BROWSING: AWS

Watchdog group piles further complaints on upcoming AWS auction

WASHINGTON—A telecom watchdog group filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and congressional committees alleging major mobile phone carriers and their small-business partners illegally pocketed billions of dollars of taxpayer money through deceptive auction practices during past auctions....

Cable companies looking at AWS spectrum; Sprint Nextel, Alltel to abstain

WASHINGTON—The Sprint Nextel Corp.-cable TV joint venture today took the first step toward competing for spectrum at the advanced wireless services auction this summer, a move with implications for the No. 3 mobile phone carrier and cable TV operators as they attempt to strengthen...

AT&T settles AWS lawsuits for $150M

SAN ANTONIO—AT&T Inc. has agreed to settle several class-action lawsuits for a sum of $150 million, according to the company’s quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The suits had been filed in response to the offering of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. tracking...

DE rule changes could draw legal challenge

WASHINGTON-Three groups this week could file a lawsuit in federal appeals court to stay the June 29 start of the advanced wireless services auction if the Federal Communications Commission does not agree by today to drop changes it recently made to the small-business bidding...

Health lawsuit seeks to delay AWS auction

WASHINGTON-A health-related lawsuit that sought to block the June 29 start of the advanced wireless services auction was abruptly withdrawn last week after the Justice Department challenged a U.S. District Court's jurisdiction to hear the case. However, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers said the...

Industry consolidation challenges carrier billing methods

Within the past two years, the number of national carriers in the U.S. has gone from six to four. Between Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Sprint Corp.'s acquisition of Nextel Communications Inc., the companies that need to have their...

Rain of gold?

The advanced wireless services auction is scheduled to begin in less than two months. The filing deadline for short-form applications is Wednesday. The upfront payments deadline is three weeks later. And yet the unknowns are many.If the objective is to create suspense in advance...

Health-related lawsuit to delay AWS auction refilled in New York

WASHINGTON—A health-related suit to block the June 29 start of the advanced wireless services auction has been re-filed at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. On Thursday, plaintiff Maria Gonzalez and her attorney Whitney North Seymour Jr. withdrew a similar...

Groups petition for AWS delay, slam new FCC auction rules as ‘incurably disruptive’

WASHINGTON—Three groups today asked the Federal Communications Commission to drop the agency’s new rule changes to the small-business bidding program and to delay the June 29 start of the advanced wireless services auction pending resolution of issues raised in their petition. Council Tree Communications,...

Vendors hope to ease AWS spectrum transition

As the highly anticipated advanced wireless spectrum auction nears, infrastructure vendors are positioning themselves to reap profits from the auction's aftermath. Both Radio Frequency Systems and Andrew Corp.'s Comsearch subsidiary said they have developed tools to help carriers, enterprises and government agencies plan and...

FCC ties DE auction reform to spectrum capacity leases

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission backed away from making major reforms to a controversial auction program offering bidding discounts to small businesses, rejecting a revenue-only threshold for partnership eligibility in favor of a resale standard to determine whether national mobile carriers and other large telecom...

Lawsuit aims to block AWS auction with cell-phone radiation

WASHINGTON—A health-related lawsuit filed against Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin and other agency members seeks to block the scheduled June 29 start of the advanced wireless services auction. The EMR Policy Institute, a watchdog group concerned about health implications of cellular phones and...

FCC ties DE criteria to spectrum capacity leases

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission backed away from making major reforms to a controversial auction program offering bidding discounts to small businesses, rejecting a revenue-only threshold for partnership eligibility in favor of a resale standard to determine whether national mobile-phone carriers and other large telecom...

Blind-bidding proposal comes down to wire

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission voted to restrict bidder information during the advanced wireless services auction set to begin June 29, but agreed to revert to full disclosure if the agency determines before the auction that bidding is likely to be competitive. Many mobile-phone carriers-large...

FCC compromises on blind-bidding proposal

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission voted today to limit bidder information at the advanced wireless services auction that begins June 29, but regulators agreed to revert to full disclosure rules if they determine the auction is likely to be competitive. Many mobile-phone carriers—large and small—opposed...

FCC set to vote on blind-bidding auction option

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission is set to vote Wednesday on new rules likely to dramatically curtail bidder information at the advanced wireless services auction scheduled to begin June 29. The FCC, backed by the Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission and some academics, support anonymous...

Deal reached on 2.5 GHz spectrum leases

WASHINGTON-Warring wireless broadband and educational groups last week struck a deal on 2.5 GHz spectrum-lease terms, settling one of the  many unresolved regulatory issues associated with the deployment of wireless Internet and third-generation wireless services in the United States.The Federal Communication Commission this week...

ZTE, Huawei tred into U.S. infrastructure market

LAS VEGAS—Both ZTE Corp. and Huawei Technology Co. Ltd. are launching infrastructure equipment during the CTIA show that may not have an immediate market, but provide insights into the innovative and gutsy nature of the Chinese vendors, eager to increase their share of the...

Equipment vendors gear up for FCC’s upcoming auction

LAS VEGAS—Wireless vendors are prepping products and services to take advantage of the Federal Communications Commission’s auction of Advanced Wireless Services spectrum in the 1700 MHz/2100 MHz and 700 MHz bands scheduled to begin in two months. Click here to see all of RCR...

FCC moving forward with controversial closed bidding plans for AWS auction

WASHINGTON-Despite concern about the potential for collusion at the upcoming advanced wireless services auction and the need to head off any problems by limiting bidder information, federal officials admit they have pursued only a handful of cases where suspected abuse led to enforcement action....

Cingular to shutter TDMA, analog networks by end of 2008

Cingular Wireless L.L.C. started out in 2001 as a company with a network that was more than two-thirds TDMA and analog technology. Now, the company has indicated that it is on track to turn off both its legacy TDMA and analog networks in 2008....

Proposal to change auction rules draws industry fire

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission picked up support from the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission to employ blind bidding at June's advanced wireless services auction. But outside of government the proposal has set off a storm of controversy that has wireless carriers largely opposed...

Regional operators post mixed 4Q, year-end results

It was a week of mixed results for regional carriers, as numbers trickled in from a handful of operators-some of which had delayed their reporting or had to restate prior earnings. Leap Wireless International Inc. had a slightly weaker-than-expected fourth quarter, but the company...

Winds of (auction) change

You can almost smell the blood. It's pre-auction season. And this year, with some decent spectrum up for grabs in the AWS auction set for June, the battle should be intense. As such, a number of interests are pressuring the government to change some...