AT&T, FCC Trying to Work Out Aggregation Item Issues

AT&T has indicated that how the Federal Communications Commission structures the broadcast incentive auction could affect whether or not it participates, but it appears still to be trying to work it out with the commission.

The FCC is expected to circulate a spectrum aggregation item on April 24 that could potentially limit the low-band spectrum available to AT&T, but there are suggestions from recent interactions between AT&T execs and the commission that the item could be on its way to something AT&T could support.

The item would not be voted on until May 15 and other commissioners can still make suggested edits and changes, so it could, and likely is, still a work in progress.

According to ex parte filings, AT&T Chairman Randall Stephenson got on the phone with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to talk about "issues" raised by AT&T about the auctions -- as well as to brief him on AT&T's plans to expand fiber deployment.