Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Commerce Subcommittee Approves Spectrum Relocation Fund (H.R. 1320)

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2003 16:43:16 -0400

Commerce Subcommittee Approves Spectrum Relocation Fund
The House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet voted to
approve H.R. 1320, the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act. The
legislation, sponsored by subcommittee Chairman Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.),
creates a Spectrum Relocation Fund to cover the costs incurred by federal
agencies to move from 45MHz of spectrum so that it can be put to commercial
use. Money for the fund would come from auctioning the spectrum to wireless
carriers. "When this legislation becomes law, it will ensure a smooth transition

for both the wireless industry and government spectrum users including the
Department of Defense - guaranteeing new spectrum for wireless consumers and
a simple method of migration and reimbursement for incumbents,” said Steve
Berry, senior vice president for government affairs at CTIA. “This is a win for
consumers, a win for government and a win for the wireless industry. We now
have a pathway to growth for the next generation of wireless services.” The
legislation now moves to the House Energy and Commerce Committee for
consideration.
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April 9, 2003
Spectrum Relocation Bill Passes Subcommittee
By  Caron Carlson

Efforts to spur the transfer of spectrum from government agencies to commercial
wireless carriers advanced Wednesday when a House
subcommittee approved a bill backed by the Department of Defense and the
Administration.

The Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act would hasten the migration of government
users—particularly Department of Defense
users—out of commercially desirable frequencies to alternative bands by creating
a relocation fund, which would be built on the proceeds
from spectrum auctions conducted by the Federal Communications Commission.
Without new legislation, if a commercial user wins
spectrum used by the government, it must pay to relocate the government users to
other frequencies.

The House Internet and telecommunications subcommittee approved the bill after
changes were made to an earlier version that worried
some, including officials at the Pentagon and in the Administration. The
approved version reduces the number of bands eligible for the fund
and increases the level of congressional oversight, establishing a framework to
ensure that the cost of DoD spectrum relocation doesn't
become exorbitant.

The wireless industry, always seeking ways to get more spectrum, praised the
subcommittee's work. The Cellular Telecommunications &
Internet Association backed the legislation as a means of freeing up new
frequencies for advanced wireless technologies. "We now have a
pathway to growth for the next generation of wireless services," Steve Berry,
senior vice president for Government Affairs at CTIA, said in a
statement.

The Bush administration last July announced plans to free 90MHz of spectrum for
commercial wireless services, 45MHz of which is
occupied by the military. Under those plans, the Department of Defense has until
2008 to relocate its systems in the 1710MHz to 1755MHz
band.

The legislation faces an uphill battle, even in the House. Rep. Billy Tauzin,
R-La., a vocal proponent of the measure, said Wednesday that it
is likely to face resistance from members of the appropriations committees, who
traditionally have authority over federal spending decisions.
"This bill does not reflect the normal congressional process," Tauzin said,
urging members of the subcommittee to promote it actively
among their colleagues. "We've got to sell it to some people as we go forward."

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1013523,00.asp

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April 9, 2003
Subcommittee Approves
Spectrum Relocation Fund

By Roy Mark
The House Energy and Commerce
Subcommittee on
Telecommunications and the
Internet approved legislation
Wednesday to create a spectrum
relocation fund for federal
agencies. The Commercial
Spectrum Enhancement Act (H.R.
1320) seeks to help federal
agencies relocate to comparable
wavelengths to make way for
private wireless carriers' advanced
wireless service offerings to
consumers.

The government already has
identified the 1710-1755 MHz
band, mostly currently used by
the military, for relocation to the
private sector. The military
spectrum is considered so
valuable to the private wireless
industry that it has been dubbed
"beachfront property" for its
suitability for commercial, mobile advanced wireless services such as 3G.

Sponsored by Rep. Fred Upton (R.-Mich.), the subcommittee chairman, the bill now
goes
to the House and Energy Committee, where Chairman Billy Tauzin (R.La.) is
expected to
push the legislation to the House floor. The bill has received the endorsement
of the
military, the Bush administration and the Cellular Telecommunications and
Internet
Association (CTIA).

Under current law, a commercial telecom has to win a spectrum license at a
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auction and then negotiate separately
with an affected federal agency regarding the price and timeline for the agency
to move its spectrum operations to another band.

Upton's bill would require the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an agency of
the U.S.  Department of Commerce and the administration's principal voice on
spectrum, to provide a cost estimate and timeframe for relocation to the FCC
prior to auction. The FCC then will hold its auction, but cannot close until the
bidding equals at least 110 percent of the estimated relocation cost.

