WASHINGTON—The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association last month urged Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, to include the Rural Electromagnetic Spectrum Act in spectrum management legislation he is drafting.
“It is vital to address rural carriers’ access to spectrum in any legislation developed to address our national spectrum-management policy,” said Michael Brunner, NTCA’s chief executive officer. “Rather than facilitating their access to wireless licenses, the [Federal Communications Commission] has established policies that for the most part impede rural carriers from accessing wireless spectrum,” noted Brunner in a letter to Hollings.
RESA was introduced by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) in April. RESA would require the FCC to award one license to a rural service area when more than one license is available.
The Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies has called for changes to the Baucus bill to prevent large companies from gaining access to rural licenses and then not building them out. OPASTCO would prefer a two-phased scheme similar to one used for cellular unserved markets. During Phase I, the FCC would determine whether rural areas had been built out before licensing larger market areas in Phase II.
