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Congress is All Aflutter about the Recent Failure of the 700 MHz public-safety D-Block to Sell?
The US House of Representative’s Energy and Commerce Committee has plenty to say about the failure of the 700 MHz D Block of public-safety licenses to sell.
The
Washington Post reported on recent comments coming out of the House's
Energy and Commerce Committee about the failure of the 700 MHz D Block
to sell. This block of spectrum held a reserve price of $1.3
billion and only had one bid for less than $500 million. What was the
reason? Well, most likely it was the requirement that the D-block be
used for a nationwide public-safety network and commercial companies
did not value that use very highly.
As might be expected our legislators had plenty to say about what
should be done. Criticisms abounded. Lots of voices complained about
the fact that AT&T and Verizon netted about 70 percent of all of
the licenses auctioned. One other clear theme from the Representatives,
upon which I agree wholeheartedly, would be to change the auction rules
to favor more winning bids by smaller carriers. This would be a good
start. And removing the public safety requirement would be really
helpful too. I just don't see that stipulation being anything more than
a hindrance frankly.
What will the FCC do? To begin with it probably can't re-set itself
before the 4th quarter of 2008 to re-auction this spectrum so there is
plenty of time to decide. But don't plan for major changes that will
significantly improve the chances of smaller bidders to improve their
spectrum position. Sorry. It won't happen.
Tim Sanders
The Final Mile
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