DECEMBER VOTE ON FREE BROADBAND WIRELESS MAY NOT BE IN THE CARDS

摘要

Awkward timing could stop FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's free wireless-broadband proposal from being voted on at the commission's Dec. 18 public meeting, an FCC official said. Some commission officials believe it would be unwise to set AWS-3 auction rules this month, with the recession deepening, a new FCC coming next year and the DTV transition approaching fast, the official said. There are also questions about how well the plan would spur rural and low-income broadband deployment. Even before the financial meltdown hit there were questions about the financial workability of an AWS-3 auction, the FCC official said. nnSome are hesitant about making rules that a brand new FCC would be have to implement, the official said. And some believe the FCC should keep its focus on the DTV transition, the official said. An enforcement provision in the plan would require the AWS-3 winner to give back all unused such spectrum if the carrier failed to meet interim build-out requirements. But because the rule permits a carrier to keep built-out spectrum, some at the FCC fear that the AWS-3 winner will be encouraged to build in major markets only and return spectrum in less profitable rural areas, the officials said.