Comr. Copps said Thurs. the FCC should consider the wisdom of all...

unlicensed use. In other spectrum, for example ultra-wideband, the FCC provides for unlicensed use under existing licensed use. Copps told a 3G Americas seminar on 3G technologies that wireless carriers may face enough concerns without having to worry about possible new interference: “Mobile phone licensees don’t know if tomorrow the FCC will allow another spectrum user to share their bands and what the rules will be… Maybe we need to decide that there is enough uncertainty for mobile carriers today and that underlay rights are not appropriate in the already heavily trafficked CMRS bands, even if they are appropriate elsewhere, which I believe they may be.” Copps also reiterated his calls for formal merger guidelines at the FCC on the eve of an order on the Cingular-AT&T Wireless merger. “I can’t talk about pending mergers, but I can say that it amazes me that the FCC does not have wireless merger guidelines. We ushered in a new world with the elimination of the spectrum cap, making many new mergers possible, yet we didn’t replace it with anything.” Copps told the conference he hoped to see more growth in telecom investment led by wireless growth. To that end “governments, starting with our own, need to provide more predictability and transparency to the market,” he said.