WASHINGTON-House and Senate lawmakers urged the Federal Communications Commission to lift the processing freeze on 900 MHz multiple address systems applications, but there is little sign private wireless users will get access to the spectrum before year’s end.
“In our view, suspension on the filing of applications for the frequencies will impede utility and pipeline access to technologies that are essential elements in energy management systems,” House lawmakers told FCC Chairman William Kennard in a Sept. 22 letter obtained by RCR last week.
A similar letter was sent to Kennard on Sept. 24 by 10 Senate members, while Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) sent a separate correspondence to the FCC on Oct. 18.
The mostly GOP coalition of 12 lawmakers includes House telecommunications subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) and House Minority Whip David Bonior (D-Mich.).
While it does not appear likely congressional pressure will result in an immediate lifting of the freeze, the FCC seems to have gotten the message from Capitol Hill.
The MAS freeze “is another backlog item. It is our goal to have this resolved by the end of the year. It is important enough and it is [impacting] enough people that it is on the front burner,” said Thomas Sugrue, chief of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.
The FCC in July expanded a previous licensing freeze to include applications for private 900 MHz MAS systems as part of a plan to craft auction rules for 900 MHz MAS licenses.
That prompted the United Telecom Council, Association of American Railroads and American Petroleum Institute to file with the FCC an emergency request for limited exemption to the 900 MHz MAS application freeze.
Under a 1997 law that expanded FCC auction authority by allowing the agency to sell private wireless licenses, Congress shielded utilities, railroads and pipelines from auctions because they were deemed critical infrastructure that protects life, health and property. Before 1997, the FCC could only sell commercial wireless licenses.
Utilities need fixed wireless links for remote meter reading. Pipelines use the spectrum for monitoring oil transport, while railroads say they need more 900 MHz MAS frequencies to upgrade switching and signaling systems that control long stretches of railroad. AAR said projects to modernize switching and signaling systems have been halted as a result of the freeze.
In its July filing, the oil-utility-pipeline coalition said FCC “would be flouting its statutory obligation to avoid mutual exclusivity if it were to assign licenses in these bands through competitive bidding” and that “by eliminating access to spectrum used … for important internal applications, the freeze may also adversely affect public safety.”
The 900 MHz MAS proceeding has been the source of heartburn not only for industry, but for the FCC as well.
Last year, following complaints about WTB’s huge licensing backlog and pressure by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) to fix it, the FCC dismissed 50,000 900 MHz MAS applications and began work to write MAS auction rules. Some believe many of the applications were filed by speculators.
In a related matter, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) has introduced legislation to compensate 900 MHz MAS applicants for FCC filing-fee interest that has accrued since early 1992, when many applications were first filed.
Reporter Heather Forsgren Weaver contributed to this article.
