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The Federal Communications Commission sought comment, in connection with the incentive auction and repacking process reported in previous posts, on whether to relocate wireless medical telemetry service (“WMTS”) users from the 608-614 MHz spectrum band, known as Channel 37, or allow unlicensed devices to coexist with WMTS on Channel 37.  The proposal elicited…
Continue Reading SpectrumWatch: FCC Considers Relocating Spectrum for Wireless Medical Devices in Repacking of Broadcaster Spectrum

All five Federal Communications Commission Commissioners will testify on “Keeping the New Broadband Spectrum Law on Track” on Wednesday, December 12, 2012 before the Communications and Technology Subcommittee of the House Energy & Commerce Committee. As they become available, further details will be posted here.

Congress gave the FCC authority to conduct incentive auctions…
Continue Reading SpectrumWatch: All Five FCC Commissioners will Testify Before House Communications and Technology Subcommittee on December 12 Regarding Spectrum Act Implementation

On Friday, October 26, 2012, the Federal Communications Commission held its first workshop as part of its Learn Everything About Reverse-Auctions Now (“LEARN”) Program — a series that seeks to provide broadcasters guidance on the incentive auction process by which the FCC will reallocate a to-be-determined amount of broadcast television spectrum in the 600 MHz…
Continue Reading Spectrum Watch: FCC Holds Broadcaster LEARN Program Workshop

Tomorrow, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will publish comment deadlines for its recently-released Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that begins the process of reviewing its policies regarding the allocation of mobile spectrum.   The full text of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is available here.  While the simultaneous adoption of proposed rules for an incentive auction of broadcast television spectrum arguably has attracted greater attention, this review of broader spectrum policy will have an important bearing on all future spectrum auctions and wireless transactions.

The FCC last reviewed its mobile spectrum holdings policies more than a decade ago, before the recent explosion of smartphones and tablets and the bandwidth-intensive services used on those devices by millions of Americans.  By assessing its rules now, the FCC hopes to provide clear and predictable “rules of the road” for this and other future auctions. Comments are due November 23, 2012, and reply comments are due December 24, 2012.Continue Reading SpectrumWatch: FCC Initiates Review of Mobile Spectrum Holdings Policies

A joint statement released today by AT&T, the National Association of Broadcasters, and Verizon criticized the FCC for seeking comments on new proposals for reorganizing the spectrum currently used by television broadcasters, which the statement said would go against the “growing consensus” of the broadcast and wireless industries.
Continue Reading SpectrumWatch: FCC Draws Criticism on Band Plan Proposals