WASHINGTON-The Telecommunications Industry Association is preparing to send a letter, perhaps by the end of this week, to the Senate leadership asking it to strip language favorable to Northpoint Technologies L.L.C. from the spectrum-relocation bill and to move the relocation bill as quickly as possible, said Grant Seiffert, TIA vice president for external affairs and global policy.
“We are asking the leadership of the Senate to strip the bill of the Northpoint amendment. We think that it is a special-interest provision. We think that if Congress wants to vote on that up or down, let them do that separately but don’t drag this hugely significant priority to the industry with one single amendment. We are working on a letter with some industry colleagues to ask for quick Senate consideration without the Northpoint amendment,” said Seiffert.
The amendment would allow Northpoint, a digital broadcast satellite license applicant, to offer a wireless Internet solution to rural America. Northpoint has been in a long-running battle to offer its service, which uses satellite and terrestrial technology.
Earlier this year, Northpoint shocked the wireless world when it was able to get an amendment attached to the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act, the formal name for the spectrum-relocation bill
Seiffert’s statement came at a press breakfast held this morning for TIA to announce its five-point plan to spur broadband deployment. One of the points of the plan is greater spectrum allocation for more services.
“We also believe spectrum allocation is key to a sustained recovery. Passage of the spectrum-relocation bill is an urgent priority,” said TIA President Matthew Flanigan. “The FCC should quickly move to finalize the service rules for the 1700 MHz spectrum that has been allocated to support the introduction of advanced-wireless services.”
TIA hopes that its five-point plan will resonate within the White House and that President George W. Bush will include the importance of broadband in his State-of-the-Union speech scheduled for late January.
“What is happening to our industry should be of major concern to the White House,” said Flanigan. “The president needs to make clear that broadband is a national priority. As far back as October 2001, we sent a letter to President Bush, in which we proposed nine specific principles that we believe are still necessary today. We would like the president to address this as a national priority in his State-of-the-Union address in January.”
The telecommunications sector has experienced a massive slump after the incredible highs of the late 90s. To illustrate this, Seiffert referenced a bar graph that showed that telecom investment is at the same level in 2003 that it was in 1996. Further worrisome to TIA is that the bulk of new investment in 2003 is by cable companies, which are not members.
