D Block: Looking back and moving forward

What's next for the D Block spectrum? That’s the predicament facing the Federal Communications Commission in the aftermath of the failure to attract a bidder willing to cough up $1.3 billion for the national commercial/public- safety license in the recently completed 700 MHz auction. A House telecom subcommittee hearing generated a handful of ideas on how to craft rules for the D-Block re-auction. Interspersed in the brainstorming session were assessments of what went right and what went wrong with the auction. In the end, nothing close to a consensus emerged. Whether other wireless issues will muddy the waters in fashioning new D-Block guidelines remains to be seen. Time is not on the FCC’s side. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told House telecom committee members he wants to re-auction the D Block later this year, a timeframe that roughly coincides with the presidential election. Though bidding rang up a record $19 billion, some lawmakers and one witness suggested the FCC could have generated far more revenue if conditions had not been attached to key 700 MHz licenses.
http://www.rcrnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080419/SUB/607604932...