700 MHz Auction

In pushing to remove access to tethering applications on some phones, Verizon Wireless may be violating openness rules attached to spectrum licenses that the company purchased in 2008. But weeks later, federal regulators have still not ruled on the alleged violation or taken action against the cell phone company.

SUMMARY

Spectrum is a public resource, and must be protected as such. The ability to hold and transfer spectrum licenses is a privilege, not a right. That privilege must be carefully and closely regulated by the Commission to ensure that the use of spectrum serves the public interest. Attempts to exercise the privilege of transfer face a substantial burden of proof - and Applicants have failed to meet that burden, as several petitioners have shown.

PUBLIC INTEREST SPECTRUM COALITION

The Media Access Project, on behalf of the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition (PISC), hereby submits these comments with regard to the above captioned proceeding. The failure of the D Block license to attract a bidder presents the Commission with a unique opportunity to restructure this band of spectrum in a way that will both serve the needs of public safety and the broader goals of the Communications Act. To that end,

Chairman Kevin Martin
Federal Communications Commission
445 Twelfth Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554

Re: Service Rules for the 698-746, 747-762, and 777-792 MHz Bands
WT Docket No. 06-150

Implementing a Nationwide, Broadband, Interoperable Public Safety Network in the 700 MHz Band
PD Docket No. 06-229

Dear Chairman Martin:

$4.7 billion in the 17th round of the 700MHz auctions (InfoWorld)

The FCC may have to re-auction the spectrum without the reserve price and perhaps without public safety obligations, said Michael Calabrese, director of the Spectrum Policy Program at think tank the New America Foundation.

In this report, I analyze the competitive effects of recent proposals to reserve a small portion of the upcoming 700 MHz band auction for wholesale, open-access use.[i] Using this license, a wholesale open-access licensee would build out the wireless network, own and operate the cell sites, towers, and radio equipment, and provide transport to the Internet backbone.

Before the
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20554

In the matter of

Service Rules for the 698-746,
747-762, and 777-792 MHZ Bands, WT Docket No. 06-150

Implementing a Nationwide, Broadband,
Interoperable Public Safety Network in the
700 MHZ Band, PS Docket No. 06-229

Implementation of the Commercial Spectrum
Enhancement Act and Modernization of the
Commission's Competitive Bidding Rules
and Procedures , WT Docket No. 05-211