The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council supports the...

The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council supports the FCC’s order giving Grain Management and similarly situated companies a waiver of parts of the commission’s designated entity (DE) rules (CD July 24 p3), the group said in a news release Thursday. Grain sought a waiver of the attributable material relationship (AMR) rule, which limits the ability of a DE to lease out spectrum licenses it buys to another carrier rather than build out its own network. MMTC hopes the FCC will eliminate the AMR rule in its entirety “because it impedes a DE’s ability to create flexible business plans and access the capital necessary to participate in FCC spectrum auctions,” the group said. “On Wednesday, the Commission took a step in the right direction by enabling greater, near-term participation by small businesses in the upcoming AWS-3 auction and in the secondary markets,” said David Honig, MMTC president. The FCC is looking at more sweeping changes to the DE rules, but agency officials said they're unlikely to be released prior to the AWS-3 auction. “In line with Congress’s mandate to advance small business participation in wireless auctions, the FCC’s decision to engage Designated Entities in November’s AWS-3 auction will increase their participation in wireless spectrum ownership,” MMTC said.