Verizon Drops Challenge to 700 MHz Rules

Verizon Wireless has dropped its legal challenge to open-access rules laid out for the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction.

Verizon Wireless has filed a notice in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that it is dropping its challenge to the open-access rules established by the FCC for the upcoming 700 Mhz spectrum auction.

Verizon had sought to have the FCC drop open-access requirements it has set up for roughly one-third of the spectrum rights eligible to be sold via auction this January. Companies that win the 11MHz-wide C blocks in the 700 MHz band will have to comply with open-access requirements which prevent the spectrum owners from locking use of that spectrum to their own devices and services.

The court had previously refused to hear Verizon’s appeal on an expedited schedule, so that the case could potentially have been decided before the spectrum auction begins in January. Verizon never revealed the basis for its legal challenge to the FCC auction rules; however, industry watchers felt that Verizon had little chance of overturning the FCC auction strictures, since courts almost always defer to the FCC on regulatory matters.

Earlier this month, AT&T made a surprise purchase of 12 MHz of spectrum in the 700MHz band from Aloha Partners, effectively taking the company out of the running for the C blocks with their open access requirements.