Once the auction is closed, the winning bidder's money will be placed in a newly
created spectrum relocation trust fund and the relocating agency will draw down
directly from that trust fund until the relocation is complete and fully paid
for.

"H.R. 1320 will accomplish the dual goals of making spectrum available for
advanced commercial uses and fully compensating federal agencies required to
relocate spectrum operations to make bands available for commercial use," Tauzin
said. "It will ensure that at least 90 MHz of new spectrum is made available for
advanced wireless services that will give consumers mobile high-speed Internet
access and other innovative applications."

Steve Berry, SVP for Government Affairs at CTIA, added, "When this legislation
becomes law, it will ensure a smooth transition for both the wireless industry
and government spectrum users including the Department of Defense, guaranteeing
new spectrum for wireless consumers and a simple method of migration and
reimbursement for incumbents."

http://dc.internet.com/news/article.php/2179441

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House subcommittee approves spectrum transfer bill

Grant Gross, IDG News Service\Washington Bureau
April 09, 2003, 14:50

 A U.S. House subcommittee has voted to approve a bill that would ease the
transition of radio spectrum from government agencies to private companies, such
as wireless carriers interested in providing third-generation (3G) services.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and
the Internet approved Wednesday an amended version of the Commercial Spectrum
Enhancement Act, which would allow government agencies to recoup spectrum
moving-costs from a newly created Spectrum Relocation Fund. Money for the fund
would come from auctions of wireless spectrum to private companies.

The bill attempts to address wireless spectrum auctions on the horizon. In July
2002, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that 90 MHz of wireless spectrum
would be made available for 3G. Of that total, 45 MHz would come from commercial
spectrum and 45 MHz from the Department of Defense and other federal agencies.
The federal government plans to auction that spectrum to wireless vendors by
early 2005, and estimates the spectrum will be available for wireless customers
some time in 2008.

Two amendments proposed by Democrats to transfer the excess money in the
proposed Spectrum Relocation Fund were withdrawn after Upton promised future
hearings on those requests. Representative Ed Markey's Digital Dividends Fund
would have dedicated the excess money to technology education and wireless
equipment for emergency workers, such as police and firefighters.

"The public deserves to reap the benefits of the sale of licenses to its
airwaves," said Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, before withdrawing his
amendment. "Those benefits should not only manifest themselves in the offering
of new commercial services and a temporary infusion of cash in the treasury, as
under current law, and I have proposed the public also enjoy the dividends that
can be reaped by reinvesting auction money."

The bill will now head to the full committee, but subcommittee chairman Fred
Upton said he's not sure when the committee will consider the bill. The bill may
also face some opposition from members of the House Appropriations Committee,
predicted Representative Billy Tauzin, because it bypasses their budgeting
authority.

Tauzin, who chairs the full Energy and Commerce Committee, said the members of
his committee need to "pull together as a team" to get the bill passed through
the House. "Relocation will never occur if federal agencies are subjected to the
appropriations process to relocate spectrum operations," added Tauzin, a
Louisiana Republican. "By putting a guarantee that this money will be available,
we make (relocation) possible. If we do it any other way, it doesn't work. We've
got to sell that to some people as we go forward."

A spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee said the staff there doesn't
yet have an opinion on the bill, and Upton said he hasn't spoken to
Appropriations Committee chairman C.W. Bill Young about it yet. But with support
from the Department of Defense and the Department of Commerce's National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Upton predicted the
bill would pass. "I feel pretty encouraged about getting this bill to the
president's desk," Upton said.

During a subcommittee hearing on the bill in March, representatives of the U.S.
Department of Defense and the NTIA expressed concerns over the pace that the
bill would require agencies to determine the costs of moving from one part of
the wireless spectrum to another. [See "Spectrum hearing prompts plea for IT
education funding," March 25.] An amendment, offered by Upton, would give
agencies an 18-month notification of a spectrum auction, instead of nine, and 12
months to determine their costs, instead of three.

Representative John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, had also opposed the original
bill for only giving the committee a 30-day notice before transferring funds.
Upton's amendment, approved by voice vote, would give Congress a 45-day
notification if an agency's actual relocation costs exceed its estimates by more
than 10 percent. Dingell said he approved of the new timetable.
Mike Gallagher, deputy director of the NTIA, said because of the change in the
auction timetable, the agency now supports the Upton bill. The subcommittee's
vote is a "significant milestone" in the President George W. Bush
administration's efforts to create a spectrum relocation fund, he said.

http://www.idg.net/ic_1305846_9715_1-5071.html