FCC Comr. Adelstein, 3 FTC commissioners and at least 6 federal legislators are among the govt. officials expected to attend the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas Jan. 8- 11, organizer CEA said. Attendees are expected to include Reps. Bilirakis (R-Fla)., Buyer (R-Ind.), Doolittle (R-Cal.), Green (D-Tex.), Ramstad (R-Minn.) and Terry (R-Neb.). FTC commissioners include Pamela Jones-Harbour, Orson Swindle and Mozelle Thompson. Commerce Dept. attendees are to include Philip Bond, Undersecy. for Commerce & Technology, Michael Gallagher, NTIA dir., and James Rogan, Undersecy. for Intellectual Property. International govt. attendees are to include Korean Minister of Information & Communication Daeje Chin, Laurent Sorbier, technical counselor to the French Prime Minister, and Matthias Kurth, pres. of the German Regulatory Authority for Telecom & Posts.
Commerce Dept. investigators reported evidence of “massive imports” of color TVs from China in the run-up to the dept.’s preliminary decision this week that recommended antidumping duties of up to 45.8% on the sets (CED Nov 25 p1). The investigators’ finding of “critical circumstances” stemmed from a move by Chinese manufacturers to increase exports of 21"-and-up TVs to the U.S. ahead of the release of the preliminary decision that will form the basis for a final ruling in April.
At our deadline Mon., TV set manufacturer Five Rivers Electronic Innovations and 2 unions were claiming victory over a Commerce Dept. preliminary decision that imposed 28-46% antidumping duties on color TVs (CTVs) imported from China. Commerce didn’t propose duties on CTVs from Malaysia.
CTIA Pres. Steve Largent, who took over the helm of the Assn. this month, said in an interview he would like to focus the group on being “transparent and collaborative and a team player, because that’s a reflection of my personality.” Largent, a pro football Hall of Famer with the Seattle Seahawks, said he would like to see the group get ahead of issues, “as opposed to being just reactionary.” Separately, he praised the removal last week of Northpoint language from the Senate appropriations bill.
Rep. Towns (D-N.Y.) raised the possibility Wed. of setting timelines for spectrum auctions to provide more certainty about the funds available for a digital trust fund to promote technology and education programs. However, proponents of a Digital Opportunity Investment Trust (DOIT), including former FCC Chmn. Newton Minow, couldn’t address the desirability of setting timelines at a hearing of the House Commerce Telecom Subcommittee Wed. Minow said his understanding was that the FCC had set 2 auction dates but that further auctions would depend on how soon the Dept. of Defense vacated spectrum. Towns said setting a time for the auctions would help determine how much money would be available for the trust and sought the views of witnesses on whether congressional action would be desirable. Committee Chmn. Upton (R-Mich.) wanted to know from the witnesses whether they had any revenue projections from the sale of spectrum that would go into the trust. The only known figures were $5 billion from the 700 MHz auction and triple that amount from the 3G auction, he said. Minow said his projection of $20 billion was estimated to come over the years and only the interest from the fund was proposed to be used for technology and education programs. Backing the proposal for a trust fund, Upton said in today’s global marketplace, children and workers of all ages should be equipped with high-tech skills to remain competitive with the rest of the world’s work force. It was proposed that 30% of the proceeds from spectrum auctions be invested in DOIT for digital education and technology programs and for Telecom Development Fund (TDF) enhancement, a portion of the winning bidders’ down payments would be added to TDF’s existing funding for investment in new-technology ventures, he said. The proposals also call for “walling off” spectrum auction proceeds from the normal budgetary process, Upton said. However, while funding DOIT, the question of whether it would preclude funding for other programs such as veterans benefits, highway construction, homeland security and agriculture disaster support had to be considered, he said. Ranking member Markey (D-Mass.) said the issue was not merely one of “whether we can afford it.” Millions of jobs were being lost and companies were outsourcing software jobs to countries such as India and those were real challenges that needed to be tackled, he said. To a question on possible anticompetitive concerns relating to DOIT raised by Rep. Shimkus (R-Ill.), Minow said the “impressive” list of companies, especially technology firms, that had supported the DOIT proposal should set such concerns at rest. Businesses know that more education would bring them more success in the marketplace, he said. Former National Science Foundation Chmn. Eamon Kelly said DOIT would lead to increased competition in the same way that the National Science Foundation had stimulated competition and economic activity.
