IP Democracy: Verizon Wireless Drops 700 MHz Legal Challenge

Faced with a lengthy legal battle that could have dragged out the FCC's auction of 700 MHz spectrum, Verizon Wireless has dropped its appeal of the Commission's auction rules. In mid-September, Verizon Wireless filed suit in the U.S. Court of the Appeals for the District of Columbia over the open access requirements built into the FCC's 700 MHz spectrum auction rules.

The court, however, rejected Verizon's request to fast-track the litigation so that it gets resolved by the time the auctions start in January. The news is good for Google, and a host of non-telco parties, who lobbied for the open access provisions. The field is now clear for a very interesting auction process and all that remains is to figure out who is bidding and how much.

A recap of where some of the would-be bidders now stand:

--Google is still sitting on the fence, despite its earlier statement that it will "probably" bid for the spectrum even though the FCC didn't go far enough on open access.

--Microsoft says it has no interest.

--AT&T will bid but is scaling back on its bidding ambitions in the wake of its recent purchase of Aloha.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on October 24, 2007 10:04 AM to IP Democracy