WASHINGTON-The manner in which the Federal Communications Commission reviews license transfers came under scrutiny last week as key senators questioned the process, the Department of Commerce voiced its support and a key House telecommunications lawmaker vowed to move legislation next month.
License transfers are a vital part of mergers. Although the FCC does not rule on mergers, without FCC approval to transfer licenses, a merger cannot be completed.
The Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee blasted the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau for not processing license transfers quickly enough.
“In the wireless bureau alone, there are approximately 124 transactions that have been awaiting some sort of decision for more than 180 days,” said Sens. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) and Herbert Kohl (D-Wis.).
DeWine and Kohl asked the FCC in March to report to them the number of license transfers that have been pending more than 180 days. The FCC’s report indicates the WTB deals with the most license transfer applications each year and the number continues to rise. In 1999, WTB approved 40,879 applications, compared with 22,907 in 1995.
“In the relatively small number of matters that take longer than 180 days, the bureau typically has been unable to act because additional information is required from the applicants or because the transfer is awaiting action by other governmental agencies or the transaction has been subject to related bankruptcy proceedings,” said WTB Chief Thomas Sugrue.
Non-routine cases-or transactions with questions-are a small percentage of WTB’s processing and an even smaller percentage of cases rise to a level the bureau considers extraordinary, the FCC said.
The senators have sponsored legislation that would require the FCC to approve complex transactions within 180 days and simple ones within 90 days. The deadlines can be extended by a majority vote of the commission. If the deadlines are not met, the transfers are approved without conditions. The bill has been passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee and is awaiting action by the full Senate.
The “shot-clock” legislation came under fire from the Commerce Department, which said such a law “would impinge on the FCC’s ability to conduct a thorough public-interest analysis of complex issues.”
In addition to the Senate legislation, telecommunications subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) says he will move legislation in the House next month that would not only limit the time frames, but also restrict the FCC’s ability to impose conditions on mergers.
Commerce Secretary William Daley also said this legislation would be harmful.
“The [FCC] must not be restricted in considering the ways that mergers and consolidations affect numerous public-interest issues such as national security, law enforcement, cross-ownership, local competition, and universal service,” said Daley.
Tauzin’s office was incensed at the Commerce letter, saying the FCC cannot solve the problem “because it is the problem.”
“Asking the FCC to study its merger-review process is like asking the fox to guard the hen house. It’s laughable, but certainly not surprising, that one big bureaucracy has come to the defense of another big bureaucracy,” said Tauzin spokesman Ken Johnson.
