Spectrum Auctions: Panel Two
Channel: New America
Date: 2013-11-22

Spectrum Auctions: Panel Two

Promoting More Mobile Market Competition . . . or Less?



There has long been a tension between using auctions of spectrum licenses as a one-time revenue raiser and the broader public interest in auctions as a means of promoting competition, innovation and consumer welfare. This policy forum will discuss and debate the purpose and impact of auctions, especially the issue of spectrum aggregation limits under consideration by the FCC for upcoming TV band and AWS-3 auctions.
 
In the Spectrum Reform Act of 2012, Congress authorized the FCC to hold a voluntary "incentive auction" of TV band spectrum and mandated additional auctions as well. Congress earmarked the first $7.5 billion in net revenues from these auctions to help finance FirstNet, an interoperable, nationwide public safety network. This led some in Congress to emphasize the revenue-raising purpose of the auction. Congress also explicitly left the FCC with its traditional discretion to adopt rules, including spectrum aggregation limits, that serve the public interest more broadly. 
 
These potentially competing goals - auction revenue and ensuring competition, innovation and consumer welfare - came to the surface earlier this year when the Justice Department's Antitrust Division formally filed an opinion stating the FCC should consider reimposing meaningful spectrum aggregation limits. Spectrum caps were a core component of the FCC's mobile competition policy during the 1990s, but were discontinued during the Bush years. 
 
Do spectrum caps promote competition? Do they necessarily decrease auction revenue - and is that even relevant? Will FirstNet's revenue goal be met even before the TV incentive auctions? Does the Obama Administration fully support the DOJ's findings?  These and related questions were addressed by our distinguished group of current and former government officials, economists, mobile carrier and consumer advocates.

Featured Speakers:
Lawrence Krevor
V.P. for Legal and Government Affairs, Sprint Corp.
 
Joan Marsh
V.P. for Federal Regulatory Affairs, AT&T
 
Eric Graham
Senior V.P. for Strategic Relations, C-Spire
 
Matt Wood
Policy Director, Free Press

Fred Campbell
Director, Communications Law & Innovation Project, Competitive Enterprise Institute
 
Mark Cooper
Research Director, Consumer Federation of America
 
George Ford
Chief Economist, Phoenix Center
 
Peter Cramton
Professor of Economics, University of Maryland  
 
Moderator:
Michael Calabrese
Director, Wireless Future Project, Open Technology Institute, New America Foundation

http://newamerica.net/events/2013/spectrum_auctions