Howard Buskirk

A federal judge in N.Y. refused to grant class-action status in the remaining handset antitrust case brought against the major U.S. carriers on the grounds that they forced subscribers to buy handsets with features they don’t want and only in combination with cellular services.

The battle for the major regional licenses in the AWS auction appears close to its end, with bidding at a halt for those licenses in recent rounds - including the most valuable licenses of all, the 6 regional 20 MHz F block licenses. In the most recent bidding rounds, action has shifted from the 18 regional licenses to the smaller A, B and C blocks.

FCC Chmn. Martin’s office has interviewed several outside candidates to head the new Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau, agency and industry sources confirm. Thought to be in the running is Michael Amarosa, senior vp- public affairs at TruePosition, a vendor of wireless location technology. Amarosa, former deputy commissioner for technological development in the N.Y. City Police Dept., is well known in public safety.

The 800 MHz Transition Administrator isn’t staking out a position on whether the entire 800 MHz transition can be completed in the 36 months allowed by the FCC. Questions arose last week at the Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials annual meeting about whether the deadline can be met (CD Aug 9 p2). Brett Haan, dir. of the TA, responded to e-mailed questions this week about concerns raised at the APCO meeting. Haan said the decision whether to extend the deadline is in the hands of the Commission not the TA. “Ultimately any decision on the 36-month reconfiguration schedule is under the discretion of the FCC in their role defining the parameters of reconfiguration,” Haan said: “It is the role of the TA to take any and all action possible to meet the decisions made by the FCC.” Some officials at APCO told us that one slowdown in the transition has been that Sprint Nextel requires licensees to sign nondisclosure agreements in negotiating their frequency reconfiguration agreement (FRAs), so public safety systems can’t compare notes as they negotiate rebanding costs with vendors. Haan said the FRAs are between Sprint and licensees and not under the TA’s control. “The TA… does recognize the benefits of licensees having some level of basic details they can compare with each other,” he said: “Sharing of information between licensees enables licensees to have a better understanding of where they are and learn from their neighbors.” Haan also called on equipment vendors and consultants hired by public safety systems to keep their charges reasonable as they negotiate with public safety. “We know public safety’s plates are full!” he said. “For this reason, it is crucial that the consultants and vendors they rely on must make ensure reconfiguration costs are reasonable and prudent, and necessary for the licensee to maintain comparable facilities.” Haan said the TA has been open to advice from Sprint Nextel and public safety licensees on improving the program. “The TA has adjusted and refined the reconfiguration process and will continue to do so as opportunities for improvement continue to be identified,” he said. “The TA is well aware of the complexities of public safety systems and is continually gathering feedback from public safety leadership, licensees and other stakeholders and updating processes and procedures based on that input.”

CellCast Communications says that, contrary to the arguments of carriers, most of the U.S. public could be reached with emergency messages using technology that requires only a small adjustment to their handsets. The small Houston-based firm has sold the technology to Einstein Wireless in Wis., which will soon use it to broadcast warnings to subscribers.

Wireless DBS, the deep-pocketed partnership between DirecTV and Echostar, has effectively dropped out of the bidding in the advanced wireless services (AWS), as the auction has progressed more quickly than many had expected. Bids top more than $8 billion total. The DBS partnership has used all its waivers and stopped bidding.

The FCC, the CTIA, the Wireless Communications Assn., NAB and others warned of a huge burden on industry if the FAA imposes regulations requiring notice to the agency by anyone modifying a radio transmitter in a number of bands, including 2.5 GHz, a crucial band for wireless broadband.

Lisa Fowlkes and Ken Moran, both in the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, and Dana Shaffer, on loan to Comr. McDowell from the Wireline Bureau, are expected to be named deputy chiefs of the new Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau when it opens in coming weeks, according to industry and FCC sources. To date, there’s still no word on who'll head the bureau, mandated in March. “It remains really quiet on that front,” a regulatory attorney said. “The Bureau chief position is the missing part of the puzzle,” said an industry source: “There is plenty of speculation… those who know aren’t talking, and those who are talking don’t know.” Catherine Bohigian, chief of the Office of Strategic Planning & Policy Analysis, is reportedly no longer a candidate. Fowlkes, an assistant bureau chief, has been with the Enforcement Bureau since 2000 and briefly was a deputy chief of the Wireless Bureau. Moran is acting dir. of the FCC’s Office of Homeland Security, now part of the Enforcement Bureau, and has represented the FCC on homeland security issues at conferences. He has been at the FCC since 1978. Shaffer, who also has worked on loan for Comr. Tate, is a deputy chief in the Wireline Bureau. The likeliest scenario has her serving both as a deputy chief and division chief.

Three days into the bidding in the FCC’s advanced wireless services auction, action appears strong so far, with all the major players maintaining their eligibility to bid. After Round 7 late Fri., bidding stood at almost $2 billion and was poised to surpass that amount in the next round. The big spectrum blocks -- D, E, and F -- were attracting significant attention. Many smaller licenses have yet to attract a single bid. The auction could take a month or more, and winners and losers won’t be known for several weeks.

Sprint Nextel indicated Thurs. a significant number of public safety licensees whose systems are being retuned in one of the latest 800 MHz rebanding rounds aren’t reaching agreements and aren’t seeking planning funds. Concern already was high at the FCC after questions surfaced this week at the Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials annual meeting about whether rebanding can be done in the 36 months the FCC has allowed (CD Aug p2).