DOJ Reiterates Support for Low-Band Auction Rules

The Federal Communications Commission appears to be lining up its ducks on spectrum auction aggregation limits even as it ducks criticism from AT&T, Verizon and others that they could adversely impact the broadcast incentive auction.

According to a letter from William Baer, who heads up the Department of Justice's antitrust division, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler chief of staff Ruth Milkman requested that DOJ reiterate its April comments in support of auction rules that allow smaller nationwide carriers without as much low-band spectrum as, say, an AT&T or Verizon, to get access to that spectrum via the upcoming auction.

Baer did so, saying that he was writing to "confirm that the Department stands by the views articulated in those April 2013 comments, and that no intervening developments in the industry have affected the compelling economic rationale for well-defined, competition-focused rules concerning acquisitions by the most spectrum-rich providers." Baer said low-band frequency was a "competitively critical input" and the antitcompetitive risks of foreclosure by larger carriers were not simply theoretical.