DC Reacts to Verizon Spectrum Sale

Washington reaction varied to the news that cable operators were selling the spectrum they won at the Federal Communications Commission's Advanced Wireless Services auction in the 2006.

Mark Cooper of the Consumer Federation of America said it would be a good deal for Verizon and a bad deal for consumers. He said the deal would result in higher prices and less choices. "The auctioning of spectrum has totally failed to promote competition in wireless," he said. Cooper said it was ironic that the announced deal came a day after House Republicans voted to foreclose the development of unlicensed spectrum that would give the public alternatives to paying Verizon -- or AT&T -- for cellular service. "With this purchase, almost 75 percent of the spectrum auctioned in the last decade has ended up in the hands of the top two wireless firms (AT&T and Verizon) and 90 percent with the top four firms," said Cooper.

Public Knowledge saw some upside to the deal. "It is good news that Verizon is paying $3.6 billion to buy useful spectrum from the cable company consortium. Spectrum is better held in the hands of those who will use it, as opposed to those who don't," PK legal director Harold Feld said in a statement. "The transaction also shows how relatively cheaply more spectrum can be acquired by those who need it. The purchase price is about one-tenth of the amount AT&T wants to pay for T-Mobile to theoretically solve AT&T's spectrum shortage." But he shared with Cooper concerns about reducing competition, in the video as well as broadband space.