NTIA PROPOSES PUSHING BACK WIRELESS AUCTION DATE

It was unclear whether auction legislation would be added to existing budget bill or would move as standalone measure. Proposal follows exchange of letters this summer between Commerce Secy. Donald Evans and FCC Chmn. Powell in which they agreed additional time was needed to develop new plan for selection of 3G spectrum. Executive memorandum signed by then-President Clinton last fall had set 3G decision timelines geared toward congressionally-set date of Sept. 30, 2002, for 3G auction proceeds to be deposited in U.S. Treasury. FCC has reallocated 1710-1755 MHz from govt. to nongovt. users and 2110-2150 MHz was one of bands identified for reallocation under Commission’s 1992 emerging technologies proceeding. Balanced Budget Act of 1997 had set auction proceeds deadline of Sept. 2002 for those bands. Victory said that since shortly after she arrived in early Aug., interagency task force composed of FCC, NTIA, Defense Dept., National Economic Council, National Security Council, Office of Management & Budget and others had been meeting to work out 3G options. “Over the past month we have refined those options. We still have a broad range and what we are now tasked to do over the next couple of months is to go back and look at each one of these options,” Victory said. “What I suggested to the group is look at it in a vacuum -- if this were the only option available, how would you make it work.” Victory said she would like assessment process to be wrapped up in matter of months. “We are trying to be aggressive.”

Victory said she was initiating “major review of the domestic spectrum planning and management process for both private and government use.” NTIA will be coordinating with FCC and its first effort in that area will be to look at how those functions could be performed better, she said. Because NTIA is just at start of putting together that framework, Victory said it’s too early to tell what final product would be, but it could be in form of report. She said one of ideas that germinated into proposal had been interest she saw on Capitol Hill when making her rounds during confirmation process. “There was a lot of interest on the Hill in saying could we take another look at the spectrum allocation process, are we doing the best job that we can, is there some better way to do it,” Victory said.

Victory said she would encourage NTIA to take actions that involved 4 themes: (1) Advancing spectrum policies that promoted efficiency and delivery of new technology such as 3G and ultra- wideband. (2) Promoting access for communications and information technologies, “particularly for private sector solutions” and investment incentives. “We are also very, very much focused on broadband, looking to see what role should the Administration take in trying to speed implementation of broadband services.” (3) Protecting consumer interests while facilitating innovative use of services. (4) Looking to enhance U.S. leadership in global marketplace through coordinating different agencies into unified whole when it came to international communications and information regulatory issues.

“I am also starting to look at the long-standing problem of minority ownership, not only in the broadcast industry but in the communications industry in general,” Victory said. “It has been a long-standing problem and I'm not sure if there’s any solution at this point, but that is something that are focused on.”

While Administration hasn’t yet taken position on any broadband legislation, agency plans to do so on antispam bill “shortly,” Victory said. Next week, House could debate antispam bill (HR-718), although versions reported out of House Commerce and Judiciary committees vary significantly. Administration group has been looking at privacy policy that’s broader than online issues, Victory said. Besides NTIA, agencies such as FTC are involved in initiative, which hasn’t risen to level of formal task force, source said.

Broadband also is a focus of NTIA under the Bush Administration, including the role it should take in accelerating implementation of broadband services, Victory said. “There are a number of open issues with broadband,” she said, citing questions on demand, technological problems that may hold back deployment, role of regulation. She said there was question of “is there anything special that needs to be done to speed deployment in rural areas or economically depressed areas.” Such questions will be part of broadband day that NTIA plans later this month to air views on those issues.

As for letter from Defense Secy. Donald Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chmn. Gen. Henry Shelton last week on 3G spectrum (CD Aug 30 p1), Victory said it was interpreted differently by different stakeholders. Top brass told Senate Majority Leader Daschle (D-S.D.) that no final decision should be made to reallocate spectrum for 3G until comparable replacement bands were available. “I read it as a very down-the-middle letter and characteristic of the view that the Department of Defense has been asserting all along, and that is, ‘Don’t require us to move until you have identified a home for us to move to,'” Victory said. “I don’t think that is an unrealistic desire on their part. That seems to be very appropriate.” Asked about upcoming FCC order that’s expected to take MMDS spectrum out of consideration for 3G services but provide flexibility to allow mobile services in band, Victory said order wasn’t out yet. She said: “Just in general, we'd like to have as many options available to us as possible, just because this is an inordinately complex task and we would like to do a viability assessment on it as much as possible.”