FCC Chairman Discusses Spectrum Auction, Net Neutrality At Mobile Industry Trade Show

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler is considering holding wireless service providers to the same Net Neutrality rules that apply to wired broadband companies, and is considering calling off next year’s spectrum auction unless firms demonstrate that they are willing to commit serious money to the cause.
According to Reuters reporter Alina Selyukh, Wheeler told those in attendance at a wireless industry trade show in Las Vegas Tuesday that he wanted them to prove they have a legitimate interest in purchasing airwaves from radio and television stations, and added that his agency still had concerns about the industry’s data throttling practices.
The FCC’s incentive auction, which is scheduled for mid-2015, will provide wireless carriers the chance to purchase highly coveted low-frequency spectrum, which requires broadcasters being willing to surrender those airwaves, Selyukh explained. Many TV station owners have been hesitant to stop broadcasting or share airwaves with one another, which Wheeler claimed was due in part because of uncertainty surrounding auction payments.
“Whether or not wireless carriers show up with sufficient demand to incent broadcasters to participate is something only you control,” Wheeler said at the CTIA wireless show, according to Reuters. “If mobile operators don’t put their money where their mouths have been, the future of spectrum policy will begin to look a lot different.”
“Wheeler’s comments and warnings come as many consumer advocates accuse him of being a shill for the broadband and wireless industries his agency is tasked with regulating,” said CNET’s Marguerite Reardon, adding that he “warned that if the industry wanted the government to continue its light regulation of their networks and services, the major companies would have to show their commitment to doing what is right for the general public.”
The FCC chairman praised the wireless industry for its efforts in promoting competition. However, he also cautioned the agency would not allow wireless operators – especially larger ones – to consolidate too much, using the FCC and Department of Justice’s rejection of the proposed AT&T and T-Mobile merger and their negative stance regarding a potential deal between Sprint and T-Mobile as examples, Reardon said.
Also on Tuesday, Wheeler said that federal regulators are re-evaluating how Net Neutrality rules will apply to wireless networks, said PC World writer Stephen Lawson. Under rules established by the FCC in 2010, wireless was separated from wired access in terms of Net Neutrality, and mobile carriers were permitted to treat different types of traffic differently from others, since they claimed they did not require the same levels of regulation.
“Mobile operators have claimed they don’t need the same degree of net neutrality regulation as wired broadband providers because the wireless industry is more competitive,” Wheeler said, according to Bloomberg’s Todd Shields. “The basic issue that is raised is whether the old assumptions upon which the 2010 rules were based match new realities.”
The chairman told Shields the agency will be taking comments on the issue until September 15, and plan to vote on new Web-traffic rules to replace those struck down in a legal decision involving Verizon, Shields said. A spokesman for the agency told Bloomberg that the FCC had received over 1.2 million comments on the issue.
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