Gallagher Worried About EU’s Proposed DNS Regulatory Regime
The EU’s proposed domain name system (DNS) regulatory regime will stifle the IP community, said NTIA Dir. Michael Gallagher, speaking at a 3G Americas briefing Thurs. “If the EU’s new policy toward the DNS extends to wireless standards, you are probably going to see more and more devices like this in the EU,” he said, showing a big, old “brick” phone.
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Gallagher said the worldwide debate on DNS management “is very much turning our way,” citing Japan’s concern over new levels of regulation, and Australia and Canada’s outright opposition. “Our policy is pro world,” he said: “The DNS is working.”
The competition between GMS and CDMA standards is a “policy-maker’s dream,” Gallagher said. While singing the praises of VoIP and unlicensed-spectrum mesh network technology, Gallagher said he was “very disappointed” with ultra wideband companies that have been obstinate about embracing a standard for too long. He said he remains optimistic about the technology. Looking forward, Gallagher said there would be increased competition from Wi-Fi and WiMAX.
Gallagher and FCC Comr. Adelstein also commended the wireless industry for its response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. “This industry has proved to be very resilient and dedicated to making sure that government needs were being met first in the face of significant obstacles,” Gallagher said.
In a separate speech, Adelstein stressed the need for the FCC to “move fast” with its plans to examine designated entities (DE) issues to avoid delay of the upcoming advanced wireless service (AWS) auction. The Commission had committed to launching a proceeding on whether it should restrict DEs that have a relationship with larger wireless carriers from access to bidding credits in the AWS and other auctions.
“This issue is particularly important given the dramatic scope of consolidation in the wireless industry just the last 12 months and the ever-increasing market share of the largest carriers,” Adelstein said: “It’s unclear to me why the FCC continues to allow the largest wireless companies to partner with DEs and get access to spectrum at a 25% discount at a time our budget is under ever-increasing pressure. This is even more significant in the AWS auction where auction proceeds must be sufficient to cover government relocation costs.”
Adelstein said the FCC still has at least 8 months until its target date for the AWS auction, and “if we move fast, we can resolve this matter well in advance of the summer. In fact, there are a number of variables, both within and outside the FCC’s control, that may independently affect the timing of the auction.”
Adelstein also said he hoped the FCC’s recent action (CD Oct 7 p8) clearing a backlog of tower-siting notifications referred to the agency due to the lack of response to consultations by potentially affected Indian tribes and Hawaiian native organizations would “lead to even closer and timelier collaboration in the future now that we have a set time frame.” Chmn. Martin and Comr. Abernathy concurred on the order, saying “siting of towers or antennas is not a federal or federally assisted undertaking.” “But this wasn’t an issue of jurisdiction, this was an issue of process -- and we all agreed that the backlog simply was unacceptable and had to be fixed as soon as possible,” Adelstein said.