DISSENTING STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONERS HAROLD FURCHTGOTT-
                   ROTH and GLORIA TRISTANI
            
  Re: Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association et al's Request for Delay of the
  Auction of Licenses in the 747-762 and 777-792 MHz Bands Scheduled for September 6,
  2000 (Auction No. 31) (rel. September 12, 2000).  
  
       Today's Order provides the majority's rationale for the further delay of the 700
  MHz auction beyond the statutorily determined time.  Although we have already stated
  our opposition to that decision, we nonetheless feel compelled to detail our concerns
  about the rationale advanced in the item.  
  
       The item asserts that "we face conflicting statutory requirements" and that
  "Congress ha[s] [not] spoken directly to the issue."  As a result, it concludes,
  "postponing the auction appropriately balances our responsibilities in a manner that best
  serves the public interest."  We do not agree.  
  
  Congress has spoken as directly and clearly as possible with regard to the timing of
  the 700 MHz auction:  the FCC is to "conduct a competitive bidding process in a manner
  that ensures that all proceeds of such bidding are deposited . . . not later than September
  30, 2000."  Despite the difficult circumstances challenging potential bidders in this
  auction, no "conflicting statutory requirement" can rightly be read into Section 309 of the
  Communications Act.
  
  The item asserts that adherence to the statutory deadline cannot be reconciled with
  our charge under Section 309 to ensure that the scheduling of an auction allow "interested
  parties [to] have a sufficient time to develop business plans, assess market conditions, and
  evaluate the availability of equipment for the relevant services."  The circumstances cited
  in the item, however, do not suggest that potential bidders lack sufficient time to prepare
  for auction.  The encumbered nature of the spectrum has been well known since Congress
  first reallocated the spectrum for commercial use in 1997.  The Order specifically states
  that the Commission is prepared to run the auction, and potential bidders have offered no
  credible operational reason not to move ahead.  And a preference to conduct this auction
  after the C and F block reauction cannot be used to manufacture a conflict in the statute. 
  Most importantly, the essential facts regarding this auction are the same today as they
  were when the deadline was adopted.  Nothing has changed; the spectrum remains
  encumbered.  
  
  No "conflicting statutory requirement" exists here and Section 309 should not be
  interpreted to create such a conflict.  The 700 MHz auction poses challenges, but these
  issues cannot be used to jettison a statutory mandate.  In essence, the Order holds that the
  statutory deadline makes bad policy and now the FCC is going to fix it.  We do not believe
  that this is, or should be, our role.