WASHINGTON—The House of Representatives on Tuesday night passed by voice vote the Auction Reform Act of 2002, which directs the Federal Communications Commission to delay the 700 MHz band auction, currently scheduled for June 19.
“It is time to put the telecommunications horse in front of the auctions cart,” said Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), ranking member of House telecommunications subcommittee.
The bill was passed under “suspension of the rules,” a parliamentary floor maneuver reserved for non-controversial bills, but not everyone was happy with its quick passage.
“We are incredibly disappointed that [Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.), chairman of the House Commerce Committee] proceeded in this manner. He has managed to hoodwink folks into believing that a delay of this auction will cure everything that ails spectrum policy. If we really want to have Dick Tracy watches and digital TV in our lifetime as Markey advocates, we need to get spectrum policy into the hands of creative entrepreneurs and rural telephone companies. These are the true innovators in our society. If we wait until there is a cohesive spectrum policy plan that everyone agrees with before moving forward with auctioning spectrum, we will be all dead and buried,” said Carri Bennet, general counsel to the Rural Telecommunications Group.
RTG has threatened to sue if the FCC delays the auction without a bill passing both the House and the Senate and being signed by the President.
“We expect the president to sign it if we get it through the other body,” said Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), chairman of the House telecommunications subcommittee.
A companion bill was introduced last week in the Senate by Sens. John Ensign (R-Nev.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.).
“Congress has moved with great speed and vigor to delay the 700 MHz auctions. Public safety, the wireless industry and the [Bush] administration agree there is little to gain and much to lose if the auctions move forward. We hope the FCC will respond to the House’s swift actions with a swift response of their own—to delay the 700 MHz June auctions,” said Thomas Wheeler, president of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association.
