[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1767 Introduced in Senate (IS)]


109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1767

To require the Federal Communications Commission to reevaluate the band 
plans for the upper 700 megaHertz band and the un-auctioned portions of 
 the lower 700 megaHertz band and reconfigure them to include spectrum 
               to be licensed for small geographic areas.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 26, 2005

   Ms. Snowe 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 reevaluate the band 
plans for the upper 700 megaHertz band and the un-auctioned portions of 
 the lower 700 megaHertz band and reconfigure them to include spectrum 
               to be licensed for small geographic areas.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Federal Communications Commission adopted the band 
        plans for the upper 700 megaHertz band in 2000 and the lower 
        700 megaHertz band in 2002, and there was much uncertainty at 
        the time regarding the timing of broadcasters' migration from 
        the 700 megaHertz bands when these band plans were developed.
            (2) There has been increased consolidation in the wireless 
        industry in recent years, as a result of completed and proposed 
        mergers of several major nationwide and regional carriers, and 
        there is a recognized need to enhance deployment of spectrum 
        resources in rural and underserved areas.
            (3) The Commission has recently reevaluated its band plan 
        for the upcoming advanced wireless services auction at the 1.7 
        and 2.1 gigaHertz bands in light of these same factors.
            (4) All of the remaining 700 megaHertz commercial licenses 
        consist of very large geographic area licenses known as 
        ``Economic Area Groupings'', with only 6 licenses available for 
        each of the A, B, and E blocks in the lower 700 megaHertz band, 
        and the C and D blocks in the upper 700 megaHertz band.
            (5) It is appropriate and important for the Commission to 
        conduct a rulemaking proceeding to reevaluate the lower and 
        upper 700 megaHertz band plans, and to include in that 
        reevaluation a consideration of--
                    (A) whether the current band plans will enable 
                participation in any auction of these licenses by small 
                and regional wireless carriers and new entrants (which 
                may be unable to bid on such large geographic areas); 
                and
                    (B) whether the existing band plans will facilitate 
                wireless deployment in rural and underserved areas as 
                well as enhance competition in markets of all sizes.

SEC. 2. FCC PROCEEDING.

    The Federal Communications Commission shall initiate a proceeding 
no later than June 1, 2006, to reevaluate and reconfigure its band 
plans for the upper 700 megaHertz band (currently designated Auction 
31) and for the un-auctioned portions of the lower 700 megaHertz band 
(currently designated as Blocks A, B, and E). In the proceeding, the 
Commission shall reconfigure the band plans to include spectrum to be 
licensed for small geographic areas, taking into consideration the 
competitive benefits, unique characteristics, and special needs of 
regional and smaller wireless carriers.
                                 <all>