FCC seeks more comment on airwaves auction
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission decided on Wednesday to seek more public comment on how the sale of valuable wireless airwaves will work, a move that could delay the start of the auction.
A swath of television airwaves, which are being returned by broadcasters as they move to digital signals from analog, is expected to be auctioned off by the FCC later this year.
But recent proposals, including one from a start-up firm called Frontline and another by a coalition of consumer groups, has pushed the agency to seek more comment from the public.
The decision was approved by the five commissioners who vote on agency rulings. However, commissioners expressed concern and underlined the importance of the auction.
At stake is the creation of a public safety network so that emergency workers can better communicate with each other -- a significant problem in 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.
The airwaves are considered so valuable that they are seen as the last opportunity for new players to enter the wireless market.
"Depending on how we structure the upcoming auction, we will either enable the emergence of a third pipe... or we will miss our biggest opportunity," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said in statement.
Haggling over how the auction would proceed and 11th hour proposals delayed the agency's monthly meeting by hours. The meeting was scheduled for 10:30 am EDT but did not start until well into the evening.
Martin, who had arrived for the morning meeting with fellow Republican commissioner Deborah Tate, said what was important was that the agency get the plan right and in time for it to go forward with the auction.
The agency has to define how the auction will work, provide a set of rules on how the spectrum will be divided up, as well as say what kind of services can be offered using the airwaves.
It must do all of this within a specific time-frame. The FCC is mandated to start the auction no later than the end of January 2008.
Democratic commissioner Michael Copps questioned the strength of Frontline's proposal, which is one that has gained some traction with consumer groups and lawmakers.
The firm wants the block of airwaves next to the block being allocated for public safety, to be designated for use by emergency workers as well as commercial customers.
Frontline wants whoever wins that block to be required to build a national network that would be shared with commercial and public safety users.
It is proposing a system that can support multiple network technologies and can quickly reallocate how airwaves are shared among users. It wants to give customers more choice over devices while ensuring public safety workers get priority in emergencies.
"I will need strong assurances... that the plan will actually work before I can support it. And by work, I mean work for public safety," said Copps.
He said he was not sure that a "dual-use network would actually deliver public safety users the network they so desperately need and deserve."
