WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission was given some advice on FCC reform last week as Michael Kennedy of Motorola Inc. suggested the FCC create a spectrum management board comprised of bureau chiefs to examine the “impact of domestic and international spectrum allocation issues.”
The suggestion of a spectrum management board came as part of an FCC Spectrum Management en banc hearing held last week, while Congress was away on Easter/Passover recess. This is significant because Congress has been calling for the FCC to re-invent itself and become more deregulatory. Since some members of Congress believe the FCC spends too much time talking and not enough acting, it is unclear whether the spectrum management board would be seen as a big enough step at reform.
FCC Chairman William Kennard refused to speculate. Instead he said, “a lot of the discussion [we heard today] did focus the need for the FCC as the industries converge. [We need to] focus on the services and [make sure they are not] hampered by what we do internally. The FCC decides how to get its work done.” He added, Congress has some oversight over the bureaus but doesn’t usually concern itself with the various divisions.
FCC Commissioner Susan Ness proposed the hearing last year as a way to address some of the concerns arising from the C-block personal communications services debacle, the possible auctioning of private wireless spectrum and the use of spectrum by television broadcasters for digital television. Ness has said that a similar hearing held in 1996 was extremely helpful.
The spectrum management board would be an elevation of a current spectrum coordinating committee which currently exists and meets on a regular basis. Dale Hatfield, chief of the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology, said the idea had merit but the real issue was how spectrum should be shared.
“Reorganizing cannot be a substitute for the time it takes to figure out sharing arrangements. The organization inside the FCC may not solve the sharing problem. We need to focus on the sharing problem,” Hatfield said.
In addition to the spectrum coordinating committee, there also is cross-checking of spectrum management policies at the commissioner level, known as the 8th Floor. Each of the FCC commissioners’ legal advisers have the same portfolio of issues, which includes both wireless and international issues. This allows the FCC to issue rules that complement, not contradict ,each other. For example, recently the FCC released proposed rules on the 2 GHz mobile satellite service and how to implement the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. There was a conscientious effort by the 8th Floor to make sure the two items did not say contradictory things, said senior FCC officials.
The spectrum management board was met with cautious optimism by industry observers. Thomas Keller, who represents a variety of spectrum users, said the proposal would create a “sort of one-stop shopping” for spectrum users to discuss issues.
The FCC announced the creation of the Technological Advisory Council on April 2. TAC would be made up of private sector experts.
The Personal Communications Industry Association thinks “there needs to be more emphasis on spectrum planning but we are inclined to leave it to the FCC how best to accomplish that,” said Mary McDermott, PCIA senior vice president and chief of staff for government relations.
