Howard Buskirk

The FCC has voted 5-0 to deny an AT&T petition seeking to halt deregulation of the Bells’ provision of special access services, we've learned. However, in a partial victory for AT&T and its allies the FCC will issue a further notice of proposed rulemaking posing several questions about the future of special access charges. The FCC was making last-min. tweaks to the item prior to the release of text, which could come as early as today (Fri.), we're told.

With a deadline fast approaching, Nextel has yet to say whether it will accept the FCC’s 800 MHz rebanding order. The carrier has until the close of business Feb. 7, which is less than 2 weeks away. In another important approaching deadline the Transition 800 MHz Transition Administrator (TA) has to send to the FCC by the end of Jan. 31 its plan for how reconfiguration should be completed, including which markets should go first.

The FCC is expected to vote at its Feb. agenda meeting on an order that would start the process of opening 900 MHz “white spaces,” or spectrum otherwise used for Business & Industrial/Land Transportation (BILT) service, for other uses, we're told. The FCC also will consider an order on giving Mobile Satellite Ventures authority to add an ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) to its mobile satellite services (MSS).

Major wireless carriers railed against a proposal to require that they use licenses they hold or give them up as part of a rulemaking on spurring wireless rollout to rural America. However, some rural interests said the proposal deserves consideration. The national carriers said a “keep what you use” relicensing proposal could reduce rather than increase investment in rural areas rather than more. These carriers also opposed “substantial service” renewal obligations, and proposed spectrum easements and spectrum underlays.

Wireless carriers, responding to an FCC request for comments, praised the FCC for moving forward on “market- oriented” policies for opening the secondary spectrum market but warned that a proposal to adopt a “private commons” model must come complete with controls to protect other incumbents.

U.S. Supreme Court Justices appeared skeptical of arguments by lawyers for the owner of a wireless tower in Cal. who asked to be reimbursed for his legal fees after winning a dispute with the City of Rancho Palos Verdes over a 50-ft. antenna, during oral argument Wed. Wireless carriers, led by CTIA, have supported the arguments, hoping it will make local govts. more cautious in their handling of tower siting cases because of the potential significant penalties they could have to pay.

The FCC and Justice Dept. asked the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., to deny a motion by ILECs to leave in place a petition for mandamus on interim UNE-P rules. While a purely procedural fight, sources said the maneuvering has potentially significant implications. If the court denies the motion, it would most likely mean a more-expedited federal appeal of parts of the interim rules opposed by the Bells. A govt. source said the FCC and DoJ are saying in effect: “If people want to appeal the new rules that’s fine, but this isn’t the way to review the new rules.” The source said timing is the key issue: “If the court agrees with what the Bells say it would lead to an expedited review stemming from their filing… They're hoping to use the mandamus to get portions of the new rules thrown out.” FCC and DoJ called the ILEC petition “an extraordinary attempt to use the Court’s mandamus jurisdiction to effect a rolling judicial oversight proceeding that is indifferent to the agency’s ongoing decisional process.” The govt. also argued that ILECs already have other mechanisms of appeal available to them if they disagree with the interim rules. “The Commission’s release of the order promulgating those rules is imminent, and parties aggrieved by those rules (including the ILECs) will be free to challenge them.”

Northpoint Technology appeared to score some points Fri. in oral arguments before the Court of Appeals, D.C., in its battle with the FCC over a narrow but potentially significant spectrum issue. Judges Harry Edwards and Raymond Randolph appeared skeptical at times of the FCC’s arguments on why it ruled that spectrum sought by Northpoint to offer DBS should instead be offered at auction - a step subsequently taken by the FCC.

The FCC will make improving wireless service quality a top priority in 2005, with a look at ways of eliminating “dead zones” and improving cellular quality underground and indoors, Wireless Bureau Chief John Muleta said Thurs. during a report to the Commission.

The FCC’s International Bureau has begun a series of face-to-face meetings with Canadian and Mexican officials on cross-border issues that must be resolved as part of the 800 MHz rebanding initiative, Chief Don Abelson said Thurs. “We've sat down face to face and talked to them,” Abelson told reporters after the FCC meeting. “Formal means that we actually start a process through the State Dept. and that has not yet been initiated, but it will be.” Abelson said both countries are interested in further discussions. “They want to talk further with us, want to get a better sense of what the final rule is going to look like,” he said. Meanwhile, the FCC will soon launch a website that provides information on the ongoing 800 MHz rebanding. The address is www.800mhz.gov.