A top member of the House Homeland Security Committee advised Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin not to scrap plans to auction the 700 MHz national commercial-public safety license, despite the possibility no applicant will bid on the D Block now that the one-time pursuer of that spectrum — Frontline Wireless L.L.C. — has folded.
“Regardless of the prospects for this partnership, the policy goals it represents are fundamentally sound,” stated Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Homeland Security subcommittee on intelligence, information sharing and terrorism risk assessment, in a letter to Martin. “I strongly urge you — in advance of this auction’s start date of Jan. 24. — not to amend any of the underlying rules, modify the terms of the partnership, or indicate any change to the FCC’s intent to vigorously oversee it.”
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Frontline, a Silicon Valley-backed startup headed by former telecom policymakers, shut down after failing to make the $128 million upfront payment on Jan. 4 for the D-Block license. The license has a $1.3 billion reserve price.
Frontline had aggressively lobbied during the past nine months for public-private 700 MHz D Block rules, some of which it obtained. Ever since its closing became public, public-safety organizationshave been skittish about the prospects that a D Block bidder will emerge.
Martin said he was disappointed Frontline will not be competing in the 700 MHz auction, but remains hopeful a bidder will pick up the D Block license.
Harman said “[a]ny mid-course correction could be perceived as a ‘sweetheart deal’ favoring a small number of companies.” She told Martin the FCC should consider changes to the D-Block license only in the event it does not sell. “The opportunity to create a nationwide broadband network for public safety with the cooperation of the private sector should not end with this auction.”
In a separate letter to House telecom subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and ranking member Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), Harman notified the lawmakers of her letter to Martin and acknowledged the combination of Frontline Wireless’ collapse and troubled credit markets make the “possibility of its [700 MHz D Block] failure real.”
Lawmakers worry over fate of 700 MHz D Block
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