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FCC Approves Airwave Use For All Phones
Federal Communications commissioners, from left, Deborah Taylor Tate, Michael J. Copps, Chairman Kevin J. Martin and Jonathan S. Adelstein vote for an "open-access" provision for the upcoming auction of part of the radio spectrum, while Commissioner Robert M. McDowell, right, voted against it.
(By Jay Mallin -- Bloomberg News)
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The rules also paved the way for the creation of a shared public-safety network that will help first responders communicate during disasters.
Under the rules, a wireless-network operator is to help build the public-safety network and sell the excess capacity to customers. Public-safety agencies, such as police and fire departments, will have priority use of the network during emergencies.
Frontline Wireless, a company backed by several Silicon Valley investors and former FCC chairman Reed Hundt, plans to participate in the auction and hopes to help construct the new public-safety network. It had also sought rules requiring the reselling of the airwaves to third parties so it could build a national wireless network.
While McDowell expressed concern that the open-access rules would create a "highly tailored garment that may fit no one," Martin said the rules balanced the interests of various potential bidders.
"Our rules shouldn't be designed to fit any particular company," Martin said in an interview after the meeting. "We've allowed a piece of the spectrum to let consumers have more choices and greater flexibility in the devices and software they use."
Consumer-advocacy groups criticized the FCC for wasting a "golden opportunity" to promote lower prices, better service and innovation.
"Sure it's great to take handsets from one network to another, but that's small potatoes," said Ben Scott, policy director for Free Press. "Our competition problems are not solved."
The rules do not apply to existing wireless networks. It will be several years before consumers see the impact of the new network, as the airwaves will not be abandoned by broadcasters until early 2009.
