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]

I also came here looking for information about the nature of the lease and did not find it. 66.224.232.34 (talk) 15:54, 23 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The 700 MHz auction draws mixed reviews

The 700-MHz auction drew some mixed reviews. Sascha Meinrath, the research director for the New American Foundations’ Wireless Future Program says the 700-MHz auction went “exactly as expected,” with big carriers Verizon and AT&T scoring big wins on the so-called “C” and “B” blocks of the spectrum, respectively. Verizon bid more than US$4.5 billion for the 22-MHz C-Block they now have the rights to operate.

The C Block was so valuable because it provided the broadest range of coverage over any spectrum available in the auction. It also potentially holds the key to the building out of a nationwide open-access wireless network. Meinrath also declared that, “while the open-access rules have the right intent behind them, they are broadly written and can be open to different interpretations.” The FCC will have the responsibility to determine just how open the C-Block spectrum really is.

Google, which did not win any actual spectrum in the auction, has shown their optimism toward the results and the consumer advocacy groups involved. Google’s attorneys, Richard Whitt and Joseph Farber, posted on Google’s blog that they called the auction “a major victory for consumers” and predicted “consumers soon should begin enjoying new, Internet-like freedom to get the most out of their mobile phones and other wireless devices.”

Tim Karr, the campaign director for the media advocacy group Free Press, says Verizon’s past opposition to open networks means that they carrier should be trusted and that the consumer groups will have to pressure the FCC to strictly enforce its own rules.