WASHINGTON-In an address with major policymaking implications, Federal Communications Commissioner Susan Ness said government-endorsed wireless standards could improve U.S. competitiveness abroad and cautioned against spectrum reform based entirely on market forces.
Ness, speaking last week at a conference sponsored by the Federal Communications Bar Association and Warren Publishing, said that while the agency should refrain from mandating standards, “the FCC may wish to adopt several non-exclusive standards to promote sales of technology abroad.”
David Siddall, an aide to Ness, said the wireless industry has complained repeatedly in recent years of losing contracts to foreign firms whose products have a government stamp of approval. The European Community, for example, embraces the Global System for Mobile communications standard.
The EC imprimatur, according to Siddall, can carry enough weight to land a contract even in the face of evidence that an American technology is superior.
Craig Farrill, vice president of strategic technology at AirTouch Communications Inc., said in a telephone interview from Walnut Creek, Calif., that government endorsement of standards would help U.S. suppliers as well as foreign companies licensed to build American-designed wireless equipment.
Ness, who has taken a leading role at the FCC on spectrum reform and played a key role on the international front, also said domestic and international telecommunications policy has to be better coordinated if the United States is to lead in the global arena.
The nation “can only succeed if it has sufficient lead time and only if its international advocacy is consistent with domestic policy,” she said. “We must not fight for allocations abroad which cannot be honored at home.”
The United States, for example, fought for and secured an international mobile satellite service allocation in 1992 but then turned around and used the spectrum for personal communications services. The switch was technically appropriate, but Siddall said such turnabouts could cause the United States to lose credibility in the international community.
Ness’ speech also outlined various principles she believes should guide spectrum management.
Ness does not agree with market purists who support spectrum property rights that would let buyers of airwaves use (or warehouse) frequencies as they wish so long as interference is not caused to others.
On the other hand, Ness supports increased license flexibility-particularly for emerging technologies-but suggested a lack of a regulatory structure for services that rely on the use of the same equipment by large numbers of users could undermine efficient spectrum use and thwart policy goals.