NTIA outlined plans for public meetings for the private sector and state and local govts. on how to improve spectrum management. President Bush in June signed an Executive Memorandum that created a task force to examine how to stimulate more-efficient spectrum use by federal users. The steps laid out included a forum for soliciting private sector input, which Acting NTIA Dir. Michael Gallagher has said would use the FCC’s Spectrum Policy Task Force report as a starting point. NTIA said a daylong meeting would be held at the Commerce Dept. Dec. 9. It marks the first opportunity for parties outside of the federal govt. to participate in the process set out in the White House memorandum. Bush had created a separate interagency task force, including the Depts. of Energy and Homeland Security, to look at federal spectrum use issues. NTIA said it also planned to co-sponsor a Feb. 12-13 meeting with the National Academy of Sciences on critical spectrum needs, spectrum management improvements, incentives for efficiency and policies to streamline new technology development. A 3rd meeting is set for late Jan. or early Feb. with the former Public Safety Wireless Network, now part of the DHS’s Project Safecom. “These public meetings will serve as the catalyst for the development of new technologies that will enhance the productivity of American workers,” Gallagher said. NTIA said the Dec. 9 meeting would cover how to encourage spectrum efficiency and deployment of new services. NTIA said additional public meetings might be held. The agency also will accept written comments through a Federal Register notice.
Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. McCain (R-Ariz.) praised the passage of the Defense Dept. Authorization Act, which includes a provision that gives telephone calling time to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The provision is similar to a bill introduced by McCain, which passed the Senate. Under the provision, troops will get 120 minutes, or $40 worth, of calling time per month. “The opportunity to talk by telephone can provide significant emotional and psychological support to both the soldier and their family and friends,” McCain said.
The White House warned Congress again Mon. that it would veto legislation that changed the FCC’s newly adopted media ownership provisions. It issued a statement of administration policy (SAP) urging the Senate to remove the provision in the Senate Commerce Justice State (CJS) appropriations bill (S-1585) that would roll the broadcast ownership cap back to 35% from 45%. Although floor debate on S-1585 had been set for Mon. (CD Nov 10 p1), Minority Whip Reid (D-Nev.) delayed proceedings by speaking for hours on unemployment and other issues. The White House in the past has warned that it might veto legislation that changed the media ownership rules. And as it has in the past, the SAP used the “adviser veto theat” by warning that the President’s advisers would recommend that he veto the bill. The White House also urged the Senate to remove the “Northpoint amendment” and restore funding for the FCC’s auction program. The amendment would allow Multivideo Distribution & Data Services (MVDDS) companies -- such as Northpoint Technology - - to have access to the 12.2-12.7 GHz band without going through auction. The SAP said that one company, presumably Northpoint, would receive an “undeserved windfall” that the Congressional Budget Office estimated would be $100 million. It said the Northpoint amendment would deprive other companies that intended to compete in the Jan. auction for access to that spectrum. “Auction-based spectrum policy has been a mainstay of wireless services for a decade,” the SAP said. “Interfering with the efficient allocation of federal spectrum licenses by directing the award of licenses to a particular company would undermine the federal auction system and establish a damaging precedent.” Northpoint has said congressional reports showed that the value of the spectrum could be as low as $60 million. It has argued that auction of the spectrum is inconsistent since satellite companies have received spectrum without going through auction. The SAP also urged that funding for the Commerce Dept.’s Technology Administration be restored. By our deadline, there had been no debate on any CJS issues. It was unclear if or when the CJS bill would be debated. The Senate was scheduled to debate the Veterans Administration-Housing & Urban Development (VA-HUD) bill Tues., although sources said there could be some discussion of CJS as well. Senate Democrats have said they were upset about a 30-hour debate on judicial nominations, which sources suggested was why Reid delayed consideration of CJS.
The Senate is scheduled to take up the Commerce Justice State (CJS) Appropriations Bill today (Mon.) at 1 p.m., leading to floor discussion on media ownership, Northpoint and other communications issues. Despite the fact that Senate Appropriations Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) got his wish to move the bill to the floor, sources said it still was very possible that the bill could be rolled into an omnibus appropriations measure, which they said would make clandestine removal of the 35% broadcast ownership cap provision much easier.
BOSTON -- “The challenge to policymakers is what all of you are doing,” acting NTIA Dir. Michael Gallagher told a room full of engineers Thurs. Improvements in “computer processing, battery power, nanotechnology -- which leads to miniaturization on an unbelievable scale -- are revolutionizing communications [and] will be the basis of new economic growth,” he said in a keynote at the Next Generation Networks show here.