Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Michael Powell Joins the Blogosphere

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 05 Aug 2004 17:08:34 -0400

Michael Powell Joins the Blogosphere
FCC Chairman Powell kicks off his new regular AO blog.
Michael Powell [US Federal Communications Commission] | POSTED: 07.11.04
@08:28
Editor's note: Michael Powell's first post below was big hit with AO
members and he responded to some of the comments in his second post.

Michael K. Powell
Chairman, Federal Communications Commission
AlwaysOn Blog
July 7, 2004

Traditionally, the economic justification for government regulation of
an industry was market failure such as monopoly, negative externalities,
or unmet social goals. Government's role in the marketplace should be
limited because markets and entrepreneurs develop innovative solutions
far more efficiently than regulators can. This is the principle behind
opening the communications sector to competition. I am particularly
mindful of this principle as new competitive services—VoIP, for
example—become viable alternatives for customers.

Un- or less-regulated competition has been a hard pill to swallow for
most incumbents (as well as many regulators) who legitimately question
the regulatory disparity between themselves and startups. But the
correct answer is not to regulate new firms the same way incumbents have
traditionally been regulated. The answer is to "regulate down" as
markets become competitive. Specific market failures that arise, if any,
should be addressed with targeted and specific remedies. My policy
toward regulating nascent communications services is thus
self-reinforcing: for example, a light regulatory touch can bring VoIP
services to market faster and the competitive effects, in turn, allow us
to deregulate traditional service providers.

Our struggle to define appropriate regulatory regimes to promote
innovation is not limited to the telephone sector. The Commission's
digital television transition is yet another example of how difficult
the struggle can be. The Commission has worked tirelessly to foster new
competitive platforms such as licensed wireless, Wi-Fi, powerline,
satellite, and fiber—just to name a few. On the other hand, we also
recognize the significant contributions and needs of existing providers.

The high-tech community traditionally shied away from regulatory debates
at the FCC and state regulatory commissions. Perhaps staying off
regulators' radar screens has served entrepreneurs well in the past.
Unfortunately, the era of salutary neglect is coming to an end. As
regulators get involved in issues such as VoIP affecting high-tech
industries, the collateral damage can be significant. As technologies,
services, and legal policies converge, it is critical that the high-tech
community understand the issues and engage them.

For example, I need to hear from the tech community as we transition to
digital television. It may be possible to deploy innovative wireless
services in the unused spectrum between broadcast stations (for example,
there is no channel 3 or channel 6 here in San Francisco). When
broadcasting rules were created in the 1920s, white spaces were required
to prevent interference with adjacent stations in a local market and
with stations on the same channel in other markets. In today's digital
world, it may be possible to deploy low-powered, smart digital wireless
devices that would use these blank spaces without interference. This
could mean reclaiming almost 1/3 the broadcast TV spectrum in crowded
markets like Los Angeles to 2/3 of the spectrum in less crowded markets
without interfering with full-powered TV broadcasts. Broadcasters,
however, claim these unused channels as "their" spectrum. Yet a public
policy that favors innovation and experimentation would seek to open
these unused channels to develop new wireless services?just look at how
much value has been created in the sliver of spectrum that has become
Wi-Fi! If the high-tech community believes that new digital technologies
will enable this kind of new thinking about and use of spectrum, then I
need to know that.

One reason I am participating in AlwaysOn Network's blog is to hear from
the tech community directly and to try to get beyond the traditional
inside the Beltway Washington world where lobbyists filter the techies.
I am looking forward to an open, transparent and meritocracy-based
communication—attributes that bloggers are famous for! Regulated
interests have about an 80 year head start on the entrepreneurial tech
community when it comes to informing regulators what they want and need,
but if anyone can make up for that, Silicon Valley can. This is
important not just for Silicon Valley—it's essential to insure that
America has the best, most innovate communications infrastructure.

Editor's note. This is the first in a regular series of columns by FCC
Chairman Michael Powell. Chairman Powell will be the opening keynote
speaker at the AO2004 Innovation Summit at Stanford University on July
13 at 6:45pm, where he'll be joined in a fireside chat by Steve
Jurvetson (Draper Fisher Jurvetson) and Professor Larry Lessig (Stanford
University). Check out the event program.

A limited amount of tickets for AO2004 are still available. Those
interested in buying tickets can register themselves on the Web, or
contact Kathy Osweiler at 415-751-0170 or at [email-masked]

Read comments from readers here:
http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=4830_0_3_0_C

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