Cingular Wireless cited continued uncertainty over NextWave re-au...

involved relocating public safety operators to 700 MHz, so Commission shouldn’t foreclose that possibility by holding Ch. 52-59 and 60-69 auctions now. Comments of Cingular and others at FCC come as several spectrum proceedings are intersecting. Commission is expected to issue decision as early as today (Tues.) on timing of 700 MHz auction. Floor vote also is scheduled in House today on bill by Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R- La.) that would compel FCC to postpone auctions. Short forms, in which companies first formally notify agency they plan to participate in auction, are due Wed. Meanwhile, FCC is receiving comments on 700 MHz re-banding proposals for notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that closed Mon. (see separate story, this issue). Cingular emphasized continued uncertainties over NextWave re-auction. FCC is appealing U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., ruling last year that overturned Commission decision to cancel NextWave licenses for missed payment. Ruling led to FCC’s returning licenses that had produced nearly $16 billion in bids at re-auction. “Despite the fact that the auction concluded more than one year ago, the spectrum has been tied up in litigation that, as the result of the Supreme Court’s recent decision to grant certiorari in the matter, may now continue for several years,” Cingular said. Incumbent analog broadcasters, which don’t have to move until completion of DTV transition in 2006 or later, also create uncertainties over 700 MHz spectrum that warrant delay, Cingular argued. It said FCC had “rejected imposing mandatory relocation requirements” for those broadcasters. Cook Inlet Region Inc. (CIRI) also supported CTIA petition for full Commission to review bureau decision to keep June 19 auction date: “The Wireless Bureau’s decision to proceed with the auctions, despite the fact that policies and procedures have not been established with respect to incumbent users, will actually impede the development of existing spectrum-based services and the deployment of new technologies in the 700 MHz band.” As expected, Paxson Communications urged FCC to reject CTIA’s application for review. Paxson said CTIA “presents the Commission with a simple choice: Follow the law or ignore it in favor of speculative legislative and regulatory proposals created as part of a massive last-minute lobbying campaign by the large wireless services providers who are the only parties that stand to gain from delay.” In lengthy comments, Paxson said FCC already had missed Sept. 30, 2000, statutory deadline for auctioning Ch. 60-69. If Sept. 30, 2002, deadline for depositing proceeds in U.S. Treasury from Ch. 52-59 auction were missed, that would “constitute a second and continuing violation of 2 controlling statutory provisions,” company said. “It is time that the Commission step up to its obligations under this statute and enforce the law. As an instrument of Congress, the Commission is required to enforce existing statutes, not positions contained in congressional letters, not arguments of lobbyists hired by the wireless industry.”