FCC Plans Votes on Wireless Mergers

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin said yesterday that the agency would vote on two proposed mergers involving major wireless carriers at its next meeting on Nov. 4, an ambitious regulatory push before the end of the year.

The five-member commission will vote on the proposed $28.1 billion merger between Verizon Wireless and rural operator Alltel. If approved, the combined company would become the nation's largest wireless provider, with 80 million customers.

The FCC will also vote on the proposed merger between WiMax provider Clearwire and Sprint Nextel's Xohm business. The companies, along with Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner and Bright House, agreed in May to a partnership that would create a nationwide broadband wireless network based on WiMax technology to compete with the services of giants Verizon and AT&T.

Martin said in a news conference yesterday that he wanted to push forward on the merger votes to help clear up uncertainty over those deals, particularly as the credit crisis is putting business plans in various industries in limbo.

Ben Wolff, chief executive of Clearwire, said in an interview earlier this week that his Kirkland, Wash., firm isn't exposed to credit concerns because partners in the merged companies are cash rich. The firm won't need to tap credit markets for financing.

Sprint and Clearwire's partners have agreed to invest $3.2 billion in the venture. Wolff said, "$3.2 billion goes a long way for us, and we are very fortunate that we struck the deal last May. We have good-quality partners who will have no trouble writing us checks."

Martin also put on the agenda for Nov. 4 -- Election Day -- a proposal that would allow portable devices to use the airwaves between TV channels for wireless broadband service.

After months of testing and more than a year of lobbying by tech firms Google, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Dell and others, the FCC's engineering office yesterday spelled out the standards for devices using the empty airwaves called white spaces.

"I'm hoping to take advantage of utilizing these airwaves for broadband services to allow for unlicensed technologies and new innovations in that space," Martin said.

Broadcasters and wireless microphone users say letting unlicensed devices use the airwaves would disrupt broadcasts and signals used during sports events and concerts.

According to the engineering report, the portable devices must have sensing technologies that enable them to detect nearby broadcasts and avoid occupied frequencies. Devices would also be equipped with a database to automatically identify which airwaves are in use in particular areas.

Entertainment venues such as Nashville and New York would be listed in the database so devices would avoid frequencies used by wireless microphones. And devices would be restricted to lower power levels on airwaves right next to broadcasters.