The offer last week by a handful of wireless carriers to pay off NextWave Telecom Inc.’s debts in exchange for the company’s disputed wireless spectrum reminds me of some negotiations I have watched my four-year-old daughter try to make with my two-year-old daughter in the bathtub.
“I’ll play with the squirt gun now and you can play with the torn fishy sponge,” the older one will propose, craftily exchanging the items as she speaks.
She thinks that by showing her willingness to compromise, she will be safe. But mom knows that the baby was already playing with the squirt gun, and mom is not going to let the trade happen just because big sis tried to make it sound like a good deal.
In addition, little sis, with her limited vocabulary but loud voice, is not going to accept the trade quietly. She knows this is not a good deal.
Admittedly, the comparison is overly simplistic, but when I saw the letter written to the Federal Communications Commission last week, all I could think was, "re feels like the same Ping-Pong match, and I think most people are getting to the same point of boredom.
The carriers are Gore, standing in front of the American flag, talking about what is fair and what is right. The FCC is Florida, which (I hate to say it) brought a lot of the situation on itself. NextWave is Bush, the questioned winner quietly getting down to business while the situation plays out.
If the FCC needs to go to the big court, let’s go.
For the good of the household, for the good of the country, for the good of the wireless industry, it is time for a resolution. It is time to get down to business.
