FCC sets bidding rules for spectrum sale

The Federal Communications Commission set the stage for 2016’s spectrum auction, approving the bidding procedures for the sale of airwaves that carry signals to wireless devices. Under the rules, approved along party lines, television stations that no longer fit into the dedicated band of spectrum for broadcasters can be distributed elsewhere. The FCC will be allowed to place them in the areas used for downloading and uploading wireless data, or in the band that sits between the two -- called the “duplex gap” -- to prevent interference. The FCC will also seek public comments on whether to dedicate an empty channel to devices that might be displaced by moving television stations into the duplex gap. The FCC set the point at which smaller carriers will be able to bid on a block of spectrum set aside to bolster competition. The reserve is triggered in a certain market when the auction reaches a certain price and volume threshold. Some had hoped the thresholds would be lower.

The procedures also include other items governing the complicated sale, which is the first of its kind. Commissioners who backed the procedures hailed their approval as a crucial step forward toward the historic auction. “So today, we move from talk, lots of talk, to action,” said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Opponents of the rules contested the way that television frequencies would be relocated after the auction, which they said would cause interference. “This is an extraordinary amount of impairment,” said Commissioner Ajit Pai. “Not only does the FCC permit far too much impairment, it concentrates those impairments in the wrong part of the wireless band,” he said. “Specifically, the commission decides to place broadcasters primarily in the downlink wireless portion of the 600 megahertz band, with some inserted into the duplex gap and a smattering in the uplink.” Chairman Wheeler accused the plan’s foes of dealing in worst-case scenarios. “But it is a good, balanced, logical solution to an incredibly complex, never-tried situation,” Chairman Wheeler said, arguing the team that put the rules together was not able to meet many requests for specific policies. “And to assault that activity by bringing up a constant litany of worst-case scenarios is to assault having to deal with reality.”