WSJ -- Lawmakers Vote to Postpone Wireless-Spectrum Auctions.
June 19, 2002
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Lawmakers Vote to Postpone Wireless-Spectrum Auctions
By YOCHI J. DREAZEN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
WASHINGTON -- In a win for the wireless industry,
lawmakers crafted and approved a last-minute deal to
delay indefinitely a pair of spectrum auctions,
including one set for Wednesday, as questions
lingered on when those airwaves would actually
become available for use.
Tuesday's House and Senate votes represent a victory
for wireless carriers and a setback for station owners
such as Paxson Communications Corp., which urged
that both auctions proceed as scheduled. The
company operates 19 of the nearly 100 television
stations broadcasting on channels 60 to 69 and hopes
to convince wireless carriers to pay it significant sums
to relinquish its spectrum sooner than it needs to.
The deal, reached after days of intense negotiations,
postpones Wednesday's auction and a related sale set
for January until federal regulators decide to go ahead
with them.
The measure had broad support in the House, but in
the Senate it brought objections from Republican Ted
Stevens of Alaska, who wanted Wednesday's auction
to proceed, as it involved airwaves particularly useful
to rural carriers such as Alaska Native Wireless. As
part of the compromise legislation, lawmakers ordered the Federal Communications Commission to sell that
narrow sliver of airwaves within three months. That measure now goes to President Bush to be signed into
law.
At issue is a broad swath of spectrum used for television channels 52 to 59 and 60 to 69, which broadcasters
are supposed to relinquish as part of the transition to digital TV. The airwaves will then be used by the nation's
wireless-phone companies, which are eager to bolster their networks and roll out advanced services such as
high-speed wireless Internet access.
But broadcasters aren't required to give up the airwaves until 2007 or whenever the market penetration for
digital TV hits 85%, whichever comes later. Many wireless carriers worry that that could take more than a
decade. Some station owners have demanded hundreds of millions of dollars to clear the airwaves earlier, but
the cellular carriers contend the government should force the broadcasters off those airwaves. The carriers
say they shouldn't have to pay the broadcasters, which have received the spectrum free of charge, to do
something the broadcasters already are legally required to do.
With that cloud of uncertainty hanging over the auction, the carriers waged an intense lobbying campaign to
persuade lawmakers and regulators to indefinitely postpone both auctions until the government decides what
other spectrum will be allocated for wireless communications and when it will become available.
Last month, the FCC voted to delay the upper half of the auction until January, the sixth time the sale was
postponed. The agency said the rest of the auction would go forward as scheduled. Now, both auctions will
be delayed indefinitely.
Wireless officials praised the move, which they said will allow lawmakers to devise a better plan for clearing
the airwaves and making them available for use.
Paxson spokeswoman Nancy Udell said the decision "was not unexpected," adding that the company hoped
that federal regulators would urge Congress not to force the company to relinquish its airwaves sooner than
planned.
FCC officials weren't available for comment.
Write to Yochi J. Dreazen at yochi.dreazen@wsj.com
Updated June 19, 2002
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