“It’s all ‘part of the plan.’” Joker, The Dark Knight (2008).
Today FCC Chairman Genachowski gave a speech outlining his plan for ensuring the United States has “the fastest, most robust, and most extensive mobile broadband networks, and the most innovative mobile broadband marketplace in the world.” Although any analysis must include significant caveats given the very general nature of the speech, it was clear on a few critical points.
The Chairman was clear that more spectrum must be made available for mobile broadband. He stated that the “National Broadband Plan will set a goal of freeing up 500 Megahertz of spectrum over the next decade.” What isn’t clear is everything else regarding the 500 MHz goal. How much of the spectrum will be licensed or unlicensed? How much spectrum will come from the broadcast bands and how much will come from federal users? The Chairman seemed to suggest that the National Broadband Plan would propose to license repurposed broadcast spectrum and provide for opportunistic use of federal spectrum, but we presumably won’t know the details until the National Broadband Plan is actually released.
The Chairman was also clear that the National Broadband Plan would propose a two-sided auction of broadcast spectrum, which he called a “Mobile Future Auction.” Two-sided auctions have been proposed by the Commission in the past, but the concept has never been given serious consideration in large part due to the lack of legal clarity regarding the FCC’s jurisdiction to conduct such an auction. I am intrigued by this proposal, and expect to provide additional analysis once the National Broadband Plan is released.
I’m pleased by the Chairman’s decision to create a “Mobility Fund” as part of comprehensive reform of the Universal Service Fund. This is something the Wireless Communications Association International argued for in its comments on the National Broadband Plan, and it is gratifying to see it included in the plan.
Finally, the Chairman clearly stated that the National Broadband Plan would propose a solution for a nationwide, interoperable public safety broadband network. However, it is far from clear at this point exactly what that proposal will look like. I again await the release of the actual plan itself before offering any real analysis of the proposal.