The NBA Tech Summit in New Orleans Friday wound up with FCC Chairman Kevin Martin being interviewed by Anderson Cooper. Following the session, Martin met with several reporters, addressing, among other subjects, the controversial D Block:

700 mHZ auction: When I asked whether the FCC would investigate what happened to the controversial D Block, which requires the winner to work with public safety and has yet to meet its minimum, Martin replied: “Let me put it in the context on where we are in the whole auction … Congress budgeted $10 billion to raise, people said $10-12 billion was what what we should be raising. After we auction off all the other pieces of the spectrum, even excluding D, we’ve raised over $19 billion so it’s obviously been one of the most successful auctions in the commission’s history.” As for D, “obviously, the commission was hopeful and will continue to be until the auction closes that someone will be willing ... if not, then we wish to reevaluate what those rules should be and what happened. As far as the specific allegations that some people have made, I can’t really comment because we’re still in the middle of the auction. ... We’re certainly going to look at it. ... We’re obviously going to be reevaluating what happened. Whether we open an investigation, I can’t comment on because that has its own meaning in our world—that means we’re investigating somebody for violating the law.”

• Spectrum Auction Slowly Coming To A Close
• 700 MHz Auction: Open Access Going Well; Public Safety Not So Much