The FCC reaffirmed its decision to establish a market-based spectrum reserve of up to 30 megahertz of spectrum in the 600 MHz band in next year’s incentive auction.
Non-nationwide providers as well as nationwide providers who currently hold less than one-third of available high-quality low-band spectrum in a given license area will be eligible to utilize this first-of-its-kind reserve.
FCC Commissioner Tom Wheeler stated: “This reserve would provide protection that bidders without significant amounts of low-band spectrum could not be predatorily prohibited from gaining the necessary competitive capacity by those whose interest might be served by eliminating such competition. With today’s Reconsideration Order, we take the important step of reaffirming the bold pro-competition policy.”
