IP: The specter of spectrum jam is with us, always

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: "Janos Gereben~" <janos451 () earthlink net>
> To: "jg" <janos451 () earthlink net>
> Subject: The specter of spectrum jam is with us, always
> Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2001 17:11:58 -0700
> X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2462.0000
>
> April 2, 2001
> Stephen Labaton
> NYTimes Service / International Herald-Tribune
>
> WASHINGTON - Three government studies have cast new doubt on an ambitious
> plan handed down late last year by President Bill Clinton to find new space
> on the congested airwaves, clouding an effort seen as an essential step
> toward the future of a new generation of handheld wireless devices capable
> of browsing the Internet at high speeds.
> .
> An executive order by Mr. Clinton last October called for a top-to-bottom
> review of the way the government and commercial interests use the spectrum.
> The move was a prelude to a huge licensing auction next year for the
> wireless telephone companies, which say that the licenses are critical for
> the development of the technology.
> .
> But the studies of military, government and commercial users of the airwaves
> concluded, in effect, that the spectrum has become the technological
> equivalent of Jerusalem - overcrowded real estate with little room for
> coexistence between the current tenants, who refuse to give up space to the
> competing claims of outsiders.
> .
> The studies issued Friday by the Federal Communications Commission, the
> Commerce Department and the Pentagon drew no policy conclusions as to which
> license-holders should be forced to move or who should bear the high costs
> of such reallocations. But they describe billions of dollars in potential
> costs and disruptions associated with such moves, and, on top of that,
> predict significant technical hardships for the current owners of licenses
> and national security problems for the military.
> .
> The Federal Communications Commission report, for instance, concluded that
> there was "no readily identifiable alternate frequency band that could
> accommodate a substantial relocation" of the users of the bands it had
> studied.
> .
> The Pentagon, meanwhile, concluded that it would be unable to vacate the
> frequencies it has held "until well beyond the timelines established" by the
> Clinton directive, and that policymakers should look toward commercial users
> to find new sources of spectrum.
> .
> The Clinton-ordered review has prompted a fierce political and lobbying
> battle between the wireless telephone companies, which hunger for more
> licenses, and current license-holders. They include the military, religious
> and educational broadcasters, and companies such as WorldCom Inc. and Sprint
> Corp., which are in the process of developing a new high-speed Internet
> service to homes. Some of the world's largest telecommunications equipment
> makers, including Motorola Inc., Cisco Systems Inc. and LM Ericsson AB. have
> also joined the lobbying fray, staking positions depending on where they see
> their future markets.
> .
> But taken together, the voluminous reports paint a picture that will make it
> difficult for the wireless telephone companies to prevail in the battle over
> bandwidth now taking place in Washington.
> .
> "Based on these studies and what I hear in the political debate, there's
> significant doubt that there will be spectrum available for an auction by
> 2002," said Blair Levin, a former top Federal Communications Commission
> official who is now an analyst at Legg Mason. "It's a political problem. The
> question is whether the administration will make it a priority to free up
> the spectrum."
> .
> Michael Powell, the Federal Communications Commission chairman, has signaled
> his frustration with the problems, noting recently that the ultimate
> decisions about where to find new sources of spectrum are "with people above
> my pay-grade."
> .
> The Bush administration, further complicating the political equation, has
> moved at a snail's pace in filling vacancies at the Federal Communications
> Commission and the National Telecommunications and Information
> Administration.
> .
> The impasse was evident at a news briefing Friday morning were officials
> from the Commerce and Defense departments sat uncomfortably together as a
> rear admiral overseeing communications strategy for the military explained
> why it would be too costly and too expensive to move out of its space any
> time in the next decade or longer. Pentagon officials have said policymakers
> should look to commercial users of the spectrum to find new space for new
> high speed Internet.
> .
> Officials in the cellular telephone industry said Friday that they were not
> surprised by the findings of the report and that they hoped a deal to open
> bandwidth was still possible.
> .
> "It sounds to me as though the department of defense has declared war on
> churches and educational services," said Tom Wheeler, president of the
> Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, the wireless
> industry's main trade group. "I still continue to believe that because this
> is just an interim report there are ways that creative people can find
> spectrum."
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Janos Gereben/SF, CA
> janos451 () earthlink net



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