WASHINGTON-A congressional report due out later this summer is expected to determine that a Pentagon study-which cast doubt on making military spectrum available for third-generation wireless services-is incomplete and needs further study, a finding that could help industry as momentum gains in the Bush administration to delay a final 3G spectrum ruling set for the end of the month.
While the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, is likely to find the Department of Defense’s spectrum report lacking in terms of detail on potential impacts-involving frequency relocation costs and possible degradation to military capability resulting from 1700 MHz changes-it is unclear whether GAO will take a position on the merits of the Pentagon’s technical analysis itself. But to some extent, it is irrelevant.
A GAO finding that finds any shortcomings in DoD’s spectrum report likely will undercut the Pentagon’s posture in the 3G spectrum debate. The Pentagon has relied on the report-released in late March and incorporated into a National Telecommunications and Information Administration report on the potential for accommodating 3G systems in the military’s 1700 MHz band-as a basis for opposing any significant sharing of the band with industry or vacating it entirely.
If GAO finds holes in the DoD report-which was put together under a tight deadline-the document may no longer carry the weight it once did with Bush administration policy-makers, who are trying to balance economic and national security interests. On the other hand, such a finding by GAO could give the Pentagon a chance to provide more data and more fully articulate arguments against surrendering the 1700 MHz band to industry.
Jack L. Brock, managing director of acquisition and sourcing investigations at GAO, said the audit of DoD’s 1700 MHz spectrum analysis is nearly complete and would be sent shortly to the Pentagon, Commerce Department and likely the Federal Communications Commission for comment. Brock noted the report, which he said he believes will be impressive, will be released later this summer.
Brock and another official who is the primary investigator on the project, declined to confirm or deny that GAO found the Pentagon 1700 MHz spectrum report incomplete.
The wireless industry is trying to buy time for a political solution in its favor, following the release of NTIA and FCC reports in March that concluded two of three frequency bands (1700 MHz and 2500 MHz) designated for 3G last year by the World Radiocommunication Conference likely cannot be freed up for 3G. The other band-700 MHz-is occupied by TV broadcasters.
Some major mobile-phone firms favor the 1700 MHz band because it will be exploited for 3G in other countries and the economies of scale of producing handsets in the band would lower costs for manufacturers and consumers alike. Proponents of cdma2000 technology, developed by San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc., insist there is sufficient spectrum to roll out 3G services in the near future and that efforts to take away the Pentagon’s 1700 MHz is tantamount to a government bailout for carriers that use less efficient technologies.
Last December, GAO began investigating potential implications of forcing DoD to hand over the 1700 MHz band to the mobile-phone industry. The wireless industry says it is willing to pay the Pentagon billions of dollars to relocate military radio systems to other frequencies. Top brass counter that other 3G spectrum alternatives have not been fully explored, and they emphasize that the law will not permit such a transfer of spectrum to the private sector until comparable frequencies have been identified and agreed upon by the departments of commerce and defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has yet to take a public position on the 3G spectrum debate. His counterpart at the Commerce Department, Donald Evans, has signaled a willingness to support the mobile-phone industry and last Friday was preparing to sign off on a letter agreeing to FCC Chairman Michael Powell’s desire to postpone a final decision this month on 3G spectrum allocation. Such an action likely would delay the scheduled auction of 3G licenses next June and subsequent issuance of licenses.
The FCC soon is expected to initiate a rule making that considers additional spectrum alternatives for 3G.
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), former chairman of the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on readiness and management support, requested a GAO probe late last year after President Clinton issued a memorandum directing the FCC and NTIA to identify frequencies from the 700 MHz, 1700 MHz and 2500 MHz bands for 3G. Inhofe’s press aide declined to comment on the upcoming GAO report.
On Capitol Hill, Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) last week said he plans to introduce a bill later this year that addresses the 3G spectrum controversy specifically and national spectrum management generally. The foundation for the legislation is expected to be an industry-drafted bill that would override a 1999 law requiring comparable spectrum for DoD and direct the commerce secretary to give the 1700 MHz band to the wireless industry.
“I believe it [the bill] will force a new process on spectrum allocations,” Pickering told a forum sponsored by Toffler Associates. The organization is scheduled to release a report on the 3G spectrum question within the next week or so.
