WASHINGTON-The major trade associations representing mobile phone carriers are staying out of the legislative battle over whether the Federal Communications Commission should be able to take back radio-frequency spectrum licenses from carriers when they go bankrupt, including the licenses held by Metro PCS and NextWave Telecom Inc.
The proposal has been included in the Senate’s version of the FCC’s funding bill but has not been included in the House version. A conference committee will settle the issue when Congress returns from its August recess.
The issue was reignited earlier this month when FCC Chairman William Kennard included the legislation on a Capitol Hill wish list he says is necessary for FCC reform.
Including the bankruptcy provision seemed a bit out of place to many wireless industry players since the C-block debacle, which prompted the legislation, is in the past.
The proposal is not new. Last year, the FCC, Congress, Metro (then known as General Wireless Inc.) and NextWave went on a crazy roller-coaster ride as a variety of legislative proposals were attached to an omnibus spending bill. In the end, it appeared the FCC had won, only to discover its provision was stricken by the House at the last moment.
In the meantime, the FCC’s general counsel already has signed a letter indicating to Nextel Communications Inc. he would recommend to the full commission Nextel be allowed to buy NextWave’s licenses for $2.1 billion. (See related story on Page 1.) Without the legislative provision, the licenses remain in the purview of NextWave’s bankruptcy court.
To Steven K. Berry, senior vice president for congressional affairs for the Cellular Telecommunic-ations Industry Association, the other 21 proposals are “a massive re-shuffling of the deck chairs. I don’t think Kennard gets what Congress is telling him … I don’t think his changes go to the heart and soul of a reformed agency that is an enforcement agency rather than a regulatory agency.”
The Personal Communications Industry Association was encouraged by the FCC’s proposal to expand its forbearance authority. “We have been advocating for expanding the FCC’s forbearance authority,” said David Murray, PCIA director of legislative affairs.
Congress established procedures in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that allow entities to ask the FCC to stop enforcing rules that have become moot due to competition. The procedures require the FCC to rule on such requests within one year, but gives the agency the option of a 90-day extension if necessary.
The legislative wish list was included in a draft strategic report that Kennard sent to Congress Aug. 12. The report is the result of a process started earlier this year when Kennard submitted a report to Congress titled, “A New FCC for the 21st Century.” Kennard and the other commissioners have also testified at reauthorization hearings over the last two years.
Following Kennard’s initial report, the FCC solicited comment from what it calls its stakeholders. Comment was given during four public forums and sent into the agency via e-mail.
