WASHINGTON—The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has rejected a request from the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA) to delay the 700 MHz auction, currently set to begin on 19 June with short forms due 8 May.
The FCC “has recognized that there are special circumstances regarding the 700 MHz band that have the potential to create uncertainty for bidders. It has endeavored to reduce the uncertainties within its control. … In particular, the [FCC] has worked to address the concerns raised in a previous request for delay by [CTIA]—filed in July 2000—which stated that bidders needed additional time to engage in negotiations with incumbent broadcasters to develop agreements for early, voluntary clearing, and to develop a better understanding of then-new combinatorial bidding mechanisms. The commission acceded to the request, and granted a postponement that has lasted almost two years,” said Wireless Bureau Chief Thomas Sugrue.
“It is mind-boggling that the FCC would deny an auction delay that was requested in the president’s budget, assumed by the Senate Budget Committee, and that would help provide better public safety. Going forward with a June auction severely limits the ability to develop a rational spectrum management policy. Once this valuable block of spectrum had the potential to be part of the solution to the spectrum crisis; this decision just made it part of the problem. The public lost, public safety lost, and the broadcasters—who will hold the real auction following the FCC’s—must be laughing all the way to the bank. It looks like the broadcasters will get their billion-dollar ransom for the spectrum Congress gave them for free in 1996,” responded CTIA President Thomas Wheeler in a widely circulated statement.
“The commission’s decision not to postpone the auction bodes well for the American consumer, the public-safety first providers and the future of wireless communication in America,” said Lowell Paxson, chairman of Paxson Communications. Paxson is the largest broadcaster in the 700 MHz band.
Cingular Wireless had weighed in on CTIA’s side, but apparently too late. Its letter was sent on Wednesday, the same day Sugrue sent his letter to Wheeler.
“It is incredibly unfortunate. In this day and age when we are talking about sound spectrum management and just on the heels of the spectrum summit and the need to take a good look at our spectrum. The FCC seems to be willing to engage in spectrum mismanagement. It is unbelievable,” said Brian Fontes, Cingular’s vice president for federal relations.
