Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Between The NTIA And Nextel, Things Are Going To Change

From: NEXTEL-1
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 20:25:39 -0400

Wednesday, June 30, 2004 
Between The NTIA And Nextel, Things Are Going To Change
June 30, 2004 5:18pm
Wireless Data News

Believe it or not, there was movement on two major wireless fronts 
last week, and they both stand to change the face of the industry 
and to begin the transition away from the "this is the way we've 
always done it" mindset. However, it won't be easy, and it won't be 
quick. 

The U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration (NTIA) released recommendations garnered 
from state and federal agencies, and other governing bodies aimed at 
reforming and reshaping U.S. spectrum management. The Bush 
administration had been criticized for not revamping spectrum policy 
in light of a "have" and "have not" broadband society; 
interoperability problems that were, at least in part, the cause of 
an increased death count during the 9/11 tragedy; and the increasing 
technological advances that demand more bandwidth. (Editor's note: 
To read the entire report, go to 

http://www.ntia.doc.gov/reports/specpolini/presspecpolini_report1_062
42004.doc.) 

The background: Last year, President Bush challenged the Commerce 
Department and other federal agencies to develop U.S. spectrum 
policy for the 21st century, signing an executive memorandum in June 
2003 that created an initiative to improve spectrum-management 
policies and procedures. 

The results are two reports, and they are long and involved. They 
also lay out the challenge that will take years to fulfill. One 
report offers recommendations involving the federal government's 
spectrum use, while the other report provides recommendations for 
spectrum use by state and local governments as well as by the 
private sector. One recommendation would create an innovation 
testbed for increased sharing between federal and non-federal 
spectrum users. Key goals include fostering economic growth; helping 
to ensure U.S. homeland security; maintaining the country's global 
leadership in communications technology development and services; 
and satisfying other vital U.S. needs in such areas as public 
safety, scientific research and federal transportation 
infrastructure. 

To do this, the NTIA wants to form the Department of Commerce 
Spectrum Management Advisory Committee, whose members would include 
representatives from state, regional and local sectors; from the 
industry; from academia; and from consumer groups. This group will 
be tasked with providing top-level input to formulate positions and 
plans on such difficult policy issues as the transition to digital 
television, universal and affordable broadband access, and public- 
safety interoperability. While this may end up being a case of too 
many cooks spoiling the pot, it's worth an initial try. 

Of course, praise for these reports was heaped on the NTIA quickly 
and deeply. While most industry players are just beginning to digest 
the two documents, Telecommunications Industry Association President 
Matthew J. Flanigan told attendees who were getting ready to depart 
last week's Supercomm, 'We continue to be very pleased with the 
president's leadership and focus on the importance of a national 
plan for bringing broadband technologies to every corner of America. 
The steps the administration is now taking will contribute to the 
United States remaining more competitive with nations that are ahead 
of us in broadband deployment. Clearly, the Bush Administration 
recognizes the fundamental relationship between information and 
communication technologies and the nation's social and economic well-
being. This sector of the economy must be vibrant if we are to 
sustain the national economic recovery." 

And Steve Largent, president of the Cellular Telecommunications & 
Internet Association (which now wants to be called "CTIA, The 
Wireless Association"), rapid-fired a press release, saying, "The 
wireless communications industry is the leader in the 21st century 
Information Age. We have the tools to make incredible technological 
innovations and, now, the NTIA has provided a roadmap for how we can 
all work together to benefit American consumers." 

New Testbeds, Committees 

The initiatives could aid in a faster rollout of U.S. broadband 
services. Indeed, the president recently announced that all 
Americans should have universal, affordable access to broadband 
technology by 2007. Wireless, satellite and other technologies 
potentially could benefit if the amount of spectrum available for 
such commercial uses would increase high-speed Internet access. 
Examples of technologies that could be helped the most are third- 
generation (3G) wireless, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) and ultra-
wideband (UWB). 

Among the 24 recommendations included in the NTIA reports is the 
establishment of a spectrum testbed for innovative new technologies 
to allow increased sharing between federal and non-federal users. 
The FCC and the NTIA each would identify approximately 10 megahertz 
of spectrum to be made available for this program. The intent is to 
drive future innovation and the expansion of sharing to help 
government and commercial users. A spectrum-sharing testbed would 
require the NTIA and the FCC to establish a pilot program between 
federal and non-federal government users for sharing equal bands of 
spectrum within the next two years. 

Another recommendation aimed at identifying and analyzing new 
technologies calls for the two agencies to work with public and 
private research-and-development laboratories to improve ways to 
assess emerging technologies and enhanced services. 

In an effort to modernize spectrum management, another 
recommendation would have the NTIA and the FCC coordinate the 
creation of a National Strategic Spectrum Plan and Long-Range 
Spectrum Planning. As part of that effort, federal government 
spectrum users would provide a biennial strategic plan to be 
combined into the National Strategic Plan. State, regional and local 
government agencies would establish similar long-range plans. 

The wheels of government move slowly, so the industry had better set 
aside at least the next five years for the moving of spectrum 
information between and among these proposed entities, with final 
recommendations probably ending up much as similar House and Senate 
bills do: in another committee designed to work out mutual bugs and 
to facilitate the tradeoffs between groups before new policy is 
introduced. As they say in the sales game, you can have it easy, you 
can have it cheap or you can have it fast - pick two. 

