WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission will no longer act as a creditor for entrepreneurs wanting to join in the wireless revolution, the agency’s top lawyers told a D.C. Bar gathering last week.
“We can solve [the recent C-block bankruptcy] problem by saying that [licensees] can’t get licenses until all of the money is paid,” FCC General Counsel Christopher Wright said. This solution, however, hurts small businesses who need installment payments to be able to compete, Wright said.
Another solution to the bankruptcy problem is getting legislation passed by Congress to protect the FCC, Wright said. FCC Chairman William Kennard has consistently called for such legislation but nothing has been introduced so far.
The decision in bankruptcy court regarding General Wireless Inc. did not surprise Wright who said he had “received advice that [the FCC] would lose in bankruptcy court but win on appeal. So far this advice has been correct, I hope the second part is also accurate,” he said.
Wright focused most of his comments on the FCC’s embattled schools and libraries program. He did note that among all of the implicit subsidies funding universal service programs wireless service subsidizes local service by the interconnection access charges wireless carriers pay to wireline carriers.
