August 30, 2007
Who lobbied the FCC most on 700MHz rules?
I’ve been following the 700 MHz story for more than a year, and here’s one that totally slipped by me. In sheer numbers of meetings who do you think lobbied the FCC hardest on the 700 MHz rules?
ATT? No, Verizon, No, Sprint, No, Quest, No!, Google, NO!
The answer is Frontline Wireless. Frontline who, you ask? Where has their name been in all of the reporting? Thanks to Nate Anderson at ARS technica, they come out from behind the large shadow cast by all of the Google hoopla.
Frontline’s long list of investors is headed by Jim Barksdale, who is probably most recognizable as the former CEO of Netscape. He has quite a resume beyond that, including a stint as CEO of AT&T Wireless (see his bio) making a little arm twisting at the FCC familiar territory. Add to that the fact that not 1, but 2 former FCC chairmen are members of the Frontline staff, and we have the perfect formula for serious player and a major influencer.
Frontline is financially capable of playing in the auction in a big way, and being well connected with the FCC doesn’t hurt either. I have to believe that Frontline’s role in crafting the rules for 700 MHz auction were much more than trivial.
article on ARStechinca
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A perfunctory review of SEC EDGAR docs only shows Frontline LLC as having met the initial filing specification. Filing was done 04/07 of this year.
[...] October 2, 2007More 700 MHz skullduggery at the FCC Frontline Wireless, the firm that had the most closed door meetings with the FCC concerning 700MHz action rules, is crying foul over FCC Chairman Kevin Martins’ attempts to modify the rules to appease Verizon. Frontline is now demanding that Verizon be sanctioned and potentially barred from participating in the auction. For their part Verizon has sued to remove the open access requirements that are currently in place. Verizon Wireless Inc. should be sanctioned and possibly barred from bidding in an upcoming spectrum auction for a violation of U.S. Federal Communications Commission lobbying rules, another wireless company has alleged. [...]