With the auction of airwaves in the television band in the works in the effort to increase the availability of wireless broadband to American consumers, the FCC is taking a look at how it measures competition in terms of how much spectrum in the control of one company is too much.
According to Hillicon Valley, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has already circulated a draft on the topic among the other commissioners and it may be an item on the agenda of the September open meeting.
It will look at what is known as the “spectrum screen,” a tool used by the commission to guage whether a merger or spectrum purchase is a matter for concern. When the level of potential spectrum ownership hits a certain level, it flags the deal or acquisition for further scrutiny.
Whatever comes out of the meeting would be of a preliminary nature, subject to comment by stakeholders and the general public.
The goal, according to the report, is to provide a level of clarity and predictability to matters of spectrum acquisition, and the possibility that there will be no change at all is among the possible results at this point.