Yet another recommendation would establish economic and efficiency 
incentives in the form of spectrum rights, and this could affect the 
private sector greatly. Again, the NTIA and the FCC would team to 
examine the possibility of modifying spectrum rights to encourage 
the deployment of spectrally efficient technologies. This already 
has been done a number of times in the private-radio industry, and 
it has been successful for carriers, manufacturers and end users. 
The NTIA wants to expand secondary-market incentives across various 
services. There long has been a push in the wireless industry to 
allow licensees to sell or lease unused or underused spectrum in the 
aftermarket. 

In addition, the report called for Congress to pass legislation to 
provide the FCC with permanent authority to conduct spectrum 
auctions for licenses, to collect fees for spectrum use, and to 
create a spectrum-relocation fund to streamline reimbursement of 
government spectrum users and to facilitate their relocation to 
comparable spectrum. These are not new proposals. Wireless licensees 
already have purchased spectrum at auction; they already pay a 
yearly spectrum-use fee, based on the number of subscribers they 
serve; and a number of clearinghouses already have been created for 
relocation purposes. 

Spectrum Management & Public Safety 

Another section of the NTIA's report focused on ensuring the 
protection of critical government spectrum users and services. This 
thrust would involve coordination among the Department of Homeland 
Security; the NTIA; the FCC; regional, state and local governments; 
and the private sector to develop a comprehensive plan addressing 
public-safety spectrum issues. Such issues would include 
fragmentation, shortage, interference, and security. The NTIA also 
would examine the feasibility of sharing spectrum among public-
safety services and of possibly implementing one or more 
demonstration programs to test the sharing of spectrum and 
infrastructure among those organizations. 

Terrorist threats would be addressed in this way: The Department of 
Homeland Security, NTIA and the Office of Science and Technology 
Policy (OSTP) would coordinate with appropriate federal agencies to 
develop and implement a plan to address the spectrum needs of 
federal, state and local communication interoperability and 
continuity of government operations in light of terrorist threats. 

Other concerns to be addressed would be emergencies and day-to-day 
operations. The NTIA also was singled out in the recommendations to 
establish a policy-and-plans steering group, comprised of federal 
government officials, to help resolve spectrum-policy disputes. 

Here's where the second part of last week's news comes in. The FCC 
itself has been trying to push public-safety interests to the 
forefront for years, starting out with earmarking many of the UHF 
channels TV broadcasters are supposed to turn in once they go 
digital and then with the two-year-old Nextel [NXTL] Consensus Plan -
 praised by many and reviled by just as many (WBF, June 16). 

So far, the broadcasters have managed to lobby well enough to get 
their giveback timetable pushed into 2006 and beyond. Until then, 
the second half of the government's spectrum re-engineering should 
stem from the final resolution of the Consensus Plan in some form. 
Although formal action has not been taken, FCC Chairman Michael 
Powell is now on board with the plan, and there should be much more 
spectrum available to solve public-safety congestion problems on a 
nationwide basis once an order is adopted. The timeframe is anywhere 
from sometime this week to sometime next month. 

This plan, too, will take a significant amount of time to implement, 
taking into consideration the relocation and the retuning of public-
safety channels. It has the promise, though, of alleviating 
congestion in the largest of metro areas. 

And just making more spectrum available will not solve the 
interoperability problems with which the NTIA and the FCC have been 
tasked. While Nextel has vowed to fund the public-safety industry 
for its relocation troubles, it did not promise to pay for any new 
equipment those groups might need in this digital age, and some have 
voiced their concerns regarding this expense and who should foot the 
bill. 

Just prior to the news that the FCC was closer to blessing Nextel's 
plan, an ad hoc group of public-safety advocates called the First 
Response Coalition made it clear that not only should 
representatives from public safety be involved in any channel-
reallocation process, there should be more monies given to change 
out non-interoperable equipment for digital gear that can be used 
inter- and intra-agency. 

The group chided Nextel for not including equipment funding in its 
rebanding plan, and it also stressed that satellite communications, 
broadband technology and GPS need to be added to the communications 
mix. It also wants the proceeds from at least one FCC auction to be 
handed over for public-safety funding along with the creation of low-
interest loans for new gear. 

There is no doubt many of these requests are results of 9/11, and it 
took just such a disaster to bring RF interoperability into the 
public vocabulary. Public-safety personnel nationwide have known 
about - and complained about - this problem for many years prior to 
2001 and, in New York City in particular, new digital radios 
purchased by the city were not working correctly and, as such, many 
station houses and precincts went back to analog. As Bob Stevens, a 
retired member of the New York City Fire Department, said during the 
group's introductory conference call, "The hoses were standard, but 
the radios couldn't communicate with each other." There's part of 
the disconnect in a nutshell. 

So What's Next? 

Many of the initiatives introduced by the NTIA last week are not 
new; they've just been codified, and perhaps that's the kick the 
public and private sectors needed to move into new territory. Now 
that the NTIA and the FCC agree interoperability is part and parcel 
of U.S. spectrum management, it must get the manufacturer community 
involved in this process. This is crucial, because it's the 
manufacturer that either will produce compliant radios from now on 
or that will make the current digital models tow the line. 

Debra Wayne and Paul Dykewicz 

www.telecomweb.com

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