WASHINGTON-In a May 10 letter to Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.), chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, the National Telephone Cooperative Association requested his help to ensure that small businesses and rural telcos are not left out of the auction mix during the next three rounds of personal communications services bidding.
Doing first what many C-block auction participants have only thought about, NTCA took the Federal Communications Commission to task for the final outcome of the recently completed C-block auctions. Michael Brunner, NTCA’s executive vice president, wrote to Pressler, “The inability of small rural local exchange carriers to effectively participate in the PCS auctions is particularly frustrating.”
Brunner’s letter was in response to member concerns that the FCC had not carried out its mandate to promote small business and rural telco ownership of advanced-services spectrum; in addition, rural and underserved areas may be among the last to enjoy PCS service of any kind. According to Tom Wacker, senior government-affairs representative, “Members have heard through the industry grapevine that C-block winners will focus first on the urban portions of their [new] markets.”
In D-, E- and F-block auction-rules comments submitted last month at the FCC, the association “urged the FCC to limit participation in the F-block auctions to small businesses, consortia of small businesses and rural LECs,” Brunner continued. “The association urged the FCC to abandon its liberal 25 percent and 49.9 percent equity options*…*which reportedly resulted in large industrial corporations and foreign investors securing huge stakes in the most valued markets of the C-block auctions. Rural LECs and small businesses lost out as these unintended auction participants escalated the bidding to unimagined and unaffordable levels.
“It is imperative that Congress and the FCC do not allow themselves to be consumed with the excitement of these unexpected one-time profits for the federal government’s coffers,” Brunner concluded. “We need to ensure spectrum is utilized to its fullest extent so that all Americans will benefit. The best way to do that is to ensure that entities with a history of commitment to the telecommunications industry are able to afford the opportunity to continue providing the most recent advanced services.”
At press time, Pressler had not responded to the letter.
