COPPS SAYS VERIZON LETTER SHOWS ‘TAKE NO PRISONERS’ MENTALITY

Copps told reporters at a press breakfast he was distressed that “the city as a whole just gets closer and closer to this take no prisoners mentality, ‘gotcha’ mentality.” Copps added, “It really saddens me when we get into policy areas where there are disagreements and it descends to that kind of level.”

The FCC must move quickly on the Nextel order, Copps said. “We need to get this done. We've had a question mark out there for too long on public safety…. It’s a high priority. It should have been done long since.” Asked whether the FCC was asking the right questions, Copps said the Commission could have followed a different procedure from the beginning: “You can go back and say, ‘Why didn’t we at the outset really get a more specific handle on the level of interference and the realities of interference? Why didn’t we get a better handle on the cost of relocation? Why didn’t we get a better handle on the value of that spectrum early on?'”

Copps said he hadn’t given much thought to whether an order should be delayed until after the NextWave auction July 8, which could help the FCC better calculate the current value of the spectrum, some carriers have insisted. “I hate to delay this further and I don’t know if you get that immediate of a read out of the auction,” he said.

Copps touched on a number of other issues, saying that while Chmn. Powell promised interim UNE rules June 14 (CD June 14 p.1) he hasn’t seen any proposals. “I just do not have a feel for it. Nothing has been shared with me so I don’t know what road the chairman may be thinking of going down. Like you I am waiting with bated breath to see what might be suggested.”

Copps also said he hoped the FCC would look at the AT&T Wireless-Cingular merger “very specifically with regard to getting a handle on each of the markets involved to see what the competitive reality is.” Copps has expressed concerns the FCC doesn’t have a merger policy with formulae for evaluating market power.

Copps said he is hopeful the Senate will still confirm Comr. Adelstein to a new term. “You can be a successful minority commission and be a pessimist at the same time,” he said. “I am an optimist. I certainly hope that the Senate in its wisdom will see that we need Jonathan here badly. I hope he is renominated, and I hope he is confirmed.” Copps added that Congress is considering a term after the election, which would enhance Adelstein’s chances.

In another 800 MHz development, Sen. Lautenberg (D- N.J.), a member of the Commerce Committee, expressed “serious concern” about the proposal to give Nextel 1.9 MHz in a letter sent Tues. to the U.S. Comptroller Gen. Wireless carriers have been seeking similar letters from the Hill. Lautenberg warned that if the FCC sided with Nextel the company would receive “a uniquely valuable swath of spectrum… outside the normal auction process.”

Lautenberg said based on news reports in USA Today and The Wall Street Journal the order may violate both the Miscellaneous Receipts Act and the Anti-Deficiency Act. “As you know, these statutes make it unlawful to disburse or divert money from the federal Treasury without appropriation or authorization.” Lautenberg also warned that the spectrum in question may be worth as much as $10.7 billion. “Nevertheless, the FCC appears likely to assign it artificially lower value and prevent competition for that spectrum in an auction, resulting in significant loss to taxpayers.”