When commercial users need more wireless spectrum, ’the federal g...

& Internet Law Congress, sponsored by FCBA and Computer Law Assn. While he said federal govt. users such as DoD were interested in coming up with solutions on where additional spectrum for 3G would come from, he raised series of questions that he said must be answered first. FCC and NTIA last fall undertook scaled-back assessment of bands available for 3G, including 1710-1770 MHz now occupied by federal govt. users, mostly military. Younes said questions included whether spectrum could be reallocated from existing users without endangering national security and whether FCC had done all it could to ensure that industry had incentives to use spectrum efficiently. Younes also questioned 200 MHz of spectrum that CTIA has cited as needed for provision of advanced wireless services, based on past ITU estimates. Many assumptions on which ITU based estimate “have not been looked at very carefully,” Younes said. In particular, he said that 3G services haven’t developed as quickly as originally thought, with Merrill Lynch estimating that many systems aren’t expected to begin operating until 2005, Younes said. He called for more “realistic” assessment of 3G prospects, compared to optimistic estimates created in late 1990s when financial markets were brighter. “The need is not real,” he said. “We need more time to make public policy decisions on advanced spectrum services.” He reiterated view of several DoD officials at recent public policy forums that there is imbalance in how policy decisions are made when officials weigh national security and public safety needs of federal users versus need to accommodate growth of commercial services. “The current public policy debate shows the imbalance in how spectrum is evaluated and allocated,” Younes said. “Dropped calls should not take precedence over misdropped bombs,” he said. Stressing need for interagency coordination, he raised possibility of “White House-level oversight committee” in which diverse entities could be brought together to decide such issues. Noting difficulties in preliminary assessment of whether parts of 1710-1770 MHz band could be freed for 3G, he said “nobody should assume that band is going to be made available” although DoD, NTIA and FCC are continuing to work together. In keynote, NTIA Dir. Nancy Victory said spectrum search for new technologies or expanded uses of existing ones “often seems to pit the innovators against the incumbents. The debates get cast an either/or proposition. That needs to change.” Outlining themes from recent NTIA Spectrum Summit, Victory noted policymakers “need to remove the clouds over spectrum availability and provide certainty for the deployment of new services.” Among areas of intense debate over additional wireless spectrum is 800 MHz band and spectrum under evaluation for 3G, she said. Victory called recent FCC proposal to examine alternatives for mitigating interference to public safety users at 800 MHz “a good starting point and a catalyst for rethinking how things should be done in the future.” She said federal, state and local public safety systems “need a plan for an effective and orderly transition to a fully interoperable web of systems.”