The telecom investment community is more reserved in the current boomlet than in its predecessors, but there are sweet spots to hit, panelists said Tues. at the Wireless Communications Assn. conference. Investment opportunities are present in the content, spectrum leasing, and specific international markets, they said, though incumbents’ sheer size makes the venture capital community a bit leery of smaller operations generally. Smaller companies that show an ability to adopt a large customer base rapidly have an advantage even in the face of other shortcomings, the investment analysts said.
The 3rd U.S. Court of Appeals, Philadelphia, should not stay revised designated entity (DE) rules heading into Aug.’s advanced wireless services auction, the FCC said. With that pleading, the FCC is taking on Council Tree, Bethel Native Corp. and the Minority Media & Telecom Council. Council Tree wrongly claims the DE order violates Communications Act provisions meant to encourage DE participation in spectrum auctions, the FCC said: “But in fact, the rules… strike a balance among the competing policy goals set out in the statute, and Council Tree has not come close to showing that they are unreasonable.” Neither has Council Tree shown it would face irreparable harm from the rules, the agency said: “Conversely, the grant of a stay would cause harm both to other parties and to the public interest. The auction is the product of years of significant coordination between the FCC and other federal agencies to relocate existing government users of the pertinent spectrum so that it could be available for licensing at auction. A stay would harm the public interest by delaying the significant public benefits of the auction and frustrating the substantial public and private efforts invested in bringing it to fruition.” Council Tree’s business plan may have to change to fit tough revised rules for “unjust enrichment,” but other DEs still can get financing to buy licenses, the FCC said: “In any event, the purpose of the DE rules has never been to have DEs participate in auctions solely for the sake of participating in auctions. Rather, the rules are designed to encourage DEs to become facilities-based providers of service. Even if the 10-year unjust enrichment period impedes bidding by some DEs, that rule change makes it more likely that those DEs that do win licenses will become genuine facilities-based providers.”
Delaying the advanced wireless services (AWS) auction after Council Tree sought a stay of designated entity rules for it would be a nearly unprecedented legal step, CTIA and T-Mobile told a federal court. Pleadings were due Thurs. in the 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia, which Council Tree asked to issue a stay. “Petitioners ask the court to do what courts have been asked to do but have done only once in the history of FCC spectrum auctions because some potential bidders are unhappy with the auction rules,” CTIA said: “Nothing in the petition justifies that extraordinary result.”
CHICAGO -- FCC Chmn. Martin hopes to gain consensus among Commission members on the need for “parameters,” including time limits, on local control of video franchising, he said. Following remarks to Globalcomm late Mon. Martin also said he doesn’t fear the advanced wireless services (AWS) auction will raise less than Congress expects, though designated entities and major carriers have threatened to sit out the auction.
The FCC Fri. delivered a big loss to Council Tree, the Minority Media & Telecom Council (MMTC) and Bethel Native Corp., refusing to make changes they demanded in designated entity (DE) rules released April 17. The order clarifies the FCC’s intent in referring to “spectrum capacity,” and stating that the rules don’t apply retroactively to licenses bought in earlier auctions. And it counters complaints a DE decision on unjust enrichment rules didn’t follow proper procedure.
A coalition of APCO and the major law enforcement and firefighter organizations said Fri. that giving public safety another 30 MHz of broadcast spectrum at 700 MHz, as proposed by Morgan O'Brien’s company Cyren Call, is worthy of consideration by Congress. But the group stopped short of endorsing the Cyren Call plan.
Verizon remains interested in acquiring Vodafone’s stake in Verizon Wireless, CEO Ivan Seidenberg said in response to analysts’ questions on the proposed purchase during Verizon’s Q1 earning conference call. Executives said the carrier has almost completed the cultural and logistical integration of MCI, and is in a “fast growth” phase, which includes trying to reel in the 45% of wireless operations held by the European carrier.
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.
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.
A group appointed by the FCC to deal with minority issues urged the agency not to change designated entity (DE) rules for spectrum auctions without considering the impact on small minority companies with revenue as low as $125 million. Two subcommittees of the Advisory Committee on Diversity urged the Commission to convene the full committee before acting on the DE rules. The group fears the agency will expand a proposed change in DE rules to include smaller companies, it said. The FCC originally eyed banning competitive bidding preferences for DEs with “material relationships” with large in-region incumbent wireless service providers, the subcommittees said. “It appears that, as part of that proceeding, the Commission is considering the adoption of a much broader rule that would prohibit the award of competitive bidding preferences to DEs having material investment from or relationships with any entity with revenue in excess of $125 million,” the committee said. In a draft resolution sent to the full committee, the smaller bodies said the FCC shouldn’t extend the prohibition beyond the largest wireless carriers because “the wireless industry is extremely capital-intensive and technically complex” and DEs need access to “sources of capital and expertise to have any chance of acquiring licenses and successfully providing service.” Entities with revenue in excess of $125 million are the most logical sources of investment and experience, the draft said.