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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Caxton Rhodes who wrote (24294)	3/16/1999 2:06:00 PM
From: Ruffian	Respond to of 152472

Q Going Uphill?> March 15, 1999 Qualcomm battle for pioneer's preference continues By Lynnette Luna Qualcomm Inc. seems to be waging an uphill battle with the Federal Communications Commission over its quest for a pioneer's preference mobile phone license it believes it deserves for cdmaOne technology. The U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia will hear arguments next month to determine whether the FCC correctly dismissed Qualcomm's application for a pioneer's preference license after Congress took away the FCC's authority to grant these types of licenses in 1997. If the cdmaOne innovator succeeds in its appeal, it once again will be at the FCC's mercy. A federal appeals court in early 1997 overturned the FCC's rejection of Qualcomm's pioneer's preference application for the Miami major trading area, saying the agency was inconsistent in awarding licenses for innovative broadband personal communications services technologies. The court ordered the commission to conduct further proceedings to determine whether Qualcomm was entitled to a pioneer's preference license under FCC rules. The commission in 1991 began offering the pioneer's preference program as a way to give telecommunications innovators certain types of licenses without having to face competing applications. The FCC granted three preference licenses: to Omnipoint Corp., American Personal Communications L.P. and Cox Enterprises Inc. Qualcomm said it attempted to negotiate with the FCC in the spring of 1997 for an alternative license so it wouldn't pit itself against Miami license holders PrimeCo Personal Communications L.P. and Sprint PCS—both cdmaOne operators. Several basic trading area licenses were available at the time. But by late summer, the commission dismissed Qualcomm's application and a slew of others after Congress, in the 1997 Budget Act, sunset the pioneer's preference program. The FCC said its authority to grant any applicant a pioneer's preference license expired Aug. 5, 1997. Qualcomm disagreed, claiming the law's sunset provision did not apply retroactively to its preference request since it was filed before the legislation was passed. Qualcomm subsequently filed a Motion to Enforce Mandate in court and a Petition for Reconsideration of the dismissal order with the FCC. Both actions were denied. Oral arguments in appeals court are set for April 22. ‘‘If we win, then we will be right back to where we were a year-and-a-half ago,'' said Kevin Kelly, senior vice president of external affairs in Qualcomm's Washington, D.C., office. ‘‘They will have to address the issue of whether we should get a preference. Our view is, they don't have a lot of alternatives.'' The appeals court likely will not decide on the case until July, said Kelly. If Qualcomm wins the appeal, the FCC will have to determine whether it is required to act on the preference, if it should grant a license and what license to grant—a process that could last several years. Qualcomm doesn't want the FCC to take away its customers' licenses in Miami, and by the time Qualcomm would receive a license, the FCC will have auctioned off the remaining C-block licenses. ‘‘It will be a complex situation. They will have had the C-block auction by then,'' said Kelly. ‘‘We tried to make a deal with them when the first remand came back. Now all those licenses will be gone.''