Sen. Lott (R-Miss.), in stepping down as Senate Majority Leader Fri., gave no word on whether he would take position in Senate Commerce Committee. Lott has slight seniority edge over expected Communications Subcommittee Chmn. Burns (R- Mont.) and more seniority over Technology Subcommittee Chmn. Allen (R-Va.). Speculation was that Sen. Frist (R-Tenn.) would become Majority Leader. Frist has little record on high-tech and telecom issues, but did make statement in support of CLECs in June 20, 2001. He argued against making fundamental changes in Telecom Act of 1996, saying they would “destabilize the already shaky competitive local exchange industry, depriving consumers of even the prospects for meaningful choice.” Frist described plight of competitive carriers struggling in Tenn., including Covad, DSL.net and Rhythms. “In all, competitive local carriers dismissed over 6,500 employees nationwide in the last year while attempting to remain in business. Tennessee is among the hardest hit states,” he said, and 5 CLECs with major operations in Tenn. had gone bankrupt. “In this uncertain financial climate, it is imperative that we maintain a stable regulatory framework,” Frist said. “Without a supportive regulatory environment, there will be no more capital flowing to new entrants in the local telecommunications market spurring competition and lower consumer prices. This was not the promise of the Telecommunications Act I voted for in 1996.” Frist’s record is nearly silent on other high-tech issues. He declined to co-sponsor any broadband bills, not even S-88 by Sen. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), rural broadband subsidy bill that had 65 co-sponsors. He introduced 2 tech-related bills, neither of which went anywhere. S-461 would have had Dept. of Education issue grants for teacher training in math, science and technology. S-722 would have amended Communications Act to prohibit telemarketers from interfering with or evading consumer caller-ID systems. He co-sponsored S-515, by Sen. Domenici (R-N.M.), to make permanent R&D tax credit.
Dept. of Defense (DoD) is “talking with other agencies” to see whether those federal entities may be willing to make additional radiofrequency spectrum available for DoD communications needs, Defense official said Tues. at homeland security workshop at U.S. Chamber of Commerce hq in Washington. DoD Homeland Security Task Force Dir. Peter Verga didn’t disclose which agencies or departments were engaged in intragovernmental discussions, but reiterated Pentagon’s stance that growth in worldwide Defense operations continued to strain scarce spectrum resources.
Although talks are expected to continue, industry and military still aren’t on same page on what direction U.S. should take internationally on harmonizing spectrum allocation for wireless local area networks (LANs) at 5 GHz, sources said. At a preparatory meeting last month in Geneva for World Radio Conference (WRC), U.S. stance was at odds with where other regions, such as Europe, would like to take that policy proposal when WRC 2003 convened in June.
FCC is likely to loosen some unbundled network elements (UNE), said AT&T Gen. Counsel James Cicconi during debate on broadband at Federal Communications Bar Assn. conference Fri. Cicconi said noteworthy part of ruling will be “how the Commission views the important problems of switches,” he said, adding Bell companies have been unwilling or unable to facilitate the “hot cut” process.
Protocol agreement on technology-based economic relations between China and U.S. was signed by Commerce Secy. Donald Evans and Chinese Minister of Science & Technology Xu Guanhua. Evans said agreement would support China’s efforts to create business- friendly environment for technology development by encouraging global partnerships and private investment. Dept. of Commerce’s (DoC) Office of International Technology Acting Dir. Kathryn Sullivan said agreement followed previous agreement of 1997, which focused on policy dialogue between U.S. and China on technology innovations. She said new “evolutionary” agreement, called Protocol on Cooperation in Civilian Industrial Technology & Scientific & Technical Information Policy, was supposed to improve sharing of ideas between countries on how govt. could create business environment to support technology innovation. It would also improve policy dialogue across business, academia and govt., she said. Evans said it was important for govt. to encourage exchange of information between private sector and policy makers: “While we in government work to create an environment that is conducive to technology innovation, it is the private sector that is the driver of technology.” Sullivan said DoC expected to meet with Chinese officials at working level within next month to discuss next steps.
