FCC Puts Off Vote on CMRS Competition Report
The FCC put off a vote on the previously delayed CMRS competition report. The FCC also approved a rulemaking notice aimed at resolving a dispute between broadband wireless companies and XM and Sirius over the 2.3 GHz band. The notice, not yet released, mostly seeks comment and offers a single, noncontroversial “tentative conclusion.” The two items were deleted from the FCC agenda for a meeting Tuesday that focused on relaxation of media-ownership rules.
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Each of the past three years the FCC took up the competition report in September. In 2003, the agency approved the report in June. Commissioner Michael Copps has repeatedly criticized the reports for failing to adequately take into account data, and for not containing a “credible definition of effective competition,” especially in light of industry consolidation. The latest edition of the report contains more detailed data, analyzing competition in census blocks, but doesn’t deal with concerns about definitions, sources said Tuesday.
Recurring delays in release of the report are a sore point for commission members. In a statement on a new market screen for spectrum in the AT&T-Dobson merger order, Commissioner Robert McDowell said the “overdue” competition report might shed light on the screen (CD Nov 19 p2). “This apparently just fell off the radar screen because the FCC was working on other things but you have to wonder why they don’t just get it out,” said an industry attorney. Sources said the report probably will be voted on before the January agenda meeting, on circulation.
Wireless carriers welcomed the report, which they said would indicate that competition is flourishing in the industry.
The 2.3 GHz notice seeks comments on proposed rules for the band submitted separately by Sirius and the Wireless Communications Service Coalition. The notice contains only one tentative conclusion -- that the satellite operators may not use repeaters to provide local service but instead must carry the same signal transmitted over the system as a whole.
The spectrum, at 2305 to 2360 MHz, has been the subject of a long-running dispute between the sides over how much interference protection wireless communications service operators need from satellite repeaters. FCC auctioned the WCS spectrum in 1997, but there has been little buildout.
“The WCS Coalition is very pleased that the commission has sought public comment on its proposals,” said Paul Sinderbrand, counsel to the Wireless Communications Association. “At a time when the commission is searching for competitive alternatives in the wireless broadband marketplace, adoption of the WCS Coalition’s proposals are critical for WiMAX and other advanced technologies to prosper in the 2.3 GHz band.”