WASHINGTON—The Rural Cellular Association this morning came out against a proposal by the Federal Communications Commission to keep spectrum auction information secret.
“A ‘blind bidding’ process would deter participation by RCA members who want to know, round by round in the bidding, what other entities are bidding for the same licenses, and for licenses in the region that surrounds a market of interest,” said Thomas Walsh, general manager of Illinois Valley Cellular and president of the RCA board.
Walsh was one of several witnesses to discuss spectrum reform and other wireless issues before the Senate Commerce Committee, which is studying various telecommunications issues as it readies its telecom-reform bill that is expected to be considered within the coming weeks.
The FCC said recently that it wanted to change the auction-information procedures for the upcoming advanced wireless services currently scheduled for June. The FCC, acknowledging the auction’s high stakes and concerned about the potential for anti-competitive bidding behavior, plans to veer from previous practice and keep secret key information about bidders and their bids until after the auction closes.
The only information about bids the FCC plans to publicly disclose during the auction, which is currently scheduled to begin June 29, is the gross amount of winning bids, the agency said. However, the FCC said after each auction round bidders would be able to find out whether they had winning bids.
RCA said in-auction bidding information is essential to rural carriers who need to know that compatible technologies are available in surrounding communities so their customers can roam.
“In a blind bidding scenario, RCA members would not know if they should bid on licenses because they would lack confidence that their networks would be compatible with the networks of bidders for surrounding markets in the region,” said Walsh.
