Pai Statement on Commencement of Proce to Auction 755-780 MHz Band

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This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.

See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).

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NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:

March 21, 2013 Matthew

Berry,

202-418-2005

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Matthew.Berry@fcc.gov

STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER AJIT PAI

ON COMMENCEMENT OF PROCESS TO AUCTION 1755

1780 MHz BAND

Just last week, in my testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce,

Science, and Transportation, I urged the FCC to commence the notification-and-auction process

now to preserve our ability to auction the 17551780 MHz spectrum paired with the 21552180

MHz spectrum.1 Today we have done just that.

I applaud Chairman Genachowski for notifying the National Telecommunications and

Information Administration (NTIA) at the U.S. Department of Commerce that the FCC plans to

commence the auction of licenses in the 16951710 MHz band and the 17551780 MHz band as

early as September 2014.2 This is the first step in what will be an important process, and I look

forward to working with my FCC colleagues, NTIA, and other stakeholders to help American

consumers and the economy benefit from this spectrum as quickly as possible. In particular, I

continue to believe that we should aim to clear and reallocate the 17551780 MHz band rather

than forcing federal users and commercial operators to undertake the complicated, untested task

of spectrum sharing.

1 Testimony of Commissioner Ajit Pai, Hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and

Transportation, Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission at 23 (Mar. 12, 2013), available at

http://go.usa.gov/2Vj3.

2 Letter from Julius Genachowksi, Chairman, FCC, to Lawrence E. Strickling, Assistant Secretary for

Communications and Information, U.S. Department of Commerce, at 1 (March 20, 2013), available at

http://go.usa.gov/2VR5.

LINK:	http://www.fcc.gov/document/pai-statement-commencement-process-auction...
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