Spectrum Reform

The new Clearwire could be game-changing, but the rules of the game may not be quite as Clearwire presents them. I have been wondering since last July whether something significant would happen in the Google/Sprint world. The deal announcement earlier this weekseems to be that key development. (Here’s the press release and here are slides describing the transaction.)

In response to my post a couple of days ago about the possibility that VZ might not plan to comply with the 700 MHz “open platform” rules, someone wrote:

would you have the FCC mandate that every mobile device must be capable of running every operating system? If Verizon sells me a BlackBerry, should the device allow me to install Android, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, or Symbian OS? Obviously, Google believes the answer is yes (they will make the most money if they can install their OS on every device). Is it good for consumers if the FCC starts managing software specifications for computers and mobile devices?

Last Friday (HT: IPDemocracy), Google filed a petition [PDF] asking that the Commission ensure that Verizon understands what those “open platform” requirements for the C Block really mean. Verizon has taken the position in the past that its own devices won’t be subject to the “open applications” and “open handsets” requirements of the C Block rules, and Google says it is concerned that Verizon doesn’t plan to follow those requirements in the future.

This is big. Here’s the background.

Public Knowledge Statement on FCC Inspector General Report

Earlier today, the Inspector General of the Federal Communications Commission released a report on the bidding for the D Block in the recent spectrum auction. The report is here.

For background, please refer to this blog post that discussions some of the same issues as the IG report: http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1479

The following is the statement of Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

What’s New:

• Protect Text Messaging from Discrimination
• 700 Mhz Auction: And the Winner is…
• Comcast Cozies Up to BitTorrent
• FCC Chairman Calls for Dismissal of Skype Petition

The Westin Embassy Row
Washington, DC

Pike & Fischer’s preeminent communications policy forum will once again play host to over 200 of the nation’s top executives, regulators and legislators — including PK President Gigi Sohn — as they debate and discuss the future of the broadband landscape.

For schedule and registration information please visit: http://www.broadbandpolicysummit.com/

2322 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC

The House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will hold a hearing titled: Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission - the 700 MHz Auction.

This conference will be webcast here.

In its attempt to enter the 21st century of telecommunications technology, the public safety community, figuratively speaking, shot itself in the foot in the spectrum auction recently ended by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). As a result, the effort to modernize public safety communications was severely hobbled.

For decades, public safety has been a fiefdom unto itself. Local agencies owned their own spectrum and used it as they wanted, even if the agencies couldn’t talk to each other when it counted. Their world revolves around portable radios and never mind new-fangled technologies like broadband or the Internet.

Shareholders for Verizon, AT&T, and other companies that paid big money in the 700 MHz auction may want to check the fine print and hold back on final payment. Thanks to a quirk in the FCC’s rules, the NFL, the MPAA, and other users of “broadcast ancillary services” (BAS) may have superior rights in the spectrum.

I’ve written a longer and more technical version of this on my Tales of the Sausage Factory blog. But for those without the patience for the long story, here’s the quick version of what may turn out to be the funniest and most expensive joke in FCC history.

Today the FCC announced the winners of the 700 MHz auction - and you can see from pp. 62-63 of this document that Verizon won Block C. (Block C was set up in two nationwide paired blocks of 11 MHz each, which were auctioned off in very large geographic areas—12 licenses, each covering a “Regional Economic Area Grouping”. Verizon won seven of the twelve licenses, covering all of the US except Alaska, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands.)

Why does this matter?