Jul 31, 2007 2:00 pm US/Central
Cell Phone Users May Get More Choice, At A Cost
FCC To Decide On Airwaves Auction Rules
WASHINGTON (CBS) ―
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The proposed rules for next year's airwaves auction will offer a third way to get broadband Internet access. (File)
CBS
The Federal Communications Commission approved rules Tuesday intended to give consumers more choice in their cell phones and wireless devices after a new airwaves auction is held next year.
The vote clears the way for the auction, which is expected to raise as much as $15 billion.
The commission approved a much-debated "open access" provision, pushed by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, a Republican, and supported by the two Democrats on the commission, that will allow customers to use whatever phone and software they want on about one-third of the network to be auctioned.
A more ambitious provision, which would have required a licensee to sell access to its network on a wholesale basis, was not included in the rules, making it unlikely that Google Inc. will bid. Google had been expected to challenge traditional wireless companies if the rules had been favorable.
The rules also will allow for the creation of a new shared public safety network that commissioners hope will solve many of the communication problems that fire fighters and other first responders have experienced during disasters like the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The vote was not unanimous. Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell dissented on the open access provision, his first dissent since joining the commission. Republican Deborah Taylor Tate also expressed concerns about the provision, but did not oppose it.
The two Democrats, Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, would have preferred that the rules would have included the wholesale concept sought by Google and consumer groups. But they ended up supporting the final rules.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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