A report from the FCC inspector general concluded that the requirement for lease payments of about $500 million contributed to the failure of the D-block auction. No serious bidders emerged for the ...

The requirement for lease payments of roughly $500 million helped contribute to the failure of a plan to have the private sector partner with public safety in building a national wireless broadband network for first responders, a report found.

A former executive of now-defunct Frontline Wireless said rules for the national commercial/public-safety license that went unclaimed in the recently completed 700 MHz auction were ambiguous and poorly designed, warning that a rush to re-auction the D Block without making fundamental changes would... ... - Jeffrey Silva

Public-safety groups scrambled to salvage support for a shared public/private national wireless broadband network, following calls by some House Republicans to abandon in the 700 MHz D-Block re-auction, reports RCR Wireless News. ?APCO International believes a public-private partnership between the D Block and public safety is currently the most viable option for funding and deployment of

While the Federal Communications Commission's failure to attract a bidder for a national commercial-public safety spectrum license dominated a House telecom subcommittee hearing today, the panel's review of the 700 MHz auction also served as a platform for addressing other major wireless policy... ... - Jeffrey Silva

The government -- not just the Federal Communications Commission -- failed in its plan to deploy a mixed-use network that could be used by regular Joes and the public-safety community (in times of emergency, or whenever else they need it). The D-Block plan did not work. That much we know. ... - Tracy Ford

As for the D Block, which received a single $472 million bid from Qualcomm Inc. in the opening round and eventually fell far short of the $1. ... - Jeffrey Silva

A coalition of consumer and public-interest groups asked the Federal Communications Commission to probe the 700 MHz auction's failure to attract a winning bidder for the national commercial-public safety D-Block license, an outcome of growing interest to Congress. ... - Jeffrey Silva

As the 700 MHz auction winds to a close -- apparently without a winning bidder for the commercial/public-safety license or a clear roadmap for meeting first responders' communications needs -- progress is nonetheless being made on other fronts. ... - Jeffrey Silva and Dan Meyer

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin publicly admitted Wednesday for the first time that it looks unlikely that a bidder will come forward for the largest piece of communications airwaves the agency is auctioning off.