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Telecom Shift in D.C. politics means change for FCC



Telecom: Agency May Be ‘More Business-Friendly’

New technology and shifting customer preferences make constant, incremental changes in the wireless telecom world.

A more abrupt shift , at least for the United States , is the arrival of a Republican administration in Washington, D.C.

That changes things at the Federal Communications Commission, and telecom executives and analysts are watching the FCC with interest.

Changes include a new chairman. President George W. Bush last month named Michael K. Powell to the post.

Powell is no newcomer to the agency; President Bill Clinton named the Republican to a commissioner’s chair there in late 1997. Yet the chairman’s seat has “a lot more influence,” said Ron Cowles, principal analyst for the worldwide telecom group of Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Dataquest.

Cowles added Bush will soon be naming more commissioners , a process that involves background checks and Senate confirmation. He advised not to expect final orders from the commission “until things settle down” following confirmation.


Reevaluate Business Plans

The new FCC will be “more business-friendly” than it has been in the past, said Cowles, who also noted the way radio spectrum is allocated will be an important concern of the Bush agenda.

Gartner Dataquest released a statement late last month saying telecom carriers and vendors should evaluate their business plans in light of the new administration and Congress.

Masood Tayebi indicated it may be too early to make a judgment regarding the FCC.

Tayebi, the CEO of San Diego-based Wireless Facilities, Inc., said he would like to see the FCC take a few actions to get a feel for how the agency will proceed.

Tayebi, whose company designs, deploys and manages wireless networks worldwide, said he would like the FCC to “be more proactive” in distributing third-generation wireless telecom licenses. “There is a tremendous amount of business to be done,” he said.

As things stand, carriers in the United States will not be able to get their third-generation licenses until 18 months from now, Tayebi said. By contrast, he said, European licenses were distributed six months ago, and Japanese licenses two years ago.

The FCC could speed up the auction of third-generation spectrum licenses if government officials wanted, Tayebi added.

What’s wrong with distributing licenses now? A quicker allocation may not be as lucrative to the government now as it may be in the future, he said.

Dan Pegg, an executive with San Diego-based wireless carrier Leap Wireless International, Inc., said a few issues at the FCC bear watching.


Spectrum Caps

One is the possible elimination of “spectrum caps,” a rule saying no carrier can have more than 45 megahertz of spectrum in a market. Pegg, senior vice president for public affairs with Leap, said several commissioners as well as federal lawmakers have expressed support for lifting the caps. The commission is taking public comment on the issue.

Large carriers may feel compelled to amass as much spectrum as they can to keep competition out of their markets, said Pegg, who described Leap as a small carrier. He also said no carrier needs more than 30 megahertz if they use the correct technology.

The recent spectrum license auction, where Leap picked up spectrum in 22 markets nationwide, may also be challenged at the FCC level and in court, he said.

One other interesting issue, said Dataquest’s Cowles, is the amount of spectrum allocated to the Army, and whether Congress will free any of it for public use.

Dataquest also predicted a shift of some FCC power to state regulators and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the Department of Commerce.

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