Thanks for finding this. How you and Codesilver find these nuggets is pretty impressive and appreciated. I simply have some talking points and rambling thoughts. I stress rambling.
Fibertower brought their adversary case to the FCC in 2012. This doc is 2017. So I think there is merit to this being targeted at a DISH and not Fibertower. But I would also think Charlie Ergen is not a stupid man and has things lined up where he will not be giving any spectrum back even if he does zero builds.
One is a wireless player and the other is the poster child for spectrum squatting. Fibertower did come up with some innovative products that could have pushed the rules in a different direction. “Spectrum in a Box” put a product out there that was available to a anyone so if there was a need the service was available. It bends the FCC’s rules but the FCC bends it’s own rules time and time again. And if we applied the StraightPath ruling to FIbertower we could load up a truck with units of “Spectrum in a Box”, drive it all around the country in each of
Fibertower’s licensed areas and fill out the FCC renewal forms and be good to go.
The disparity between what StraightPath did and what Fibertower did are universes apart. StraightPath committed fraud and pulled it off. Fibertower developed products, serves all the big and many small wireless carriers with services. Fibertower worked hand in hand with the FCC to gain the extension and I still contend that they had it in the bag and something had to have changed at the last second. The FCC has done other things in the past where something appeared to be a lock and then last second it is a no go. It seems the FCC has wanted their cake and to eat it too. They are flexible on their rules for some and not others. They keep their rules grey enough to allow them slack to make arbitrary decisions that seem counter-intuitive to decisions they made prior. It really is a head scratcher how they operate and make these decisions. The FCC is in somewhat of a pickle. They love the cash and competitive bidding that comes along with “squatters” but then they want to double dip again by getting the spectrum back and reauctioning. Do that enough and the bidders driving up prices won’t show up.
This June 12th FCC doc perhaps emphasizes or fine tunes the vagueness or arbitrary manner in which the FCC has operated in the past. Many cases where FCC grants extensions with no buildouts or nothing of any substance done by a license holder and then yanks licenses where actual work has been done. Maybe they are setting themselves up to take back Dish spectrum at some point.
Is the FCC that mismanaged though that they launch the NPRM, 5G initiatives, with much of the licensed targeted spectrum by that NPRM being held primarily by StraightPath, Fibertower/Limbo, XO, and then lets say 20-30% remaining held by FCC?
Or was there a plan all along to prop up Verizon and AT&T straight to the pole positions and give them a few laps of a head start?
Let’s be honest the only two players that have the cash, infrastructure and resources that could push 5G, create jobs, and give America a boost would be AT&T and Verizon.
You could argue Comcast, Google, Amazon etc…but they simply don’t have the experience or the infrastructure to make it happen as quickly as Verizon and AT&T.
At the end of the day yes the FCC could lower the boom on Fibertower and AT&T and say we are taking these licenses back, see you in court in 2019. But that is counter-intuitive to the Public Interest and getting 5G up and running. AT&T and Verizon drop a lot of dollars into lobbying and such a decision to hamstring AT&T would have repercussions to the flow of funds to many important individuals. If Obama and Wheeler were still in there I would say we are in trouble but with Trump and Pai in there I would say the refs are picking up the flag and putting that ball back, 1st and goal. The FCC has to set up both Verizon and AT&T to drive 5G Networks. They have all the requirements to make it a success….well AT&T will if they get Fibertower. Just think about how far behind they will be Verizon and how Verizon can ease up on the accelerator knowing AT&T is that far behind waiting for an auction to come up. I think the STRP decision by the FCC and them compromising themselves clearly showed their desire and the importance of 5G which will be cloaked with Public Interest. It was a move to get the spectrum out of STRP's hands and into the big boys hands. The same will be done with FTWR or else you are looking at a trial that starts in 2019 and could extend well into 2020.
