Bush administration advocates spectrum-cap repeal

The Bush administration, which recently took a significant chunk of potential third-generation spectrum off the table for consideration, is pressing the Federal Communications Commission to lift the amount of spectrum a wireless carrier can hold in a given market.

In a letter to FCC Chairman Michael Powell, Nancy Victory, head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, said the Bush administration supports a complete and immediate repeal of the spectrum cap and cellular cross-interest rules. Today, a wireless carrier cannot own more than 45 megahertz of spectrum in an urban market. The FCC is examining the spectrum-cap issue and is expected to make a ruling by the end of the year.

“While the rules may have served a purpose when the commission was first licensing cellular and personal communications service providers and initially creating a competitive market for [commercial mobile radio service], these rules are no longer necessary to preserve established competition,” Victory’s letter states. “Indeed, their retention will more likely result in consumer harm. The rules’ arbitrary constraints on system capacity limit service availability as well as stifle the deployment of innovative new offerings on the CMRS networks.”

--Lynnette Luna, senior editor