Talk:2008 United States wireless spectrum auction

This page is not very good. It's uninformative and it lacks information in a way that could be perceived as biased.

Then fix it. JHMM13^(Disc) 14:55, 5 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Better still, delete it, or at least rename it. (There's no such frequency as 700 Mhz). Thunderbird2 10:22, 14 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

And include the fact that this is a US auction. Other countries are currently also having auctions, making the heading confusing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.236.43.179 (talk) 21:22, 29 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I at least found it useful. I came looking for info on what all the fuss was about (as a non-American). More detail would be good, but I at least found it valuable. Chaleur 20:53, 2 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Needs clarification on what "Block C" is. Goodmanj 15:56, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

22 MHz localized spectrum

Removed the following text from the article:

22 MHz localized spectrum

The 700 MHz auction also bundled several 22 MHz range frequencies. Those are split in several areas.

To a reader unfamiliar with FCC terminology, the above text seems to suggest some 22 MHz spectrum (upper shortwave) will be auctioned along with the 700 MHz spectrum. That is not the case. Most likely, the author is referring to the licensing scheme for Block C, a 22 MHz portion of the upper 700 MHz band. Given the poor wording and potential for misunderstanding, I removed the text from the article. —Ryan (talk) 23:18, 9 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Background info on licenses

The FCC auctions licenses, not "spectrum". Each license is limited to (1) a certain range of frequencies, and (2) a certain geographic area. Nationwide licenses are very uncommon.

The 700 MHz auction includes five blocks of licenses: FCC Auction 73 License Summary

All licenses from Block A, for instance, allow operation on 12 MHz of spectrum: 698-704 MHz and 728-734 MHz. But each license is restricted to a single geographic region called an "Economic Area" (EA). There are 176 distinct Economic Areas in the US, and thus 176 licenses are available in Block A. Map of EAs.

Licenses from Block C, on the other hand, cover 22 MHz of spectrum and allow operation within a single Regional Economic Area Grouping (REAG). An REAG is much larger than an EA and each REAG covers several states. The large frequency allocation and broad geographic area of Block C licenses make them much more valuable than Block A licenses, and also much scarce. Since there are only 12 REAGs in the US, only 12 Block C licenses are available. Map of REAGs.

One nationwide license is also being auctioned, Block D. This Block D license is far more restrictive than the other licenses being auctioned. The Block D commercial licensee must form a partnership with a public safety licensee operating on adjacent frequencies. Both licensees have 10 MHz of adjacent spectrum, creating 20 MHz shared band. The two licensees are to create a fully interoperable nationwide broadband network. During normal operation, public safety traffic will be low, leaving most of the shared bandwidth for commercial services. But in an emergency, high priority public safety traffic will preempt commercial services. FCC: Interoperable Public Safety Communications.

—Ryan (talk) 01:56, 10 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Updating with some auction results Duedilly (talk) 15:16, 24 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Open access

This article talks about different companies' reactions to "open access" requirements, but doesn't explain what these requirements are. This information needs to go in here. -Branddobbe (talk) 02:01, 23 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What's the deal?

So is this auction for indefinite rights over these airwaves? Is there a time limit involved, like a lease? And did the television broadcasters own the rights to this part of the spectrum before, and what kind of deal did they have? 128.83.167.129 (talk) 21:10, 4 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]