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Are Frontline, Cyren gaming the spectrum auction?
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An editorial in The Wall Street Journal today contends that Frontline Wireless and Cyren Call are looking to game the FCC's upcoming 700Mhz spectrum auction for their own financial gain, under the guise of providing public safety services. Nextel co-founder Morgan O'Brien wants Congress and the FCC to grant 30Mhz of the available spectrum to his company Cyren Call, which it will use to help public safety agencies like police and fire departments as well as other first responders. Since Cyren Call is a for-profit venture, the editorial suggests it will also lease the spectrum to other wireless carriers. "We don't blame him for trying, but if Mr. O'Brien thinks the U.S. needs another wireless carrier, then he should bid for the spectrum at auction with everyone else," the editorial opines.
Reed Hundt, former FCC chairman under President Clinton, plans to participate in the auctions through his new company, Frontline Wireless. Hundt, however, wants to "encumber a portion of the spectrum with obligations that will drive down its value and make it less attractive to larger would-be bidders like Verizon, AT&T and the cable companies," according to the editorial. The requirements Hundt favors for auction winners, include: The spectrum must be used for a first responder network; winning bidders must operate as a wholesale-only carrier; and winning bidders must observe the rules of net neutrality. The hot button issue of net neutrality has helped Frontline win the support of various consumer groups, which have considerable sway over the Democrat-led Congress, according to the editorial.
FierceWireless welcomes any thoughts on the upcoming 700Mhz auction as well as reactions to the claims made in today's WSJ editorial. Feel free to leave a comment on this article using the button above or send us a note here.
For more on Cyren and Frontline:
- read the WSJ editorial (sub. req.)
More stories about Wireless Carriers Wireless Regulation Metrics and Trends Spectrum net neutrality cyren call
Comments
Posted by Jim Demartini | April 17, 2007 - 12:59pm
The editorial has it wrong about CyrenCall. CyrenCall does not want the government to turn spectrum over to it. It calls for the creation of a Public Safety Broadband Trust, which would be owned by Public Safety, and which would reimburse the Treasury for $5 Billion for the spectrum. CyrenCall is trying to position itself as the paid manager of the trust, and it welcomes a competitive process for the award of this title.
There has been a constant drumbeat of negative PR about CyrenCall, and one has to ask oneself who might want CyrenCall to fail and why they might want that before rushing to judgement. Morgan O'Brien already has more money than he and his heirs can ever spend, and all of it has been honestly earned through his creation of Nextel. Assigning such a nefarious motive to him is an unfair swipe at his reputation.
Posted by Anonymous | April 17, 2007 - 6:49pm
i, too, believe that both proposals deserve more credit and examination than is being given in the media. Of course the big established players don't want competition on their 700MHz spectrum. But fact is that the current efforts across the country to establish a coherent 700MHz nationwide network without someone like Frontline or Cyrencall are very disparate. Without their efforts, we stand to end up with a patchwork of mostly incompatible mini-networks that don't serve the greater good of the country. Time for the FCC to make the right decision not just for its own wallet, but for the good of its constituency, the US citizens.
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