FCC Chmn. Powell told House appropriators the Commission wouldn’t...

Powell said the amendment wasn’t in the public interest. The amendment to S-1585, the Senate CJS appropriations bill, would allow Multichannel Video Distribution & Data Services (MVDDS) to share a portion of the 12.2-12.7 GHz band without going to auction. It was added by Sen. Landrieu (D-La.) with the support of Sen. Hutchinson (R-Tex.). Northpoint is widely viewed as the MVDDS company that would most benefit from the provision. Another company, MDS America, also could provide service in that portion of the spectrum. The letter doesn’t mention any company by name. Critics of the amendment, which include House Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.), Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. McCain (R-Ariz.) and Senate Commerce Committee ranking Democrat Hollings (D-S.C.), said it was tantamount to a $100 million “giveaway.” Powell said the amendment would prohibit the Commission from utilizing competitive bidding to assign spectrum and deprive “taxpayers of the revenue they would receive if auctioned instead.” He said auctioning had been a proved method to determine which party would use the spectrum most effectively. Powell said an MVDDS proceeding showed many parties were interested in providing services in the band, particularly video and broadband services. “Instead of securing the maximum value of this spectrum for the American public, Congress would potentially hand over this valuable public resource in what could amount to a potential multimillion-dollar government- created giveaway,” Powell said. “Moreover, it would be a course that is facially and wholly inconsistent with the wireless communications policy that has governed the last decade of unprecedented wireless growth, innovation, and competition for consumers.” Powell said it was not common for the Commission to take a position on legislation, but said Wolf had solicited his opinion in an Oct. 2 letter. Powell also said if Congress adopted the amendment, the FCC would “faithfully implement” it. The House CJS appropriations bill has no such amendment. And while it’s in the Senate CJS bill, that measure isn’t expected to move to the floor until it’s wrapped up into an omnibus appropriations bill, since McCain has a hold on the spending measure. A similar controversial amendment was added to the Spectrum Relocation Trust Fund bill (HR-1320), which has passed the House. The amendment was added by Sen. Sununu (R- N.H.) during the Senate Commerce Committee markup of the House bill. Northpoint Chmn. Sophia Collier said Northpoint would compete with satellite companies that received spectrum without auction. “The Sununu-Landrieu-Hutchinson amendment simply establishes licensing parity between satellite and terrestrial services and gives start-up companies the same benefits the FCC now gives to the satellite industry giants,” Collier said. “Customers are losing hundreds of millions of dollars a month because of lack of competition in cable and DBS services and we believe it is time for the FCC to try the new approach embodied in this legislation.”