CTIA ASKS BUSH FOR MORE FLEXIBILITY TO COMPLETE 3G REVIEWS
CTIA asked President Bush to give Commerce Secy. Donald Evans “sufficient time” to complete 3rd-generation wireless spectrum assessment by delaying pending auctions. Govt. has been working toward July 31 deadline that FCC faces for spectrum allocation decision under timelines set out by President Clinton in executive memorandum last Oct. Request to Bush came as speculation has grown that Commerce Dept. wouldn’t necessarily be prepared to craft 3G decisions within tight schedule of executive memorandum anyway. Last week, House Telecom Subcommittee Chmn. Upton (R- Mich.) said panel’s hearings on issue were delayed because department wasn’t ready to unveil its “game plan” (CD May 14 p1). “Previous Administrations ignored this [3G] issue until it finally reached crisis proportions, leaving your Administration to inherit the crisis and make the tough decisions,” CTIA wrote Bush.
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“This lack of leadership has given wireless telecommunications competitors in Europe and Asia an edge in the race to become world leaders in offering new high-tech wireless telecommunications services,” said letter signed by CTIA Pres. Thomas Wheeler, Board Chmn. John Stanton, who is CEO of VoiceStream, and Richard Ekstrand, CTIA vice chmn. and CEO of Rural Cellular Corp. Copies of May 10 letter also were sent to Vice President Cheney, Defense Secy. Donald Rumsfeld, Secy. of State Colin Powell, FCC Chmn. Powell. NTIA is overseeing evaluation of 1.7 GHz spectrum that’s used primarily by military and is among bands under consideration for advanced wireless services, including 3G. FCC is heading up analyses of 2.5 GHz band used by Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS) and Instructional TV Fixed Service (ITFS) licensees.
“To ensure that Secretary Evans has sufficient time to gather the facts necessary to make an informed decision on this important issue and to give him the appropriate flexibility, we urge you to delay proceedings related to pending spectrum auctions until his analysis is completed this summer,” letter said. “Secretary Evans is on the right track. We urge you to support his efforts.” Executive memorandum signed by Clinton had set federal deadlines for decisions on 3G spectrum allocations geared to congressional deadline of Sept. 30, 2002, for depositing proceeds of 3G auction in U.S. Treasury. Some industry officials privately have acknowledged they wouldn’t mind some slippage in 3G deadlines if it ultimately led to better solutions for clearing bands such as 1.7 GHz that CTIA has described as preferable for advanced services. Possibility of delays has been eyed by some in industry because Bush Administration hasn’t yet named NTIA dir.
“We're sympathetic to CTIA’s needs or desire to fully air their desires to work out an accommodation in the 1.7 GHz band but think that the record is clear that the MDS and ITFS bands should be taken off the table as soon as possible so that those services can go about serving their consumers,” Wireless Communications Assn. (WCA) Pres. Andrew Kreig said. While WCA doesn’t unequivocally oppose delay, it wants decision “soon” to take those bands out of consideration, he said.
CTIA stressed economic implications that it said hung in balance if Bush Administration didn’t make adequate spectrum available for advanced wireless services. Without enough spectrum, industry doesn’t have incentive to invest up to $40 billion in new equipment needed for wireless Internet, letter said. Solution is to meet national security needs while also giving industry opportunity to invest in advanced services. “Our industry is prepared to pay all that is necessary for national security communications replacement and modernization if sufficient internationally harmonized spectrum is made available on a timely basis,” CTIA wrote to Bush.