FCC AWS-3 vote possibly in jeopardy after congressional heavyweights urge overhaul of Dec. 18 agenda: Spectrum auction in doubt

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin suddenly faces congressional pressure to pare down the Dec. 18 meeting agenda, a development that could blow up a scheduled a vote on a free, family friendly wireless broadband plan.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who are in line to chair the Senate and House Commerce committees next year, urged Martin in a letter today to concentrate on the upcoming digital TV transition and to steer clear of other contentious matters.
The letter comes only 48 hours after the Bush administration registered its opposition to Martin’s advanced wireless services-3 (AWS-3) initiative.
“At a time when serious questions are being raised about transition readiness, it would be counterproductive for the FCC to consider unrelated items, especially complex and controversial items that the new Congress and new administration will have an interest in reviewing,” Rockefeller and Waxman wrote. “We strongly urge you to concentrate the commission’s attention and resources only on matters that require action under the law and efforts to smooth the transition to digital television.” The DTV changeover will occur on Feb. 17.
The AWS-3 item was included on the Dec. 18 meeting agenda released late yesterday by the FCC.
The lawmakers’ letter can be read a couple different ways, however. On the one hand, AWS-3 is unrelated to the DTV transition and is highly controversial. On the other hand, M2Z Networks Inc., the Silicon Valley-funded startup that’s gunning for a national AWS-3 license, contends the FCC is required by law to have voted by now on the wireless broadband rulemaking.
“We just received the letter from Senator Rockefeller and Congressman Waxman. We are reviewing it and will reach out to the other offices,” said Matthew Nodine, an FCC spokesman.
T-Mobile USA Inc. argues wireless Internet service in the AWS-3 band (2155-2180 MHz) will cause harmful interference to mobile-phone operations in the AWS-1 (2110-2155 MHz) spectrum it paid billions of dollars for at an auction in 2006. FCC engineers, however, have concluded AWS-3 wireless broadband transmissions will not degrade cellphone service in adjacent frequencies.