There's a virtual reality about government spending these days. Just ask Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), ranking minority member of the House Appropriations Committee.Faced with GOP cuts in Clinton-proposed budgets for the Federal Communications Commission, the Commerce Department and other agencies in fiscal 2001, Obey...
GENEVA-With auction prices of the United Kingdom's five third-generation licenses beating even the most inflated analyst forecasts, all eyes are now on Italy, which is set to allocate five 15-year Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) licenses in a few months.Europe's largest mobile market with...
A consortium comprised of Telefonica, Orange and Sonera will join U.S.-based MCI WorldCom and 10 other groups in bidding for third-generation (3G) licenses in Germany. The auction is set to begin in early July.The German regulator will sell 12 frequencies of radio spectrum to...
After eight weeks and 150 rounds, NTL Mobile said enough and dropped out of the U.K. government auction for five Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses. The withdrawal left only five bidders for the licenses, ending the auction that generated more than $35 billion for...
Was anyone paying attention to the debacle that was the U.S. C-block spectrum auction of 1996? Has anyone been paying attention to what has happened to the C-block "winners" since then? When RCR decided in this issue to look at the C-block winners and...
WASHINGTON-The Senate Commerce Committee is expected shortly to approve the renomination of Federal Communications Commission member Susan Ness, but the Clinton Democrat's future is anything but clear.At last Wednesday's confirmation hearing, Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), head of the communications subcommittee, said Senate Commerce Committee...
SYDNEY, Australia-Hutchison Telecommunications (Australia) Ltd. joined three Australian mobile phone incumbents in securing spectrum in the 1800 MHz band. Proceeds of the spectrum auction totaled more than $809.5 million for the Australian government, with One.Tel Ltd., Telstra Corp. and Vodafone AirTouch plc also receiving...
PARSIPPANY, N.J.-Metrocall Inc. and Aquis Communications Group Inc. announced results of their respective 900 MHz spectrum auction bids.Aquis said it won licenses in five of the top seven markets in the Northeast and Midwest, including Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Washington.Meanwhile, Metrocall said...
The Federal Communications Commission on Jan. 7 released its decision establishing a new 700 MHz wireless service, setting the stage for a spectrum auction expected by congressional budget writers to raise $2.6 billion for the U.S. Treasury. This FCC action has significant implications for...
WASHINGTON-Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard last week told the House of Representatives' top telecommunications lawmaker, Rep. Thomas Bliley (R-Va.), that a letter signed by the FCC general counsel does not bind either him or the other commissioners to agree to a deal that...
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.-The government late Friday was granted a last-minute emergency stay in its appeal against the bankruptcy reorganization of NextWave Personal Communications Inc., despite a stinging rebuke from another judge earlier in the week that blocked FCC appeal plans.The stay, signed by Chief...
WASHINGTON-Nextel Communications Inc. was dealt a major blow last week by the Federal Communications Commission, which told the nation's top dispatch operator it cannot use private wireless spectrum to build out its nationwide network."This portion of Nextel's request would require a fundamental change...
United StatesThe U.S. Federal Communications Commission will auction 16,000 paging licenses later this year in the upper bands of 929-930 MHz and 931-932 MHz, and the lower bands of 35-36 MHz, 43-44 MHz, 152-159 MHz and 454-460 MHz.The U.S. Federal Communications Commission's re-auction of...
It's bad enough that we bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade and killed three journalists because of shoddy military intelligence. So now Pentagon sympathizers want to level U.S. spectrum policy. What gives?DOD says it knows nothing about this assault on spectrum policy. One explanation...
WASHINGTON-Dan Phythyon, top mobile communications regulator at the Federal Communications Commission, last week cautioned against overreaction to congressionally mandated private wireless auctions and urged licensees to lobby Congress for spectrum lease fee authority as an alternative."I know that many people have taken the impression...
SYDNEY, Australia-The Australian Communications Authority completed its personal communications services spectrum auction May 25, netting the government about $216.3 million for 211 of the 230 lots offered in the 800 MHz and 1800 MHz bands.Auction winners included four new licensees: Hutchison Telephone Pty Ltd., AAPT...
WASHINGTON-Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Commerce Committee, has endorsed the Federal Communications Commission's request to delay until next year a spectrum auction for general wireless communication services (GWCS) slated for August, his staff said last week.McCain was one of several members to...
The 220 MHz specialized mobile radio industry, sometimes known as the final frontier of wireless spectrum opportunity, gained a major player when four of its larger operators agreed in principle to merge into what should replace Roamer One as the nation's largest 220 MHz...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission, in a long-awaited and far-reaching policy call, is expected to rule within weeks on wireless resale policy for the future.The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau is about to make a recommendation to the five commissioners on wireless resale policies that have been...
Nine companies are set to bid in the Australian personal communications services spectrum auction April 14, amid uncertainties surrounding the auction process and an economic crisis gripping many nations in the Asia-Pacific region.The Australian Communications Authority will auction 10 PCS licenses in the 1800...
WASHINGTON-No one was more surprised at the eventual outcome of the most recent Federal Communications Commission spectrum auction as was Thomas Jones, president of WNP Communications Inc., who walked away with the right to build in 30 of the top 50 markets.Auction 17, which...
WASHINGTON-Small businesses, minority- and women-owned businesses, and rural telcos will not be eligible for installments payments following any near-future spectrum auction wins, but they will be given larger bidding credits under new, streamlined auction rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission.There is a chance,...
WASHINGTON-The Library of Congress may ask the Federal Communications Commission for a piece of the auction-revenue pie to promote a program to preserve TV videos.The Library of Congress in a September report proposed using spectrum auction revenue to fund video preservation. The report is...
WASHINGTON-Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) joined the wireless industry in fighting back White House and congressional budgeteer efforts to add spectrum fees and toll-free number auctions to balanced budget legislation last week, while the private wireless sector suffered a major setback when...
