Salmon PCS, which has financial backing from Cingular Wireless, s...

this year a spectrum manager leasing agreement it was exploring with Cingular that would involve most of Salmon’s 45 markets. But at the time, Salmon told the FCC it needed to clarify how those new secondary market rules applied to DEs. Salmon had told the Commission its primary business would shift from wholesale or retail operations to leasing under a spectrum manager lease. The FCC last year adopted spectrum leasing rules to remove barriers stemming from a 40-year-old case that had been interpreted to mean that licensees must keep tight hands-on control of leased property. The rules covered spectrum manager leasing, in which parties could enter agreements without FCC approval beforehand as long as the licensee keeps de jure control of the license and de facto control of the leased spectrum. Salmon said conflicting language in the order created uncertainty on whether a DE could enter into a lease agreement with a company not eligible as a DE. “The Bureau has indicated that Salmon cannot pursue the arrangement it seeks unless the Commission changes the leasing rules on reconsideration or pursuant to the further notice of proposed rulemaking,” Salmon said in last week’s filing. Salmon argued DE licensees are essentially barred from “benefiting from the FCC’s secondary markets policy absent reconsideration or further rule changes. This directly contradicts the stated goal in the secondary markets proceeding of providing additional flexibility to licensees, including DEs.” Salmon said that it and other DE winners in the NextWave re-auction are at crucial stages of development and need an answer soon on whether leasing is an option.