II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3420 

To require the Federal Communications Commission to auction spectrum 

for a free and open access wireless service. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2008 

Mr. WYDEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Federal Communications Commission to 

auction spectrum for a free and open access wireless service. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Open Wireless Internet 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OPEN ACCESS SPECTRUM AUCTION. 

7 Section 309(j) of the Communications Act of 1934 

8 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)) is amended by adding at the end the 

9 following new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(17) OPEN ACCESS SPECTRUM AUCTION.— 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
2 

•S 3420 IS

1 ‘‘(A) AUCTIONS REQUIRED.—The Commis2 sion shall promote nationwide broadband com3 petition through the use of wireless services by 

4 issuing nationwide licenses, for a term of not 

5 less than 15 years, for 2 bands of frequencies 

6 that consist of an initial band and a second 

7 band of frequencies— 

8 ‘‘(i) each of which shall be composed 

9 of 20 megahertz of unpaired contiguous 

10 spectrum; 

11 ‘‘(ii) the initial band of which shall be 

12 spectrum located between 2155 and 2180 

13 megahertz, inclusive; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) the second band of which shall 

15 be spectrum that— 

16 ‘‘(I) is located under 3 gigahertz; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(II) is not part of the recovered 

19 analog spectrum, as such term is de20 fined in paragraph (15)(C)(vi). 

21 ‘‘(B) DEADLINES FOR INITIAL AUCTION.— 

22 The Commission shall carry out the initial auc23 tions required by this paragraph by— 

24 ‘‘(i) commencing an auction of a sin25 gle nationwide license for the initial band 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
3 

•S 3420 IS

1 described in subparagraph (A)(ii) not later 

2 than 180 days after the date of enactment 

3 of the Open Wireless Internet Act of 2008; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(ii) depositing the proceeds of such 

6 auction in accordance with paragraph 

7 (8)(A) not later than 210 days after such 

8 date of enactment. 

9 ‘‘(C) SECOND AUCTION.—The Commission 

10 shall commence and complete a separate rule11 making or other procedures for licensing 

12 through auction additional unpaired contiguous 

13 spectrum of 20 megahertz below 3 gigahertz 

14 within 1 year of such date of enactment. Such 

15 auction shall be conducted without the condi16 tions specified in subparagraph (F) unless the 

17 Commission finds it is in the public interest to 

18 do so pursuant to a rulemaking. 

19 ‘‘(D) INTERFERENCE PROTECTION.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commission 

21 shall ensure that licensees of spectrum ob22 tained pursuant to an auction under this 

23 paragraph do not cause harmful inter24 ference to, and are protected from harmful 

25 interference from, licensees of adjacent 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
4 

•S 3420 IS

1 spectrum, including by establishing tech2 nical and operational rules that are con3 sistent with technical specifications estab4 lished by telecommunications standards 

5 bodies for use of the 2110 through 2170 

6 megahertz band. 

7 ‘‘(ii) PREVENTING HARMFUL INTER8 FERENCE.— 

9 ‘‘(I) STUDY.—The Commission 

10 shall conduct a study on the potential 

11 for harmful interference between spec12 trum bands from operations in the 

13 spectrum band described under sub14 paragraph (A)(ii), including receiver 

15 overload, excessive out-of-band emis16 sions, mobile-to-mobile interference 

17 for voice and data services, and the 

18 mitigating effect, if any, of handset 

19 filters installed in mobile stations used 

20 in adjacent spectrum bands. 

21 ‘‘(II) CONTENTS OF STUDY.— 

22 The study required under subclause 

23 (I) shall reflect real deployment condi24 tions and actual equipment that has 

25 either been deployed, or is expected to 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
5 

•S 3420 IS

1 be deployed, in the adjacent spectrum 

2 bands and the band described under 

3 subparagraph (A)(ii) at the time of 

4 the study. 

5 ‘‘(iii) TIMING AND INPUT.—Not later 

6 than 60 days after the date of enactment 

7 of the Open Wireless Internet Act, the 

8 Commission shall commence the study re9 quired under clause (ii). The Commission 

10 shall solicit the input and expertise of the 

11 National Telecommunications and Infor12 mation Administration and other parties 

13 and organizations, as recommended by the 

14 Institute of Electrical and Electronics En15 gineers, for help in conducting the study. 

16 ‘‘(iv) ADOPTION OF TECHNICAL

17 RULES.—Based on the results of the study 

18 required under clause (ii), the Commission 

19 shall adopt technical rules to ensure that 

20 licensees of spectrum obtained under this 

21 paragraph are fully protected from, and 

22 fully protect, licensees of adjacent spec23 trum from harmful interference, including 

24 receiver overload and excessive out-of-band 

25 emissions. 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
6 

•S 3420 IS

1 ‘‘(E) SERVICE AND AUCTION RULES.—At 

2 least 30 days prior to the deadlines established 

3 in subparagraphs (B)(i) and (C), the Commis4 sion shall promulgate service and auction rules 

5 for the licenses issued under subparagraphs (B) 

6 and (C) that— 

7 ‘‘(i) make available spectrally efficient 

8 nationwide broadband services; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) promote the goals listed in sub10 paragraphs (B), (D), and (F) of paragraph 

11 (4). 

