Justice Department Urges FCC To Free Spectrum

In comments to the Federal Communications Commission on Monday, the Justice Department said the best way to promote broadband competition was to free up more spectrum and to organize any spectrum auctions so big wireless providers in any given area do not easily win the new spectrum.

The biggest wireless providers are AT&T and Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc. Sprint Nextel and Deutsche Telekom AG’s U.S. unit T-Mobile are seeking to better compete with the others.

“The scarcity of spectrum is a fundamental obstacle that the commission should address,” the Justice Department said. “Reallocating spectrum that is being underutilized would encourage the deployment of wireless services and could help to make such services more competitive with wireline offerings.”

Top FCC officials have voiced concerns about a looming spectrum crisis with the explosion in demand for advanced handsets that are straining some networks.

The FCC has said it is looking at additional ways to free up airwaves after auctioning more than $19 billion in spectrum in 2008. Much of the spectrum came from the shift to digital television last year.

In addition, the FCC is in the midst of crafting a national broadband plan aimed at increasing the number of Internet users at affordable prices.

The Justice Department letter, which was signed by top antitrust official Christine Varney, is part of the FCC’s public comment process on broadband as the agency collects information and data for the national plan to be submitted to Congress in mid-February.

Some government agencies focused on military and intelligence operations might resist giving up spectrum for commercial purposes and the broadcasters are likely to fight FCC moves to reclaim airwaves for broadband use.

Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced legislation aimed at directing the Commerce Department and the FCC to take inventory of how the U.S. airwaves are being used.

At the end of 2008, there were about 270 million wireless subscribers in the United States, including an estimated 40 million active users of mobile broadband, lawmakers have said.

The department also urged the FCC to make it easier for consumers to determine which broadband provider gives better service, specifically by taking steps to close the gap between actual and advertised speeds.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz and John Poirier; editing by Andre Grenon)