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Hutchison

FCC: Ready for reform yet?

commentary In a surprising and disturbing break with long-standing agency practice, the FCC on Tuesday released a draft report on the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile prepared by its staff--days after the parties withdrew their application with the agency.

The move could fuel calls for serious reform of the agency's increasingly free-wheeling behavior.

The two companies withdrew their application on Thanksgiving, following word that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski planned to ask the other commissioners to refer the merger to an administrative judge for a hearing.

That step, agency officials made clear, signaled the chairman's belief … Read more

Spectrum reform, public safety network move forward in Senate

The Senate Commerce Committee voted Wednesday to approve legislation aimed at resolving long-standing issues for mobile broadband users, both public and private.

Co-sponsored by Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) and Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tx.), S. 911, the "Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act," had wide bipartisan support, passing the committee by a vote of 21-4. (A current version of the bill is not available online, pending several amendments approved during the markup.)

A key provision of the proposed law would authorize the Federal Communications Commission to hold "voluntary incentive auctions" both to … Read more