SUGRUE DEPARTS AS WIRELESS CHIEF, AS MULETA TAKES UP REINS

Muleta is former deputy bureau chief of Common Carrier Bureau and most recently was pres.-CEO of privately held systems integration firm Source 1 Technologies. Sugrue started stint this week as special counsel for FCC Office of Plans & Policy and said that after that assignment he would like to continue working in communications policy arena. In that role, Sugrue told us last week that he would provide any transitional help that Muleta might ask for and would work on special projects for FCC Chmn. Powell.

One of first issues Sugrue faced 4 years ago was Enhanced 911, on which he was asked to testify at House hearing one week before joining agency. Implementation of automatic location provisions for wireless emergency callers remained hot-button issue during his tenure. Report on E911 last fall by former Office of Engineering & Technology Chief Dale Hatfield cited complexity of issue, including deployment efforts of wireless carriers, readiness of public safety entities and role of ILECs. “On the one hand, it’s frustrating that we're not further along,” Sugrue said. “Frankly, it was quite a bit of a mess at the time. No real progress was being made. It seemed to me we were probably heading toward litigation instead of implementation.”

In last several years, FCC has granted waiver requests and taken enforcement action on interim E911 Phase 2 implementation dates, although agency retained original final implementation deadline of Dec. 31, 2005. Debate largely has moved from whether technology will work to which technology is being put in place by carriers, Sugrue said. “Every major carrier seems to have made a technology choice now and they are in the process of putting that into place. That’s a big change,” he said. Complicating factor that remains is intersection of parties involved in full rollout of Phase 2, including public safety answering points, equipment manufacturers, integrators, carriers and ILECs, Sugrue said. “That’s become an issue -- how do you operationally connect the dots and make sure that everyone is doing what they need to do,” he said. “That is where the focus will be.”

Among changes Sugrue said he had seen in last 4 years was increasing extent to which satellite and terrestrial services had come together and impact that had on policy. He cited as examples orders that granted mobile satellite services (MSS) licensees terrestrial use of spectrum in some cases and FCC’s Northpoint decision that let terrestrial companies share satellite spectrum in 12.2-2-12.7 GHz for multichannel distributors, but required auction. With separate policy regimes, in past, “you could argue, pro or con, satellites over there and terrestrial over here and the twain never crossing,” Sugrue said. “I think the twain are crossing more and more.” He said Spectrum Policy Task Force report last fall had supported congressional removal of Orbit Act’s prohibition against auctioning satellite spectrum to give FCC potential to put such spectrum up for auction, but not mandating that result.

Asked if he had any regrets, Sugrue said there had been “one or 2 sort of dead ends” during his tenure, including calling-party-pays (CPP) proceeding that FCC terminated in 2001. In notice of inquiry in 1997, FCC sought information on CPP, system widely used in Europe in which subscribers pay only for calls they place to others. In U.S., wireless subscribers pay both for calls they make and those they receive. Wireless industry initially expressed interest in possible regulatory changes that would facilitate CPP. “It took a lot of our resources and time,” Sugrue said. “I don’t know that it was a mistake at the time. By definition it was a big issue.” He said that when issue first began getting attention, much of U.S. focus was on perception that Europe was ahead in wireless arena. After proceeding began, AT&T introduced digital one-rate system in which it became first carrier to offer bucket of min. at one rate with no roaming or long distance charges. “Sometimes pricing innovation is as important as technology,” Sugrue said. “That essentially changed that marketplace dramatically.”

As for Spectrum Task Force recommendations likely to have near-term impact, Sugrue cited secondary markets proposals that would let spectrum holders lease rights to other users in primary bands. FCC announced rulemaking in 2000 on secondary market policy for spectrum on questions such as how to update standards for evaluating transfer of ownership. “With the stimulus and push or catalyst effect given by the task force report, there’s the will to try to do something in that area sometime fairly soon,” Sugrue said. “I think that will be positive.” Interference temperature concept in Task Force report is “certainly innovative and worth looking at,” he said. Interference temperature would put ceiling on noise environment in which receivers would be required to operate. Then, to extent “temperature” in certain band wasn’t reached, user that emitted below threshold could operate with more flexibility. Idea addresses challenge that FCC often faces when new spectrum ideas are proposed, which is what interference implications are for users in adjacent bands, he said. Sugrue said he also had come around on idea of receiver performance requirements “as something worth examining.” Receiver performance standards also were among Task Force recommendations. Earlier in job, he said he hadn’t supported general concept. “The experience in this job, in part, has convinced me that receivers can have the same impact or a similar impact to transmitters’ interference,” he said.

Sugrue’s last day as bureau chief was Fri. “I do want to stay in the field of communications policy and law,” he said. “It’s a great field and I love doing it.” He said he ended up staying longer as bureau chief than he anticipated when taking job: “Part of that is because it’s a great job, I enjoyed doing it.” He recalled that in his 3rd year as chief, staff framed certificate that said “longest running bureau chief” and gave him pair of running shoes. Sugrue said he also had 2 “great bosses” in former FCC Chmn. William Kennard and current FCC Chmn. Powell. Before taking post as chief, Sugrue had been partner in firm of Halprin, Temple, Goodman & Sugrue and had held positions at NTIA and in FCC’s Common Carrier Bureau, where he spent 4 years as chief of Policy & Program Planning Div.