Massachusetts Telecom Department Seeks Spectrum Aggregation Limits

The Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable told the Federal Communications Commission it should limit how much low-band spectrum a bidder can get in the upcoming broadcast incentive auctions.

That could principally affect Verizon and AT&T's participation -- they already have the majority of low band, which most put at about 70%, but Massachusetts' telecom department says is more like 85% on a 1-MHz-per-person population basis.

In a filing at the commission in the incentive auction docket, the department said it allied itself with the comments of the Department of Justice, which has already said the FCC should come up with some "competition-focused" rules on spectrum acquisitions, particularly auctions, including taking into account the differing propagation qualities of different spectrum bands that make one more valuable than another.

Separate from the auctions, the FCC has asked for input on how and whether it should adjust its local market spectrum concentration screens, which are not hard caps, but trigger further review of whether such concentration is in the public interest.