FCC plans for 700 MHz draw heated debate

Nearly drowned out in broad policy debates over controversial public-safety and broadband wireless proposals are pressing questions about how the Federal Communications Commission will craft the 700 MHz band plan.
A coalition of 21 small- and medium-sized wireless and wireline carriers and state regulatory agencies are worried the FCC is leaning toward a 700 MH band plan largely favoring large geographic wireless licenses over small ones for auction later this year.
“This is a matter of great importance . given the unique technical attributes of the 700 MHz band, which make it ideally suited to serve many of the more rural areas that are served or are proposed to be served by the proponents of the Balanced Consensus Plan,” the group told the FCC.
Included in the coalition are Alltel Corp., Aloha Partners L.P., Dobson Communications Corp. Leap Wireless International Inc., MetroPCS Communications Inc., U.S. Cellular Corp. and the Rural Cellular Association.
“If the FCC does not have multiple small and medium blocks with paired spectrum, all small and regional carriers will be forced to compete against each other in one or two blocks of spectrum, while the large carriers will have the very large spectrum blocks to themselves because smaller carriers cannot compete in the auction for those licenses,” said Victor Meena, president of Cellular South Inc., in testimony before the House telecom subcommittee.
Large carriers mixed
T-Mobile USA Inc., the No. 4 wireless carrier, and Spectrum Co., a consortium of four leading cable TV carriers, embrace the coalition’s push for a mix of 700 MHz licenses. Verizon Wireless, the second-largest cellular operator, submitted to the FCC an economic study indicating large wireless service areas lead to efficiencies because they avoid the cost and delays associated with aggregating smaller licenses and, thus, benefit consumers.
The FCC is set vote on some 700 MHz rules and to call for public comment on Frontline Wireless L.L.C.’s public-safety plan at its April 25 open meeting. Many parties fear the FCC will veer from the band plan developed for the advanced wireless services auction, where more than half of the licensed spectrum was based on cellular market areas and economic areas.
While the 700 MHz coalition and others view the AWS auction as a success, others disagree.
The “stellar contribution of small businesses and women entrepreneurs as an engine for economic growth has not been replicated in the acquisition of FCC licenses,” Shelley Spenser, president of Wirefree Partners L.L.C., told lawmakers. She pointed to the AWS auction of 90 megahertz of spectrum in which qualified small businesses won less than 4 percent of the licenses based on economic value. “This stands in stark contrast to the historical of 74 percent average of licenses by value won by small business in PCS auctions where small businesses were afforded bidding credits and, at times, were part of a closed bidding process.”
DE issues still linger
DE questions have arisen over whether Frontline’s plan, in which 10 megahertz of commercial spectrum adjacent to public safety’s 24 megahertz at 700 MHz, would be available to commercial and priority first-responder use. DE status, which provides license discounts up to 25 percent, is denied any entity that leases or resells more than 50 percent of its capacity to another party.
“Frontline’s proposal is quite the opposite of the type of agreement the rules were aimed at preventing, as the ‘E’ block licensee would both build and operate a radio-frequency network and offer not spectrum, but rather network capacity on a wholesale basis to the public-safety community and other customers and would not engage in leasing or reselling,” stated Frontline in an FCC filing.