Pai Should Have Sought Vote on AT&T Acquisition of FiberTower Spectrum, Clyburn Says

An FCC spokeswoman disagreed. AT&T plans to use the spectrum as part of its 5G deployment. The longstanding custom is for bureaus is to provide items to commissioners 48 hours before scheduled release and hold a vote if any commissioner asks for one, Clyburn said. “I am disappointed that Chairman Pai did not honor my request to have the full Commission vote” on the AT&T/FiberTower order, she said. The bureau’s analysis is “lacking in its current form,” Clyburn said. “Our statutory obligations, under the Communications Act, requires us to do more than simply consider whether AT&T’s 39 GHz holdings, post-transaction, exceed 1850 megahertz of millimeter wave spectrum,” she said. “The Commission should also consider whether AT&T’s substantial holdings in other spectrum bands, including below 1-GHz, together with these 39 GHz licenses from FiberTower, could result in potential public interest harms.” AT&T didn’t comment. "Approval of this transaction was in the public interest because it will expedite the development and deployment of 5G services for the benefit of American consumers,” an FCC spokeswoman said: “It was entirely appropriate” for the bureau “to issue this decision because it was consistent with past precedent, most notably the Verizon-Straight Path transaction that was approved by the bureau just last month. Finally, it is critical to note that Commissioner Clyburn was unable to persuade any other commissioner to support her request." AT&T then closed its FiberTower buy, “giving it millimeter wave spectrum that will be put to work later this year to begin the rollout of mobile 5G services,” AT&T announced Friday. “AT&T paid $207 million to acquire FiberTower and will receive a significant footprint in the 39 GHz band, with average holdings of more than 375 MHz in the top 100 markets.”