FCC Comr. Copps said Wed. that while current economy didn’t appea...

researching legislative record to see whether there were countervailing statutory mandates that FCC needed to take into consideration on timing issue. Commission now faces statutory deadline of Sept. 30 to deposit proceeds of Ch. 52-59 auction in U.S. Treasury. It’s considering CTIA request for review of Wireless Bureau decision last month to keep June 19 date for both Ch. 60-69 and Ch. 52-59. If auction were held on time, “I'm not terribly optimistic that huge sums of money would be raised,” Copps said. He also said he wasn’t “thrilled” about Ch. 52-59 and Ch. 60-69 spectrum “being thrown together in the same auction.” But he said his examination of statutory issues on auction didn’t mean he was backing delay. “I'm supposed to be implementing laws passed by Congress,” he said, and he’s in mode of looking at merits of various statutory requirements. While Copps said he had personal opinion about timing of auctions, he said “I'm not here to implement my personal opinion.” Meanwhile, National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) weighed in on timing of 700 MHz auction, saying availability of 24 MHz in that band for public safety was “a reason worth some delay.” FCC already has allocated 24 MHz at 700 MHz for public safety, although availability of that spectrum also is subject to efforts to clear band of analog broadcasters as part of DTV transition. “We would not wish to put the already allocated 24 MHz at risk, but so far as we can tell, it is already at risk of tardy availability, given the slow pace of DTV implementation,” NENA told FCC in filing Wed. It said Commission’s Public Safety Wireless Advisory Committee projected in 1996 that almost 100 MHz would be needed by 2010, although only 24 MHz had been allocated in former UHF TV spectrum. “With the Administration, the Congress and the FCC all recognizing that there are reasonable arguments for delay, it is unseemly and unnecessary for this issue to remain unresolved beyond the May 8 deadline for submission of notice of intent to bid at auction,” NENA said. It also urged FCC not to allow issue to remain in “limbo” even closer to June 19 auction date.