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To: Dealer who wrote (10282)	3/31/2000 11:56:00 PM
From: Dealer	Respond to of 35685

Qcom--News--Stolen from Ruffian Qualcomm Considers Credits By Caron Carlson WASHINGTON?Apparently anticipating that its shot at getting a 700 MHz license to fulfill a long-overdue ?Pioneer?s Preference? award won?t be a slam dunk, Qualcomm is seeking $150 million in bidding credits for upcoming spectrum auctions. And although the move looks ambitious, Qualcomm already is getting a conditional assist from another major player, Motorola. The FCC?s mishandling of Qualcomm?s Pioneer?s Preference application back in 1992 continues to haunt the agency, complicating other, already-complex proceedings. The upcoming auction of 30 megahertz of spectrum reallocated from TV channels 60-69 is now, according to the company, the only spectrum available that is suitable to fulfill the award. In late January, Qualcomm asked the commission to withdraw one of the 12 licenses up for bid at 700 MHz and designate it as the Pioneer?s Preference award, but the request drew unanimous opposition from the industry parties that commented. Now the FCC and Qualcomm are mulling over other options, including awarding the company either a C-Block PCS license slated for re-auction in July or bidding credits in the 700 MHz auction. In a letter to the commission last week, Qualcomm said the C-Block option is ?unlikely to be available in the foreseeable future.? The company is willing to consider a bidding credit alternative if the amount exceeds $150 million, according to the letter. ?It would sort of be like a voucher,? explains Jonas Neihardt, Qualcomm regulatory affairs director. ? It could be used to bid on multiple licenses or in multiple auctions.? Motorola is suggesting that the FCC give Qualcomm a transferable bidding credit available for any auction in the next three years. The licenses acquired through such credit should be restricted to the original Pioneer Preference conditions. Qualcomm shouldn?t be allowed to use its High Data Rate technology, and it should be required to hold the licenses for three years or until the buildout period ends. As Motorola points out, Qualcomm?s petition for one of the 12 new licenses at 700 MHz would make it impossible for a bidder to gather a nationwide footprint at the auction. Also, if the commission plans to grant Qualcomm one of the C- or F-Block PCS licenses slated for re-auction, it will create uncertainty for other bidders and ?defeat certain business plans,? Motorola says. Before the FCC could grant such novel bidding credits as a substitute for a Pioneer?s Preference award, it likely would have to seek court approval. Timing is essential in this case, not only because the FCC was ordered last July to grant Qualcomm?s award ?forthwith,? but also because two of the most heavily contested blocks of 700 MHz spectrum are scheduled for auction in the next four months.