FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: March 20, 2008

Contact: Jen Howard, Free Press, (202) 265-1490, x22 or (703) 517-6273

WASHINGTON -- Today the FCC revealed the winning bidders of the "700 MHZ" spectrum auction. Verizon Wireless won the prized C Block license.

Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press, made the following statement:

"The conclusion of the FCC's auction presents a mixed bag of results for the public. Congress authorized this auction looking to get four things: a public safety network, competition within the wireless market, a new wireless competitor to DSL and cable modems, and at least $10 billion. The FCC went two for four.

"The auction returned nearly double the expected revenue to the Treasury. But the failure of the D Block to meet its reserve price raises significant questions about how the FCC will meet the needs of public safety.

"The auction also failed to produce a much-needed competitor to the phone and cable giants. Since Verizon -- winner of the C Block -- is already a dominant provider of DSL, the prospect of a genuine third pipe competitor in the wireless world is now slim to none.

"However, consumers will benefit from the emergence of some welcome competition within the wireless market. In a positive first step toward wireless innovation, conditions on the C Block licenses will require any handset and any software application to work on the new network. We encourage the FCC to expand upon this success by adopting the Skype petition, which would apply these same openness conditions to the networks consumers use today.

"We now look to Congress to address the urgent need for competition policy in broadband markets. Decisions made now will shape the future of the Internet. The stakes for consumers couldn't be higher."

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