory of available areas. Dish Network endorses the single-round auction format sought by T-Mobile, in replies posted through Friday in docket 20-429. T-Mobile, which hopes for a 2021 auction, cited problems with the inventory (see 2105040077). “Past Commission Chairs have routinely announced when auctions will be conducted even before the Commission proposes procedures for the auction,” T-Mobile said: “Commenters have already provided substantial information" for updating the licensing database. “Implement a process to update and correct the inventory prior to the auction,” said the National EBS Association. “The inventory should not include county/frequency blocks where there is no white space at all, or where the white space is entirely over water, or where the white space has no population.” The list must be “completely accurate,” the Catholic Technology Network said. The North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation and Mobile Beacon urged an updated database first. Dish saw “substantial support” for a single-round auction: “DISH agrees with several commenters, and the Commission itself, that a single round auction with pay-as-bid pricing will promote diverse auction participation and give smaller providers a chance to get the spectrum they need.” If the FCC adopts a simultaneous multiple-round format, keep the rules simple and consistent with past auctions, Dish said. SMR is “generally a superior method for allocating spectrum than a single bid format,” AT&T said: “But, as the Notice and comments confirm, the circumstances here are far from ordinary, and the commenters who support an SMR format fail to engage.” Verizon saw broad SMR support. Nationwide carriers to “small and rural carriers” agree that “will create a more competitive auction that enables bidders of all sizes to have a fair shot,” Verizon said: “Many bidders prefer the certainty that comes with better price discovery.” The Wireless ISP Association sought a single round auction that’s “neither novel nor untested.”

Drafts released Thursday revealed details of what acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wants FCC colleagues to vote on at the members' June 17 meeting. On letting companies market RF devices pending FCC authorization, a draft would allow a greater number of the products than initially suggested. CTA sought limited marketing and sales of wireless devices to consumers before they're authorized.

Canada's planned 2023 auction of 250 MHz of C-band spectrum for 5G might mean incumbent user Telesat will be approached by auction bidders about clearing out sooner than the 2025 deadline, though that could be "a messy process" about spectrum not yet won and possibly revealing confidential bidding strategies, Lightshed Partners analyst Walt Piecyk wrote investors Tuesday. He said Telesat will be left with 200 MHz, but it likely needs only half that, which could be an opportunity to monetize the other 100 MHz later. He said the Innovation Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada announcement last week about the country's C-band approach seems to "set Canada’s 5G ecosystem back relative to other countries." Telesat was willing to clear the spectrum by end of 2023, so ISED setting a 2025 deadline is "a loss for the wireless operators and suppliers in Canada," he said. Canada delaying accessing the C band will drive up prices, which benefits the Canadian government, he said. Telesat said it's evaluating ISED's 3.8 GHz decision. It said ISED didn't adopt Telesat's proposal for clearing a portion of the band and auctioning that spectrum, with proceeds going to help fund Telesat's planned low earth orbit Lightspeed constellation, but it was "pleased that the decision acknowledged the important role LEO constellations can play in bridging the Digital Divide and, to this end, that the Government is in discussions with Telesat to support funding of the Lightspeed program.”

Staying 4.9 GHz band rules as proposed by acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel isn't a slam dunk. Rosenworcel appears close to lining up a third vote to support the stay, FCC and public safety officials said in interviews last week. The order made broad changes, giving control to states. Few of them have engaged. A Louisiana bill to reallocate the band per the FCC order got unanimous House approval last month and could pass the Senate Monday.

Aviation interests urged the FCC to take mitigation steps to protect low range radar altimeter operations. They countered arguments by CTIA and major wireless carriers that rules protect those operations. The groups previously raised concerns and asked that the record-setting auction be delayed (see 2012080040). Without mitigation, “the FCC will expose aviation and the traveling public to significant safety risk from interference to radar altimeters,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-122. The letter was signed by the Aerospace Industries Association, Air Line Pilots Association International, Airbus, Aviation Spectrum Resources, Collins Aerospace, Garmin, Honeywell, the International Air Transport Association, the National Air Carrier Association and others.

Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen let loose Thursday at T-Mobile and CEO Mike Sievert for their defense of plans to shut down the legacy CDMA wireless network by year-end (see Ref:2104140036]). T-Mobile’s potential to disenfranchise millions of customers makes the carrier comparable with the Grinch who stole Christmas, said Ergen on a Q1 call.