FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION JULIUS GENAcH0wsKI CHAIRMAN March 20, 2013 The Honorable Lawrence E. Strickling Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information U.S. Department of Commerce 1401 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20230 Dear Assistant Secretary Strickling: Pursuant to the provisions of the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act (CSEA), as amended by the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Spectrum Act), the Federal Communications Commission hereby notifies the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) that it plans to commence the auction of licenses in the 1695-1710 MHz band and the 1755-1780 MHz band as early as September 2014. The CSEA requires the Commission to notify NTIA at least 18 months prior to the commencement of any auction of eligible frequencies. The CSEA requires NTIA to notify the Commission of estimated relocation and sharing costs and timelines for such relocation or sharing at least 6 months prior to the commencement of the auction. Recent changes to the CSEA also require approval of federal agency transition plans by an expert Technical Panel. As directed by Congress in the Spectrum Act, NTIA recently identified the 1695-17 10 MHz band as the 15 megahertz of spectrum between 1675 MHz and 1710 MHz to be reallocated from federal use to non-federal use. The Spectrum Act now requires the Commission to allocate this identified spectrum for commercial use and to license the spectrum by February 2015. Our goal is to ensure that the Commission has adequate time to conduct this auction and complete the subsequent licensing process prior to the Spectrum Act's deadline. Congress similarly directed the Commission to allocate and license the 2155-2 180 MHz band, and other bands, by February 2015. As you know, the commercial wireless industry has advocated pairing the 2155-2180 MIHz band with the 1755-1780 MIHz Federal band. This Federal band is part of a larger Federal band that NTIA' s Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee (CSMAC) is studying for shared use between federal and commercial users. Accordingly, we include the 1755-1780 MHz band in this notice to preserve the possibility of auctioning it with the 2155-2180 MHz band. We recognize that CSMAC's recommendations, if adopted by NTIA, will inform service rules for both the 1695-1710 MHz and 1755-1780 MHz bands, including terms of sharing and required protections. Accordingly, we expect that an auction of these bands would follow successful completion of the CSMAC processthe acceptance of the recommendations by NTIA, completion of the CSEA technical review process, and completion of the Commission's ru'emaking process with respect to these bands. 445 I an-i STREET S .W WASHINGTON D C 20554 • 202-41 8- 000 Finally, we emphasize that this notice does not replace the normal coordination process that will occur between the FCC and NTIA, which will include the usual process of circulating draft rulemakings to the Interdepartmental Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC). I have directed Commission staff to draft such rulemakings as soon as possible, consistent with all applicable laws. To the extent that NTIA, following consultation with CSMAC, targets reallocation of the entire 1755-1850 MHz band for non-federal use, we will address service rules for the upper portion of the band. I look forward to continuing our successful partnership in advancing America's broadband future. Julius Genachowski