The FCC Fri. delivered a big loss to Council Tree, the Minority Media & Telecom Council (MMTC) and Bethel Native Corp., refusing to make changes they demanded in designated entity (DE) rules released April 17. The order clarifies the FCC’s intent in referring to “spectrum capacity,” and stating that the rules don’t apply retroactively to licenses bought in earlier auctions. And it counters complaints a DE decision on unjust enrichment rules didn’t follow proper procedure.
A coalition of APCO and the major law enforcement and firefighter organizations said Fri. that giving public safety another 30 MHz of broadcast spectrum at 700 MHz, as proposed by Morgan O'Brien’s company Cyren Call, is worthy of consideration by Congress. But the group stopped short of endorsing the Cyren Call plan.
Verizon remains interested in acquiring Vodafone’s stake in Verizon Wireless, CEO Ivan Seidenberg said in response to analysts’ questions on the proposed purchase during Verizon’s Q1 earning conference call. Executives said the carrier has almost completed the cultural and logistical integration of MCI, and is in a “fast growth” phase, which includes trying to reel in the 45% of wireless operations held by the European carrier.
The FCC last week may have set too high a bar in imposing a competitiveness test that must be met to avoid blind bidding in the advanced wireless services auction, sources said this week. Save for Verizon Wireless, carriers large and small tend to oppose blind bids. But blind bidding seems all but a certainty when the auction begins June 29.
The FCC Wed. backed away, at least in part, from an order demanding blind bids in an advanced wireless services auction set to start in June. Blind bidding, strongly backed by FCC Chief Economist Leslie Marx, ran into a firestorm of protests from carriers large and small. Nonetheless, as the auction has neared, the FCC has seemed adamant on blind bids.
A group appointed by the FCC to deal with minority issues urged the agency not to change designated entity (DE) rules for spectrum auctions without considering the impact on small minority companies with revenue as low as $125 million. Two subcommittees of the Advisory Committee on Diversity urged the Commission to convene the full committee before acting on the DE rules. The group fears the agency will expand a proposed change in DE rules to include smaller companies, it said. The FCC originally eyed banning competitive bidding preferences for DEs with “material relationships” with large in-region incumbent wireless service providers, the subcommittees said. “It appears that, as part of that proceeding, the Commission is considering the adoption of a much broader rule that would prohibit the award of competitive bidding preferences to DEs having material investment from or relationships with any entity with revenue in excess of $125 million,” the committee said. In a draft resolution sent to the full committee, the smaller bodies said the FCC shouldn’t extend the prohibition beyond the largest wireless carriers because “the wireless industry is extremely capital-intensive and technically complex” and DEs need access to “sources of capital and expertise to have any chance of acquiring licenses and successfully providing service.” Entities with revenue in excess of $125 million are the most logical sources of investment and experience, the draft said.
Spectrum auctions and continued deregulation are key priorities for the U.K. Office of Communications (Ofcom) next year, the regulator said Tues. in its 2006-2007 annual plan. With its strategic review of the communications sector out of the way, Ofcom said a major challenge now will be to ensure its decisions actually deliver for competition, quality and the consumer. It listed 9 priorities for the coming year, including: (1) Releasing and liberalizing spectrum, facilitating spectrum trading and raising awareness of the opportunities offered by a more market-led approach to spectrum management. (2) Continuing to explore areas in which unnecessary regulation can be lifted. (3) Ensuring that British Telecom complies with its agreement to give rivals equivalent access to its network in order to spur competition. (4) Considering whether to regulate core and access next-generation networks. (5) Continuing work on public service broadcasting issues. (6) Examining potential benefits to citizens and consumers of new methods of content delivery, the implications for regulation and how to ensure children are protected. Ofcom said it will also continue to protect consumers and citizens by, among other things, helping them transition to DTV, and to promote access to broadband. The regulator also wants to influence regulatory policy on the international scale during the EU review of its e-communications regulatory framework, debate over the draft directive on TV Without Frontiers, and the most important set of spectrum negotiations in over 40 years.
Asked what they would do to increase broadband deployment, a panel of attorneys Tues. offered a panoply of ideas, ranging from tax incentives to better consumer education to more reliance on powerline communications. Some panelists at a symposium sponsored by Catholic U.’s law school Tues. also recommended more dependence on the marketplace and less on regulation, although others said regulators better be sure that marketplace remains open to competition.
Chmn. Martin wants a full FCC vote on a contentious public notice that would require blind bids in an advanced wireless services (AWS) auction this June, sources said Thurs. The Wireless Bureau had been expected to issue the notice. Now the FCC is expected to vote at its April 12 meeting. In another wireless sector matter, sources said Martin is recirculating a BRS/EBS order. An earlier version was withdrawn.
T-Mobile took its case against opaque bidding in a coming advanced wireless services auction straight to FCC Chief Economist Leslie Marx, widely viewed as a leading proponent of blind bidding. T-Mobile officials, accompanied by U. of Md. economics Prof. Peter Cramton, met Fri. with Marx, according to an ex parte letter. T-Mobile said the FCC should examine the “eligibility ratio,” a measure of supply of spectrum vs. demand, based on upfront bids 3-4 weeks before the auction. If the ratio shows demand is high, it should reveal bidders’ identities during the auction. T-Mobile said, based on the test it suggests, some past spectrum auctions have been competitive while others haven’t. “Although T-Mobile and Prof. Cramton continue to believe that full transparency is the best policy, in the alternative, the attendees discussed establishing a competitive threshold for transparency,” said T-Mobile. “As the auction becomes more competitive, there is a point where full transparency is clearly the best policy, and the above proposals provide an objective, straightforward means of assessing the competitiveness of the upcoming AWS auction so that the FCC can make a reasoned decision on whether to use transparent or blind bidding procedures.”