dailywireless.org » FCC boss: What Spectrum Squatting?

FCC boss: What Spectrum Squatting?

Speaking at the Mobile Future Forum in Washington DC (pdf) FCC boss Julius Genachowski claimed that spectrum squatting isn’t real, and that the spectrum crunch was real.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on Spectrum from Mobile Future on Vimeo.

Here are some excerpts:

As the National Broadband Plan confirmed, broadband can become a core driver of our economy and our global competitiveness, a core accelerator for job growth. In the last few years, even in the economic downturn, the part of our economy that depends on broadband – wired and wireless – has grown. In 2010, the U.S. tech sector grew about twice as fast as the U.S. economy, and the 2011 outlook is equally bullish.
Agreeing that we need broadband is a critical first step. Today, I want to talk about what it’s going to take to get there, especially on the mobile side of the equation.
Three of the [National Broadband Plan] recommendations, are at the top of the FCC’s 2011 agenda. Each of these flows from the Broadband Plan’s central theme of aligning our policies directly with our 21st century strategic goals.

First, we must transform and modernize the Universal Service Fund, so that it focuses on broadband deployment and adoption, not on outdated telephone service. Right now, the program is inefficient, spending too much in some areas and not enough in others. Last month, the FCC launched a proceeding to convert these inefficient 20th century telephone programs into efficient and effective 21st century broadband programs that ensure fiscal responsibility and accountability.

Second, we must remove barriers to broadband buildout and adoption. In the U.S., we rely on the private sector to invest billions of dollars to upgrade and maintain our wired and wireless broadband infrastructure. We are working to cut needless red tape, to get the most out of public rights of way, and to pursue e-government and other smart strategies – all in the interest of lowering the cost and increasing the pace of broadband deployment and adoption.

Third, we must unleash spectrum and the opportunity of mobile broadband. The biggest policy innovations of the National Broadband Plan – voluntary incentive auctions – a new tool that we’ve asked Congress to supply.
Under the proposal, Congress would give the FCC the authority to run two-sided spectrum auctions. We would auction spectrum for wireless broadband services, and the spectrum in the auction would be voluntarily contributed by current licensees like TV broadcasters or mobile satellite operators, who would in return receive a portion of the proceeds of the auction. It is a win for federal budget and for American taxpayers, because auctioning contiguous blocks of spectrum would unlock its value, generating many billions of dollars for deficit reduction.

There are some who say that the spectrum crunch is greatly exaggerated – indeed, that there is no crunch coming. They also suggest that there are large blocks of spectrum just lying around – and that some licensees, such as cable and wireless companies, are just sitting on top of, or “hoarding,” unused spectrum that could readily solve that problem.
That’s just not true. Let’s look at the facts.
Multiple expert sources expect that by 2014, demand for mobile broadband and the spectrum to fuel it, will be 35 times the levels it was in 2009. Cisco has projected a nearly 60X increase between 2009 and 2015. This compares to spectrum coming on line for mobile broadband that represents less than a 3X increase in capacity.
The looming spectrum shortage is real – and it is the alleged hoarding that is illusory.
It is not hoarding if a company paid millions or billions of dollars for spectrum at auction and is complying with the FCC’s build-out rules. There is no evidence of non-compliance.

According to Strategy Analytics the US is 20th in household broadband use.

President Obama wants to spend $18 billion in federal funds towards his wireless goals.

Fire, police and other emergency responders would get $10.7 billion in federal support for a dedicated public service network.
About $5 billion, currently used for rural phone subsidies, would be repurposed to build cell towers and backhaul networks to towns without mobile broadband services.
An additional $3 billion would go to research and development for wireless technologies.

DailyTech has analysis of the Administration’s broadband plan. It’s not a bad plan – if the 700 MHz “D-Block” were shared by the public and first responders. Otherwise, providing another 3% of Americans with broadband, by extending penetration from 95% to 98% (9.2 million people), is going to be very costly, according to critics like House Energy and Commerce Chairman, Fred Upton.

But selling off all the public’s spectrum to the highest bidder seems could be counterproductive, if it requires government subsidies for universal service. On the other hand, if 80 MHz were dedicated to municipalities, half might be used for city operations, while the other 40 MHz might enable competitive, “net neutral”, broadband.

Nobody will miss the unused WCS and AWS-3 band. Use it.

Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Korea, Taiwan and Canada all pay less for wireless broadband. Verizon isn’t going to sacrifice their 47% profit margin. Will an LTE-centric Sprint finally provide real competition? Don’t hold your breath. The National Wireless Initiative sucks up to carriers.

Can the United States of America deliver 10Mbps for $10 a month – like other countries do? You bet. Empowering people is the way to lead in the 21st century. The FCC doesn’t appear to have their priorities straight. Consumers must take charge.

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Posted by Sam Churchill on Thursday, March 17th, 2011 at 5:46 am.

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FCC boss: What Spectrum Squatting?

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