Globaucal.com: A Resource on Spectrum Auctions Worldwide






Before I moved to France in 2004, I attended an EC spectrum meeting in Brussels as part of a preliminary trip. At that meeting I met Gustave Barth, a charming Frenchman from Alsace who is retired from IBM. Gustave was very helpful throughout my stay in France in introducing me to the French spectrum policy community and telling me about his beloved Alsace. In 2007 he started a web site called Globaucal.com (Global Auction Alert) that deals with spectrum auction news. It is entirely noncommercial and doesn't even have ads for Amazon or other services that pay for click-throughs.

Since he is noncommercial and not self-promotional, he has not attracted a lot of attention - although his link has been on this blog since the site started. But it is a very useful site for watching worldwide trends in this area.

Note that since Gustave is a polyglot, the website accepts questions "in English, French, German, Spanish or Swedish".

Here are some of the articles recently posted:

	AWS-3 AUCTION LEADING TO FREE, CLEAN WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS STILL ON THE U.S. HORIZON ?
	CANADIAN MID-2008 AWS AUCTION WAS GREAT SUCCESS
	CANADA's AWS SPECTRUM AUCTION EXCEEDS 2 BILLION C$'s EARLY JUNE 2008 AND GOES ON
	STRONG INTEREST IN 2.6 GHz BAND REFLECTED BY SWEDEN'S AUCTION CONCLUDED IN MAY 2008

Wireless Microphones:
FCC Finally Starts
Seeing Reality

Yesterday FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order in Docket 08-166 dealing with the wireless microphone issue. [Washington Post article.]

The gist of the document is given below:

"2. In this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order (“Notice and Order”), we consider broadcast low power auxiliary stations, which have been permitted to operate on TV Channels 52-69 in the 700 MHz Band, as well as in several other bands, on a secondary non-interference basis. In the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Notice) below, we tentatively conclude to amend our rules to make clear that the operation of low power auxiliary stations within the 700 MHz Band will no longer be permitted after the end of the DTV transition because such operations could cause harmful interference to new public safety and commercial wireless services in the band. We also tentatively conclude to prohibit the manufacture, import, sale, offer for sale, or shipment of devices that operate as low power auxiliary stations in the 700 MHz Band. In addition, for those licensees that have obtained authorizations to operate low power auxiliary stations in spectrum that includes the 700 MHz Band beyond the end of the DTV transition, we tentatively conclude that we will modify these licenses so as not to permit such operations in the 700 MHz Band after February 17, 2009. We also seek comment on issues raised by the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition (PISC) in its informal complaint and petition for rulemaking (“PISC Petition” or “Petition”).

3. In the meantime, in the Order below, we impose a freeze, effective upon release of this Order, on the filing of new license applications that seek to operate on any 700 MHz Band frequencies (698-806 MHz) after the end of the DTV transition, February 17, 2009. In addition, we impose a freeze on granting any request for equipment authorization of low power auxiliary station devices that would operate in any of the 700 MHz Band frequencies. We also hold in abeyance, until the conclusion of this proceeding, any pending license applications and equipment authorization requests that involve operation of low power auxiliary devices on frequencies in the 700 MHz Band after the end of the DTV transition.

...

22. We seek comment on the various elements found in PISC’s Petition, particularly to the extent that we are not addressing those elements elsewhere in this Notice and Order. We note that the Commission’s Enforcement Bureau has initiated an investigation relating to the marketing practices of various manufacturers of wireless microphones. "

So almost 7 months after the start of the 700 MHz auction that produced income of $19 billion, FCC is finally getting around to kicking the wireless microphones out of the band they have sold to others for use starting in 2/09, less than 6 months from now.

But don't expect immediate action. The NPRM only proposes to stop legal use of channels 52-69 for wireless microphones. But since most use is already illegal the real impact is questionable. It proposes to stop approving new models and freezes all pending applications for equipment authorization, but previously approved models can be imported and sold by the thousands pending further action.

As quoted above, it also announces the opening of an investigation into the marketing practices of the wireless microphone manufacturers.

It does not raise the issue of innovative approaches to serving the legitimate needs of wireless microphone users such as:

• new technology like the Sony digital wireless microphone sold in the UK or
• the Audio-Technica UWB wireless microphone
• using a coordinator/band manager for all wireless use who has the incentive to find ways to use spectrum more efficiently as the FCC's UK counterpart, Ofcom, has done
  
• or access to sharing new bands, as Europe is considering for L band.

CRS Report on Spectrum Auctions

Thanks to the folks at Spectrum Matters for reporting that a new Congressional Research Service report on spectrum auctions is available. Now CRS doesn't really make its reports available to the public -- for reasons that are too complex to report here, but OpenCRS, an affiliate of the Center for Technology and Democracy has found a "workaround" and many are on their website.

An interesting quote from the report

"The FCC has concluded that auctioning of spectrum licenses has contributed to the rapid deployment of new wireless technologies, increased competition in the marketplace, and encouraged participation by small businesses. However, many have questioned whether auction policy should be supplemented more aggressively with other market-driven solutions, and whether the existing auction process and administration can be improved."

It also has some observations on the pending 700 MHz auction from a relatively neutral source, as opposed to most of the others speaking on the topic.