AT&T, VERIZON CRY FOUL ON FCC SPECTRUM-LEASING RESTRICTION

摘要

An FCC order imposes a condition on Harbinger Capital Partners Funds' acquisition of SkyTerra that calls for special treatment of AT&T and Verizon Wireless. It bars SkyTerra from leasing spectrum to either carrier without the commission抯 approval. The commission抯 Republican members, Robert McDowell and Meredith Baker, tried last week to get the condition dropped from the order, FCC officials said Monday. The order, signed by the chiefs of the International and Wireless bureaus and the Office of Engineering and Technology, was criticized by Verizon Wireless and AT&T, which said their executives had no warning that the condition was coming. "In its approval of the Harbinger/SkyTerra Communications transaction the Commission is setting a very disturbing precedent when it implies that it may use allocation of spectrum to manipulate the wireless market," said Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president of AT&T. "Having highlighted the very real problems caused by the spectrum crunch in its National Broadband Plan, the FCC now suggests that it will decide which companies are allowed to address that crunch and which are not.