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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