House backs 700 MHZ auction delay

By Kristy Bassuener, Wireless Week
from BroadbandWeek Direct, May 8, 2002

U.S. Representatives approved by voice vote Tuesday evening a bipartisan measure aimed at delaying the 700 MHz spectrum auction for the sixth time. The Senate has a similar measure on the table. The legislators, large carriers and CTIA all back the bill despite a current federal law requiring that the government sell license by September.

The vote increases pressure on the FCC, which repeatedly has said the auction will go on. But sources tell Wireless Week that the commission likely will announce that the sale has been postponed some time this week. Short-form applications for the auction are due to the FCC today. Officially, an FCC spokeswoman says the commission will review the applications "for about a week or two" and then release them online. "We have no comment on the auction schedule. It is still scheduled for June 19," says the FCC's Maribeth McKerrick.

Larger carriers are not eager to take part in the June auction because the spectrum currently is occupied by TV broadcasters and the deadline for them to vacate to digital channels is murky. The broadcasters occupy the frequencies free of charge, and have offered to take large-sum payments from carriers to vacate earlier than the deadline of 2006 or when 85 percent of the U.S. population has access to digital television -- whichever comes later.

Speaking at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association conference in New Orleans this week, FCC Chairman Michael Powell told cable industry players that the key to getting Americans to adopt digital TV more quickly is more high-definition digital-format programming. Adoption has been lagging because digital TV equipment is expensive and various interests -- cable, the consumer electronics industry and content producers such as movie and TV studios -- have not reached full agreement on hwo to prevent digital program pirating.

However, some smaller carriers say the delay tactics are more political, and that big carriers seek the delay because of the lack of capital to participate. One Colorado-based 700 MHz auction hopeful threatened to sue the FCC if the sale does not move forward, and Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, introduced a bill that, if passed, would ensure the auction's June 19 date.