In recent months, the Wireless Telecom Bureau and its chief, Dan Phythyon, have endured harsh criticism from Senate Commerce Committee John McCain (R-Ariz.), and others in this newspaper. The torrent of complaints has come from all directions.
But rather than serving as proof of incompetence, the attacks can be seen as validating bureau ingenuity. The truth is, other bureaus-mass media, common carrier and international-are not nearly as advanced in transitioning their guys from analog to digital technology and from monopoly/duopoly markets to truly competitive ones. Thus, WTB has taken more chances and invited opportunities for mistakes.
Moreover, wireless has grown more than any other telecom sector during the past five years (Internet excluded). Not only is wireless booming but it got that way through a novel licensing technique-auctions-that helped erase the federal budget deficit.
WTB is by far the most progressive FCC unit. That is part of the problem. WTB is a victim of its success. WTB woes do not flow from being a “do-nothing bureau.” On the contrary, problems have cropped up because its charter demands it be a “do-everything bureau.”
On the one hand, Congress in 1993 directed the FCC to create wireless competition and ownership diversity swiftly with auctions.
On the other hand, lawmakers made it at once abundantly clear and confusing that public safety should be shielded from auctions (and other private wireless services could be). In numbers alone, WTB oversees more licensees than any other bureau.
WTB, for its part, has given McCain and the industry plenty of ammunition:
The backlog. Should it have taken so long to decide to dismiss thousands of 900 MHz MAS licenses-a good chunk believed to be speculative in nature-so it could auction the spectrum?
Public safety. After throwing together a pathetic future spectrum requirements report a few years back, WTB suddenly got religion and began to preach the virtues of a 24 megahertz carve-out for public safety from TV channels 60-69.
Then WTB stumbled badly in handling public-safety spectrum requests from Southern California and New Hampshire, and drew the wrath of Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) and Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.).
Private wireless. Treating this important user group as second-class citizens has fueled hostility toward WTB and undermined the public-interest standard in spectrum management. The flip proposition aired by WTB from time to time that private wireless’ needs can be met by commercial carriers is telling.
Commercial wireless. Industry wants more deregulation now. While a rush to judgment probably would not be wise, WTB cannot afford to ruminate too long if it wants local competition.
That brings us finally to auctions. WTB deserves all the credit in the world for auctions. But the glory days are over, and the gory days are here. One gets the sense WTB views Pocket, GWI and NextWave with contempt because their bankruptcies have tarnished the FCC’s proud auction program. WTB wishes the whole bloody mess would go away. But it won’t. WTB must deal with nettlesome issues with an eye toward the big picture. Just the same, the bankruptcies prove not that WTB failed but that it has succeeded. That competition is alive. When was the last time you heard of a monopoly Baby Bell tanking?
