700mhz Auction Considered a Failure?

The House Telecom SubComittee convened today and the considered opinon by some was that the recent auction though resourceful and not a complete winner. The lack of a sale of the ‘D’ block was on the lips of many. –

“The FCC must revisit these policy decisions in light of the recently-completed auction and take corrective action going forward,” the Massachusetts lawmaker stated. “The commission has the responsibility to learn from the licensing mistakes of the past and to widely disseminate licenses and promote greater broadband competition and should endeavor to do so.”

Markey and other lawmakers — as well as FCC Chairman Kevin Martin — said the commission should not abandon the public-private partnership approach as federal regulators consider changes to D-Block guidelines. Suggestions include lowering the $1.3 billion reserve price for the license, modifying the penalty associated with network-sharing agreement negotiations between the D-Block winner and the public-safety broadband licensee, clarifying upfront the obligations and expectations of the private sector partner and perhaps licensing the D Block on a regional basis with an interoperability requirement.

“Any and all options should be on the table,” Martin told subcommittee members.

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) said the D-Block license should be re-auctioned without any conditions.

“The auction raised $19 billion, and that’s great, but it should have raised a lot more,” said Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), ranking member of the House Commerce Committee. “True, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the auction would raise $12.5 billion. But other studies estimated that, without the conditions, the spectrum would raise $25 to $30 billion. I think that the higher estimates would have been about right, based on the results where the C-Block revenue was about half of what many folks thought, and the D Block did not sell at all.”

What concerns me is the attitude. Its like to accomplish anything the OverLords of Telecom with strains of the intro to Dr. Who playing in the background has to occur. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes the rules of the ‘D’ block made things unattractive in many ways. But that is because the approach taken. That being a massive single provider approach. If this is to be a first responder network then treat it like one.

Forego auctioning it off. Have the FCC contract with a engineering firm to do the oversight and spec development. Open the specifications to the market so equipment vendors can provide for equipment and let them compete on a local basis for the business with the various local/regional entities. Open up bids for all entrants to carry the bandwidth. Set up a public corporation to oversee the final network.

This is to be for the public good is it not? Then why does it have to be auctioned off at all? The holder of record would be the public corporation so designated. Just a thought.

linky.