WASHINGTON-With just two weeks left in the fiscal year and many appropriations bills still pending, Congress and the White House once again are on a collision course for a budget showdown that could change the dynamics of wireless provisions wrapped up in spending legislation.
Entangled in the budget battle of 1999 is a provision pushed by the Clinton administration to enable the Federal Communications Commission to swiftly recover licenses from bankrupt wireless carriers; a clause in the Department of Defense appropriations bill requiring the FCC to auction 36 megahertz of spectrum this year instead of after Jan. 1, 2001 (in order to raise $2.1 billion); a section in the District of Columbia appropriations bill designed to foster tower siting on federal lands; and measures to fund the FCC, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the 1994 digital wiretap law in fiscal 2000.
If history is any guide, the GOP-led Congress and the Democratic White House will trade barbs in coming weeks before sitting down to negotiate an omnibus spending bill that encompasses all unfinished spending legislation-meaning nearly all of the 13 appropriations bills.
In the midst of the negotiations, Republicans, anxious to avoid the political fallout of being blamed again for a government shutdown, will pass stop-gap funding legislation to keep the government running temporarily after Sept. 30, when the fiscal year ends.
An omnibus appropriations bill potentially throws everything up for grabs, including all wireless provisions otherwise headed for passage by Congress.
That is precisely what Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-D.C.), local officials, environmentalists and citizen activists in the nation’s capital want. And what the wireless industry doesn’t want to happen.
The industry is in the driver’s seat now that Congress has embraced Senate Minority Leader Thomas Daschle’s (D-S.D.) push to allow Bell Atlantic Mobile to site two towers in Rock Creek Park after five years of trying and to expedite action on applications to site towers on federal property generally.
“Bell Atlantic Mobile believes it has the support of the majority of the community, perhaps not certain special interest groups,” the firm stated.
Last Wednesday, the Tower Free Park Alliance planned a demonstration against the construction of cellular telephone towers in Rock Creek Park.
The wireless industry is mixed on the issue of an accelerated auction of the 36 megahertz freed up by Congress in 1997.
“That’s an issue our members have different opinions on,” said Steven Berry, senior vice president for congressional affairs at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association.
Some wireless firms argue that holding the auction this year does not give industry and the FCC enough time to develop service rules. Others, like Vodafone AirTouch plc, are anxious to secure spectrum for third-generation wireless as soon as possible.
Given the strong support for generous DOD funding, the accelerated auction clause has survived so far.
As such, some in the wireless industry have shifted strategy from opposing the measure to trying to persuade lawmakers to extend the starting date of the auction without changing the time frame in which the U.S. Treasury collects revenue from winning bidders.
While CTIA and the Personal Communications Industry Association are not taking an official position on the bankruptcy provision championed by FCC Chairman William Kennard, the industry is anything but neutral on the subject-either is Congress.
Startup personal communications services providers, particularly those with past or present financial troubles (NextWave Telecom Inc., Pocket Communications Inc. and Metro PCS) oppose the Kennard bankruptcy provision.
Established wireless carriers do not necessarily mind the bankruptcy clause because it would effectively wipe out several would-be competitors from the scene.
Top telecom House members-including House Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas Bliley (R-Va.), telecommunications subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.), Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.)-are strongly against the bankruptcy legislation. So is the American Bar Association.
In contrast, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) does not appear to have a problem with FCC bankruptcy relief.
Congress’ focus on the budget in coming weeks puts other wireless initiatives on the back burner for now and makes it increasingly unlikely the lawmakers will get to them before they adjourn for the year.
The only bill expected to make it out of Congress this fall is one that makes 911 the universal wireless emergency telephone number and that gives carriers liability protection on par with wireline carriers in their respective markets.
More uncertain is legislation on FCC reform, streamlining FCC merger review, pro-local and environmental antenna siting, private wireless spectrum lease fees, rural cellular relief, commercial space launch, privacy and simplified wireless accounting.
Wild cards in the mix are digital wiretap, numbering and spectrum caps, hot-button issues that could sneak into bills on a moment’s notice before lawmakers leave town for the year.
