FCC Sets Sept. 28 Vote for Auction Item

Also will seek review of mobile spectrum ownership policies

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/7/2012 2:58:27 PM

As FCC chairman Julius Genachowski signaled, a vote on a proposed framework for spectrum incentive auctions has been scheduled for the FCC's Sept. 28 public meeting.

It could be voted before that -- a draft was being circulated to the commissioners Friday -- but given the import of the auctions, which will require a second digital transition for broadcasters, it the vote is likely to come at the meeting where commissioners can weigh in with public statements.

Also on the agenda, which was released Friday, the customary three weeks' notice, is an item on mobile wireless spectrum holdings, which will be on how and whether it should change the way it calculates concentration of wireless spectrum in mergers and acquisitions. That comes as the FCC is making it easier for wireless carriers to acquire new spectrum in the above-mentioned incentive auctions.

It currently has a local market spectrum screen, concentrations above which trigger a deeper dive into the effect on competition.

Rounding out the agenda is an item on licensing and operating rules for satellite services and how they can be streamlined to accelerate new services to consumers.

The agenda is not set in stone, and items can be pulled either because more work is needed or because they have already been voted.