Adelstein Sees Many Hurdles to Minority Bidding on 700 MHz
The FCC could boost interest in 700 MHz spectrum among small businesses by allowing bids for small geographic blocks, FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said at a Minority Media and Telecommunications Council conference Monday.
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Adelstein shares Chairman Kevin Martin’s goal of having as many companies as possible participate in 700 MHz bidding. Martin’s plan to require open access on a chunk of the spectrum seems like a good idea, Adelstein told the conference. He noted that the plan encompasses only larger blocks. “Smaller blocks can be very helpful,” he said. There needs to be a nationwide approach to auction rules, regardless of whether blocks are split up by geography or population, Adelstein said. “We should be comprehensive no matter what.”
Regardless of what rules the FCC sets, women and small businesses face many hurdles to success in the 700 MHz auction, said Adelstein. They may face greater challenges than in the 2006 FCC advanced wireless spectrum auction, since 700 MHz frequencies may cost more. “You've got to wonder how small businesses are even going to get a chance to participate,” he said. Against the backdrop of AT&T, Google and other large companies “fighting” over auction rules, Adelstein said, he wonders how small companies will get money from investors to bid. Last year’s auction netted $13.7 billion. Analysts expect a larger take from 700 MHz because of the spectrum’s excellent propagation qualities.
Adelstein said he hopes at least one company will win a large amount of spectrum, so it can sell wireless broadband access nationwide as a “third channel” competitor to cable and phone companies, which have more than 90% of the market. “We better get a third channel into the home, and quick,” he told reporters. “That’s why the 700 MHz auction is so important.” The crucial question is how to get large companies to bid, he said. “We do need to take very seriously what they say they need.”
Adelstein and McDowell said the FCC could do much better at getting information on broadband deployment and other subjects. McDowell wants the agency to do “a better job of data collection” for “the entire jurisdiction of the FCC,” he said. Adelstein said the FCC would do well to find out why some people do not buy broadband, and whether the reason is relatively high prices. “Other countries are getting more bang for their broadband buck,” he said. “Price is one of the bigger barriers” to getting broadband. The Universal Service Fund should support high-speed Internet service in rural areas, and the government should do a better job of measuring how many rural homes get broadband, he said. - Jonathan Make