Chmn. Martin is circulating revised designated entity rules for the advanced wireless services auction that don’t contain a proposal cutting to $125 million the revenue threshold limiting carriers from partnering with a DE, sources said Thurs. The change is a potential win for DEs and small carriers upset about the lower threshold. One source said Martin withdrew his previous proposal late Wed. and is circulating a new plan in its place. The FCC earlier had examined a $5 billion limit, which would block agreements between DEs and the largest carriers, but not with smaller carriers (CD April 20 p5).
The FCC last week may have set too high a bar in imposing a competitiveness test that must be met to avoid blind bidding in the advanced wireless services auction, sources said this week. Save for Verizon Wireless, carriers large and small tend to oppose blind bids. But blind bidding seems all but a certainty when the auction begins June 29.
Designated entity rules for the advanced wireless services auction seem in flux, with short form applications due May 10 and the auction set to start June 29. The FCC has 2 choices, sources said: approve rules consistent with a further notice of proposed rulemaking, or not propose any changes to DE rules before the auction. “There may still be negotiating going on,” one source said: “I wouldn’t read too much in the tea leaves.” The source said Chmn. Martin has yet to lay out a clear “drop dead” date by which time DE rules must be approved for the auction to proceed as planned.
The FCC issued a $750,000 notice of apparent liability for forfeiture against Dobson Cellular and American Cellular on accusations of “willfully and repeatedly” violating FCC rules requiring the carrier to provide E-911 service within 6 months of a valid request by a PSAP. Both carriers are subsidiaries of Oklahoma City-based Dobson Communications.
Repair crew access to disasters remains a controversial issue as the FCC Hurricane Katrina Independent Panel assembles a report due June 15. Panelists representing firefighters and police made clear Tues. at the FCC they're reluctant to give repair crews blanket “first responder” status.
A report by the Dept. of Homeland Security’s inspector general on how the Federal Emergency Management Agency performed during Hurricane Katrina found that communications was one of several “severe deficiencies” during the storm. But the report also said FEMA provided critical communications support through its mobile teams dispatched to the disaster area before Katrina made landfall.
Military effectiveness was compromised when DoD had to move to inferior spectrum to make room for commerce, DoD CIO John Grimes said Thurs. Commercialization of DoD spectrum and related issues are becoming more problematic, he said in remarks to an INPUT lunch. “Spectrum is starting to eat my lunch in many ways,” Grimes said.
The FCC Wed. backed away, at least in part, from an order demanding blind bids in an advanced wireless services auction set to start in June. Blind bidding, strongly backed by FCC Chief Economist Leslie Marx, ran into a firestorm of protests from carriers large and small. Nonetheless, as the auction has neared, the FCC has seemed adamant on blind bids.
Chmn. Martin has started to circulate among his fellow commissioners an order that would give industry standard- setting groups the first cut at developing rules for making facilities-based broadband and interconnected VoIP services capable of accommodating law enforcement wiretaps, sources said Tues. The FCC approved a CALEA order for VoIP Aug. 5 (CD Aug 8 p1) at the urging of federal law enforcement and released an order Sept. 23.
The FCC is ready to act selectively against big wireless carriers for missing a Dec. 31, 2005, requirement that 95% of cellphones used by customers be location capable, sources said Tues. The extent of penalties is unclear. Carriers have been contacted by the Enforcement Bureau, sources confirmed.