T-MOBILE EXECUTIVE SAYS FCC SHOULD SELL 700 MHZ D BLOCK

摘要

The head of T-Mobile USA's Washington office said the FCC should sell the 700 MHz D-block for commercial use. T-Mobile broke ranks with Verizon Wireless and AT&T, which favor giving the D-block directly to public safety. An auction of the D block fell flat last year when no company met the minimum bid price to buy the spectrum and build a national broadband network in a public-private partnership with public safety. The future of the D block is expected to be among the first major issues confronting Julius Genachowski if he's confirmed as the FCC's chairman. The T-Mobile executive, Tom Sugrue, spoke at the Congressional Internet Caucus' State of the Mobile Net Conference. A public-private partnership "probably never will work," he said. The commission could use sales proceeds from the spectrum to help pay for a public-safety network, Sugrue said. nn" What public safety lacks, frankly, is money more than ... spectrum. It has 24 MHZ at 700 [MHz] that's just going to be opened up. You could auction off that D-block for between two and six billion dollars," he said. Sugrue said if he were the "czar" of public safety and were offered money or more spectrum, "I would definitely take the money." A major theme of the conference was that carriers need additional licensed spectrum. Sugrue said planning for an auction and identifying spectrum to sell should start right away. Matthew Hussey, the telecom adviser to Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said the Radio Spectrum Inventory Act, which his boss sponsored is a critical first step. S-649 is also sponsored by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. It would require the government to take an inventory of the spectrum between 300 MHz and 3.5 GHz.