Defense Dept. (DoD) released broad spectrum management “strategic plan” Wed., stressing that congressionally mandated reallocation of military spectrum had generated testing and training concerns. Plan also warned about repercussions of potential future reallocations to commercial spectrum. Deputy Defense Secy. Paul Wolfowitz wrote in Dec. 3 memo that “without assured access to the spectrum, our forces will not be able to meet the requirements of our operational goals in the near term, including those that directly support the homeland security mission, nor will we be able to realize the promise of military transformation, which is essential to ensuring our national security in the future.” Spectrum is “vital resource” in meeting goals of Pentagon’s Quadrennial Defense Review, he said. Plan said DoD recognized it must be efficient user of spectrum. “It will seek to use technology to alleviate DoD’s and the commercial sector’s long-term needs for additional spectrum,” plan said. It called for Pentagon to increase its participation in international and national spectrum policy arenas “to identify and resolve potential issues at their onset before they become serious problems… To do this, however, DoD must ensure that the national process continues to yield positions that reflect the balance required between the public interest and commercial interest.” Among challenges laid out were: (1) Growth in commercial wireless applications, including paging, mobile phones, broadcast. Plan said future military information requirements would involve passive and active sensing, high-speed data links, high-resolution radars, wideband mobile links, antenna technology. Military systems that rely on such “network- centric” capabilities “find themselves sometimes in direct competition for use of certain portions of the EM [electromagnetic] spectrum with commercial wireless applications. (2) Congressionally mandated reallocation of some “critical” DoD spectrum. That has “challenged DoD and become a concern in terms of future EM spectrum availability for operational training and testing,” plan said. Balanced Budget Act of 1997 required Commerce Dept. to provide 200 MHz of govt. spectrum for reallocation to commercial users. “The loss of government EM spectrum has reduced the flexibility critical to operations and training for the DoD,” plan said. “The prospect of future reallocations only serves to exacerbate these problems. This has challenged DoD to pursue proactive approaches that would prevent future erosion of critical govt. EM spectrum and technologies that preserve the operational flexibility needed by warfighters.” As spectrum becomes more congested, need for E3 -- Electromagnetic Environmental Effects -- program increases. Interference has been experienced “numerous times” in joint and allied operations and has “endangered lives, platforms, systems and equipment,” plan said. Among objectives it laid out were that DoD identify E3 and EM spectrum requirements early in decision-making on requirements, planning and budgeting for acquisition of systems.
Commerce Secy. Donald Evans and Chinese Minister of Science & Technology Xu Guanhua signed protocol agreement on technology-based economic relations between China and U.S. Evans said agreement would support China’s efforts to create business-friendly environment for technology development by encouraging global partnerships and private investment. Dept. of Commerce’s (DoC) Office of International Technology Acting Dir. Kathryn Sullivan said agreement followed previous agreement of 1997, which focused on policy dialogue between U.S. and China on technology innovations. She said new “evolutionary” agreement, called Protocol on Cooperation in Civilian Industrial Technology & Scientific & Technical Information Policy, was supposed to improve sharing of ideas between countries on how govt. could create business environment to support technology innovation. It would also improve policy dialogue across business, academia and govt., she said. Evans said it was important for govt. to encourage exchange of information between private sector and policy makers: “While we in government work to create an environment that is conducive to technology innovation, it is the private sector that is the driver of technology.” Sullivan said DoC expected to meet with Chinese officials at working level within next month to discuss next steps.
Improvement in spectrum allocation process was key point in moderate Republican report on Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) released Tues. Republican Main St. Partnership report, which makes recommendations for first 100 days of DHS, said Dept. should be given “place at the table” during spectrum negotiations.
To step up coordination between NTIA and FCC on spectrum policy, NTIA Dir. Nancy Victory and FCC Chmn. Powell met Tues., in part to update 1940s-era agreement between agencies. Meeting, at Commerce Dept., covered process for coordinating govt. and commercial spectrum use, “strengths and weaknesses” of different licensing models and emerging technologies, FCC said. Besides Powell and Victory, meeting included FCC International Bureau Chief Donald Abelson, Wireless Bureau Chief Thomas Sugrue, Office of Engineering & Technology Chief Edmond Thomas, Powell aide Bryan Tramont and Frederick Wentland, acting associate administrator in NTIA Office of Spectrum Management. NTIA and FCC are “pretty close” to finalizing changes in memorandum of understanding that outlines terms of interaction between agencies, NTIA Deputy Dir. Michael Gallagher said. Original 1940s document is short description of policy purviews of FCC and NTIA, including agreement that agencies will notify each other before they take certain steps “but that neither one of us has to wait for the other to act,” Gallagher told us. Only other substantive part of document is list of govt.-only frequencies, he said. “Nobody has re-examined the MOU in decades,” he said. “Things are very different.” Point of update is to memorialize kinds of “best practices” that NTIA and FCC engaged in on policy issues such as ultra-wideband, Gallagher said: “This is meant to appeal much more to the notions of leadership and teamwork and the need to be professional and timely from the top down.” Pending update also will touch on timing of information that’s sent between NTIA and FCC on policy issues, he said. Powell called NTIA and FCC “essential partners” in area of spectrum policy reform: “The pace of development in spectrum-based services is such that remarkable breakthroughs quickly seem mundane. Our spectrum policies need to reflect this dynamic marketplace and to be flexible enough to keep up with innovation.” Agencies said meeting, which lasted more than 2 hours, also touched on “alternative licensing regimes and the success of the unlicensed model” in promoting innovation. Gallagher said unlicensed spectrum policy issues were discussed in context of recent FCC Spectrum Policy Task Force report and how to find additional spectrum for new technologies. Sec. 112 of NTIA Organization Act of 1992 directs FCC and NTIA chiefs to meet twice yearly to discuss spectrum issues. Gallagher said NTIA’s April spectrum summit marked first meeting this year to meet that requirement, with Tues. discussions comprising second.
Commerce Dept. report Thurs. revealed shift to suborbital reusable launch vehicles (SRLV) among entrepreneurial companies. Report said SRLVs couldn’t be used for geostationary satellites because they reach up to only 100 miles, but other civil, military and commercial uses were possible for technology. “Larger reusable vehicles, capable of reaching orbital altitudes,” would be next step, Commerce said.