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It is time for the FCC, Congress and the courts to stop debating the rules for C-block payments and get down to business.

When Congress mandated the spectrum auctions, it infused competition but did not guarantee success. Only the marketplace and the entrepreneurs themselves could dictate the success or failures of their ventures.

Many C-block operators have initiated service in their markets and have been successful. Many more promise to do so soon. The factors that separate these operators from their more litigious brethren are careful planning and restraint. These operators' bids reflected knowledge of the BTAs and a desire to build a business one step at a time.

A minority of the C-block licensees are choosing to lobby within the Beltway to recast the rules of the game instead of focusing on deployment in their markets. This minority claims that the FCC needs to offer further relief so that troubled would-be operators can bring competition to the marketplace. Yet, the current wireless landscape and the inevitable results of any default by these petitioners undercut any substantiation for their arguments.

Competition has driven wireless prices down drastically over the past 18 months. A-, B- and C-block PCS operators have initiated service in most of the major markets in the United States. Many C-block operators have turned on service in secondary markets throughout the country. The effect of any competition that the troubled license holders would bring to the marketplace is negligible.

Even if these companies were to default, their licenses would be re-auctioned, and the "needed" competition would result. With the past as prologue, the winners of such a re-auction would enter the arena with more focused business plans and more realistic bids.

Those carriers calling for rule adjustments argue that the license winners paid too much in light of marketplace changes. But changing market conditions is a risk inherent with starting a business venture. Many veteran operators, such as US Airwaves and Craig McCaw, exited the auction when prices became too high to complete their business plans. This should have been a red flag for the other bidders.

The marketplace does not forgive, and neither should the FCC nor the courts. All of the bidders knew the rules when the auctions began, and all of the competitors' business plans should have been able to withstand the vagaries of market fluctuations. All entered and exited the auction on an equal playing field. Other bidders and regulators did not inflict inequity on those now litigating. But current and future operators will feel slighted if the squeaky wheels now receive the grease, especially if the latter are not critical to navigating the car.

The FCC needs to end the debate over the rules. Operational companies and financiers need that stability, and Wall Street representatives say they can't fund any C-block carrier, no matter how successful, until the FCC and the courts end the debate.

It is time for the regulators and the courts to close the books on this issue with a resounding affirmation: "These are the rules, now go forth and enter the marketplace."

It is time for the markets to decide who will be the wireless operators of the next millennium. It is time for all of us to get back to business and out of politics.