12 ‘‘(F) CONTENT OF SERVICE REQUIRE13 MENTS RULES FOR AUCTIONED SPECTRUM.— 

14 The Commission shall promulgate such rules 

15 and regulations as are necessary to require, as 

16 conditions of the licenses for the use of the fre17 quencies auctioned under this paragraph, that 

18 the licensees shall— 

19 ‘‘(i) offer, at a minimum, always-on 

20 wireless Internet services within 2 years 

21 from the date of receipt of the license, and 

22 complete the construction of such wireless 

23 network with a signal covering at least 95 

24 percent of the population of the United 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
7 

•S 3420 IS

1 States and its territories within 10 years 

2 from the initial operation of the network; 

3 ‘‘(ii) offer a data service that is faster 

4 than 200 kilobits per second one way (sub5 ject to subparagraph (G)) for free to con6 sumers and authorized public safety users 

7 without subscription, airtime, usage, or 

8 other charges; 

9 ‘‘(iii) offer all services on such spec10 trum consistent with the following prin11 ciples: 

12 ‘‘(I) Users are entitled to access 

13 any lawful content of their choice. 

14 ‘‘(II) Users are entitled to run 

15 any application and use any Internet 

16 service of their choice subject to limi17 tations necessary for legitimate law 

18 enforcement purposes. 

19 ‘‘(III) Users may connect their 

20 choice of legal device to the network 

21 so long as that device does not harm 

22 the network or substantially interfere 

23 with access of other individuals to the 

24 network; 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
8 

•S 3420 IS

1 ‘‘(iv) consistent with section 230 of 

2 this Act, offer such free data service with 

3 an option available to the user at the time 

4 of initial connection or configuration of a 

5 connected device, to have that service fil6 tered by means of a technology protection 

7 measure or measures that prevent under8 age users from accessing obscene or inde9 cent material through such service; 

10 ‘‘(v) provide such free data services on 

11 a wireless network that permits open ac12 cess to affiliated and unaffiliated consumer 

13 devices by providing, publicly and royalty14 free, published technical standards for de15 veloping and deploying subscriber equip16 ment that can operate on the network sub17 ject to this paragraph; and 

18 ‘‘(vi) provide such free data services 

19 using advanced and spectrally efficient 

20 wireless technologies that provide services 

21 to the largest feasible number of users and 

22 encourages broadband competition making 

23 broadband services more available and af24 fordable. 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
9 

•S 3420 IS

1 ‘‘(G) REVIEW OF FREE DATA SERVICE RE2 QUIREMENT.—The Commission shall evaluate 

3 whether the speed of free services under sub4 paragraph (F) should be increased in light of 

5 consumer demand, developments in wireless 

6 broadband technologies, and the public interest 

7 and shall conduct the first such evaluation 3 

8 years after the licensee commences operations, 

9 and shall conduct subsequent evaluations every 

10 3 years thereafter. 

11 ‘‘(H) CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL.—Modi12 fication of any of the requirements described 

13 under subparagraph (F) shall receive the ap14 proval of Congress before any such modification 

15 is allowed to take effect. 

16 ‘‘(I) BIENNIAL BROADBAND SPECTRUM

17 UTILIZATION REPORT.— 

18 ‘‘(i) Beginning in March of 2009, the 

19 Commission and the National Tele20 communications and Information Adminis21 tration shall jointly review competitive 

22 market conditions with respect to avail23 ability and affordability of broadband as 

24 well as the state of utilization of spectrum 

25 under the Commission’s and the AdminisVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:46 Aug 05, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3420.IS S3420

jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
10 

•S 3420 IS

1 tration’s respective jurisdictions. There2 after, the Commission and the Administra3 tion shall provide Congress a joint bian4 nual report of their findings. 

5 ‘‘(ii) Such reports shall consider the 

6 state-of-the-art efficient use of all spec7 trum bands and shall include the basis on 

8 which such utilization and efficiency are 

9 determined. 

10 ‘‘(iii) In making their recommenda11 tions, the Commission and the Administra12 tion shall expressly consider the techno13 logical advances in commercial use of the 

14 spectrum as well as other relevant uses in15 cluding public safety, national defense and 

16 other uses as determined by the public in17 terest. 

18 ‘‘(iv) The joint report shall also pro19 vide specific recommendations for the re20 allocation or reassignment of spectrum 

21 found to be underutilized in light of the 

22 public interest, necessity and convenience 

23 found in promoting broadband availability 

24 and affordability. In the joint report, the 

25 Commission and the Administration shall 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
11 

•S 3420 IS

1 also recommend to Congress any statutory 

2 changes that would be required to imple3 ment any such reassignment or realloca4 tion within 24 months of the report.’’. 

Æ 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS