WASHINGTON-Congress last week was set to pass a new budget that embraces President Bush's plan to delay two auctions of valuable radio spectrum but rejects an administration proposal to impose fees on TV broadcasters in order to encourage the clearing of frequencies sought by...
WASHINGTON-Verizon Wireless last week reiterated its request that the Federal Communications Commission delay its award of personal communications services licenses until an appeal by bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. is settled."Money paid to the government and held for possible return represents funding capacity that could...
WASHINGTON-A new day appears to be dawning for FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell.This new day will have Powell greeting four new colleagues by the end of the year, reforming an agency that some on Capitol Hill have said cannot be fixed and should be...
WASHINGTON-Enforcement of government rules, including telecommunications rules, should be efficient and fair and have the consent of the governed, said FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth.Furchtgott-Roth was the keynote speaker at the Practicing Law Institute conference on "Working With the FCC in the New Millennium: Regulation to...
WASHINGTON-Is the fourth time the charm?The Federal Communications Commission last week delayed the 700 MHz (746-806 MHz) auction set to begin March 6 for the fourth time. The auction of spectrum currently occupied by TV broadcasters transitioning to digital is now set to start...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission said it will not reconsider the eligibility rules for the re-auction of 422 PCS licenses that allowed large carriers to bid on licenses previously reserved for small businesses.Six entities-Alpine PCS, National Telephone Cooperative Association, Northcoast Communications, the Organization for the...
DENVER, United States-When the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) set aside a portion of the permits up for bid in its 1996 auction of personal communications services (PCS) licenses, the intent was to foster competition in the wireless industry by allowing minority-owned companies, known...
As likely winners begin to emerge in the re-auction of NextWave Telecom Inc.'s PCS licenses, it looks like these permits will be used in large part by major wireless players to shore up more spectrum, either to meet capacity needs today or for third-generation...
When the Federal Communications Commission set aside a portion of the licenses up for bid in its 1996 personal communications services auction, the intent was to foster competition in the wireless industry by allowing minority-owned companies, known as designated entities, to purchase licenses without...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission suspended its re-auction of 422 personal communications services licenses on Thursday with bid amounts nearing $12 billion.The re-auction will resume on Jan. 5 after taking a holiday break.The FCC doubled the bidding rounds last week from two per day to...
WASHINGTON-The C-block auction isn't a cheap date.Bids topped more than $1 billion in early rounds of an auction taking place largely because a previous winner was unable to pay the steep amounts it pledged.The Federal Communications Commission began auctioning 422 personal communications services licenses...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission completed the auction for the lower 80 channels of the 800 MHz band less than a week before it plans to begin re-auctioning the personal communications services licenses reclaimed from bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc.Nextel Spectrum Acquisitions Corp. paid $27.15 million...
WASHINGTON-As the Federal Communications Commission frantically prepared to re-auction 422 C- and F-block personal communications services licenses beginning tomorrow, the agency on Dec. 1 released the names of those planning to participate in the auction and those that had been rejected.Of the large companies...
WASHINGTON-The U.S. Supreme Court early last week rejected bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc.'s appeal of a federal appeals court ruling that prompted the Federal Communications Commission to cancel its 90 personal communications services licenses."NextWave is disappointed that the court decided not to address the split...
Imagine for a moment the 3G spectrum bands-698-960 MHz, 1710-1885 MHz and 2500-2690 MHz-are the three Florida counties of Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Nassau.If you think South Florida is a mess, wait until President Clinton's third-generation wireless initiative plays out. It could turn into...
Heading into the all-important holiday marketing frenzy, I am looking forward to some new creative advertising campaigns from wireless companies. (Is anyone else growing tired of Jamie Lee Curtis acting like Super Woman?)Lately, the ad campaigns I've seen have left a lot to be...
WASHINGTON-While the world awaits the final outcome of the seemingly endless process in Florida to pick the president of the United States, members of the wireless world are also awaiting a decision expected today about an F-block license for a market in (you guessed...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission late Friday released the list of applicants to participate in the re-auction of bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc.'s licenses, scheduled for Dec. 12.The FCC accepted 44 applications, including Alltel Communications Inc. and Cook Inlet/VoiceStream Wireless Corp., and told 66 other entities-including...
WASHINGTON-The re-auction of bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc.'s licenses will go forward, a federal appeals court ruled last week."Today's action is another important step toward making the wireless Web available to consumers. We look forward to conducting the C-block auction on Dec. 12," said William...
WASHINGTON-Nextel Communications Inc. has received some competition -albeit minor-in the ongoing auction of licenses for the lower 80 channels of the 800 MHz band.At the end of round 24, Nextel's subsidiary, Nextel Spectrum Acquisition Inc., still dominated the bidding, having made 2,514 bids totaling...
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-Although Alltel last week announced it will sell 20 of its personal communications services licenses to Verizon Wireless, it will keep another 42 licenses. The company also plans to buy some of NextWave Telecom Inc.'s licenses during the auction scheduled for next...
Democracy is so refreshing when it defies precision political choreography. So it was last Tuesday when the 2000 presidential election turned into Twin Peaks, Duck Soup, Seinfeld, HeeHaw and Dallas all in one. "Whaddaya mean I voted for Pat Buchanan, and not Al Gore!?"Here...
WASHINGTON-President Clinton last week vetoed appropriations legislation containing the 3-percent telephone tax repeal, ratcheting up a budget battle that will continue with a lame-duck Congress after Tuesday's presidential and congressional elections.The House retaliated against Clinton for vetoing the bill by refusing to consider a...
WASHINGTON-The chief wireless regulator in the United States has been spreading the message of auctions as a key licensing tool in various overseas trips during the last year."You are struck when you travel that people are interested in the perspective of the U.S. government....
