The FCC’s kick-off of the landmark spectrum auction notice of planned rule making had many in Washington talking – and here’s what a few more had to say, including remarks of House Communications Subcommittee Chair Greg Walden (R-OR).
* House Communications Subcommittee Chair Greg Walden (R-OR): Today we are one step closer to advancing spectrum policies this subcommittee has been championing for more than five years. If implemented well, the law has the potential to help meet Americans’ hunger for mobile broadband services, generate hundreds of thousands of jobs, and raise billions of dollars toward buildout of the nationwide, interoperable public safety network called for by the 9/11 Commission. We will work with stakeholders and the FCC to try to make those goals come to fruition.
* Matt Wood of Free Press: “Despite alarmist predictions, the U.S. is not facing a spectrum crisis; it’s facing a spectrum allocation and competition crisis. The FCC must acknowledge that for too long the biggest companies have stifled competition by buying up large swaths of the nation’s most valuable spectrum. A more rational screen can ensure the nation’s airwaves are distributed equitably, helping to drive down prices and increase quality of service. In considering how to approach incentive auctions, it’s imperative that the Commission promote opportunities for current competitors, innovators and entrepreneurs alike to have access to licensed and unlicensed spectrum. The Commission should use this opportunity to address our broadband competition problem and develop a comprehensive competition policy.
* MMTC, discussing auction bidding credits: “The Commission will invite public comment on auction procedures, including how to structure Ownership opportunities for designated entities such as minority entrepreneurs. As MMTC has maintained for over a generation, minority ownership is absolutely as vital to job creation, innovation and opportunity in wireless as it is in broadcasting and cable. Spectrum has become essential to nearly every element of the nation’s economy. Universal nationwide wired and wireless broadband networks would be America’s greatest generators of jobs and entrepreneurial opportunity in a generation.”
