OTI Joins Reply Comments Urging the FCC to Adopt a Tribal Licensing Window in the Upcoming AWS-3 Auction

These comments were covered by Communications Daily.

The Open Technology Institute (OTI) at New America joined the National Congress of American Indians, Tribal Digital Village Network, Waskawiwin, Public Knowledge, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, X-Lab, and Benton Institute for Broadband and Society in submitting reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in support of including a Tribal licensing window (TLW) in the upcoming Advanced Wireless Service (AWS-3) 113 Auction.

In these reply comments, we note that while the majority of comments submitted by others either did not address the proposed TLW or supported it, one commenter (WISPA) expressed limited concerns, while one other commenter (CTIA) actively opposed the proposal. Indeed, CTIA not only opposed the proposal with regard to Auction 113, but went beyond the scope of this proceeding to oppose the concept of a TLW generally. The Commission has previously rejected CTIA’s argument that the Communications Act does not permit a TLW, first in the context of broadcast services, and subsequently in the 2.5 GHz auction.

Our reply comments illustrate that WISPA and CTIA misunderstand and understate how the TLW operates, the relevant statutes supporting a TLW, and the importance of a continued TLW.