WASHINGTON-Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association President Thomas Wheeler today urged Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell to auction spectrum of financially troubled mobile satellite service providers.
The FCC is expected to rule in January whether to allow Craig McCaw’s ICO Global Communications and other MSS licensees to use a portion of their satellite frequencies for terrestrial cellular operations. Mobile phone carriers argue such a move would violate a 1993 law requiring the FCC to use spectrum auctions to award commercial wireless licenses.
“The commission has a choice: It could continue to allow non-viable satellite licensees to occupy spectrum for the foreseeable future, or it could follow the vision of its new spectrum policy and take affirmative steps to ensure that this spectrum is reclaimed and made available via auction for the kinds of flexible services contemplated in the FCC Spectrum Task Force Report,” stated Wheeler in a letter to Powell.
Wireless carriers, poised to receive new spectrum from the Pentagon in coming years, are battling to secure additional frequencies from MSS and fixed-wireless licensees in order to offer multimedia content on third-generation mobile phones and accommodate subscriber growth.
