CTIA Hires Furchtgott-Roth to Influence FCC on Public Safety Spectrum

WIRELESS ASSOCIATION HIRES FORMER BOSS OF FCC CHIEF TO INFLUENCE AGENCY ON PUBLIC SAFETY SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: DrewClark.com]
The wireless industry association CTIA has retained an economic consulting firm run by the former boss of FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to poke holes in proposals modifying a forthcoming auction of radio frequencies. Furchtgott-Roth Economic Enterprises is run by Harold Furchtgott-Roth, a Republican FCC Commissioner from 1997-2001. Martin worked as a telecommunications attorney for Furchtgott-Roth from 1997 to 1999. Some technology companies and non-profit advocacy groups have been coalescing around a proposal released in February by a new venture called Frontline Wireless. It would create a new wireless zone for public safety communications. But CTIA and its major members ­ particularly Verizon and AT&T ­ have come out strongly against the Frontline proposal. On April 5, CTIA CEO Steve Largent, a former Republican congressman from Oklahoma, said in a letter to Martin that there were "issues involving the legality of the proposal."
http://www.drewclark.com/2007/04/wireless-association-hires-former-boss.shtml
* Furchtgott-Roth returned our call. He said, “I submitted the paper on my own behalf, and not on behalf of CTIA. They have not formally embraced or endorsed it.” Acknowledging sponsored by the wireless association CTIA, he added that the paper was not submitted to the FCC by CTIA, but by himself. “I don’t know whether it is just a question of timing [but] they are not submitting it; they are not advocating it in any way,” Furchtgott-Roth said.
http://www.drewclark.com/2007/04/furchtgott-roth-replies-to-post-on-ctia.shtml

-- In a related story...
* Will Reed Hundt 2.0 have better luck?
Former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt co-founded Frontline Wireless, a company that plans to bid on the 700 MHz spectrum that is going to be freed up when analog television meets its maker.
http://gigaom.com/2007/04/11/will-reed-hundt-20-have-better-luck/