The International Mobile Telecommunications Association announced it is launching a campaign to oppose the regulations proposed by the cellular and personal communications services industries worldwide to restrict the commercial trunked radio industry.
The announcement was made by IMTA President Alan Shark at the organization’s Second International Congress on Commercial Trunked Radio, held Nov. 6-7. Shark said the cellular and PCS industries are feeding “misinformation” to various government agencies around the world to influence regulatory decisions that, if enacted, would “curtail growth of the commercial trunked radio industry and prohibit operators from satisfying customer needs.”
In particular, the rules opposed are those that restrict interconnection rights. “Interconnection is a vital part of the life of our industry,” he said.
Shark maintains that cellular and PCS companies are lobbying to convince governments to limit interconnection by saying that allowing SMR systems to connect to the network limits the ability of cellular calls to access that same network. This is not true, Shark said.
“We cannot allow our industry to be curtailed because of unfounded fears of these corporate giants,” continued Shark.
“It is wrong for them to hide behind regulations that protect them and hurt others. The focus should be on the marketplace where there is plenty of room to grow-not on regulatory protections designed to thwart competition.”
These industries are encouraging restrictive rules on SMR service because they fear increased competition, Shark said, a fear he termed baseless because SMR customers are generally small businesses and cellular and PCS customers are generally individuals.
“In the 10-plus year history of this industry in the United States, there are no examples of cellular or PCS losing customers to trunking. In fact, it has always been the other way around,” he said. “There’s no evidence we’ve ever taken even one of their customers.”
Shark points to other methods to limit the SMR industry, as well. These same forces, he said, also are working to limit the allocation of frequencies to SMR providers. “They want us given crumbs of spectrum compared to them.”
IMTA has taken the fight worldwide, working with similar trade groups in Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, Panama and Peru as well as in the United States.
“We are united in our commitment to ensure that commercial trunked radio is seen as a credible industry which, in an appropriate regulatory environment, can make a significant contribution to any nation’s economy and productivity level,” Shark said. “There’s plenty of room for growth for everybody.”
