WASHINGTON, D.C.—Several major trade associations have joined to send a letter to President George W. Bush in support of his leadership in securing more spectrum for next generation wireless services.The letter was released at the NTIA Spectrum Summit where the allocation of 120 MHz...
WASHINGTON—President Bush's 2003 budget eliminates a major telecom infrastructure grant program, while including legislative proposals to reschedule broadcast spectrum auctions and to charge television licensees US$500 million a year starting in 2007 until analog spectrum is returnedThe proposed legislation, designed to increase revenue by...
WASHINGTON-A Bush administration report due out shortly could hurt Nextel Communications Inc.'s campaign to win government approval of a controversial spectrum realignment plan designed to resolve commercial wireless interference to public safety and business radio systems, a proposal major U.S. industry sectors blasted last...
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Telecommunications and Information administration (NTIA) is asking for comments on several broadband deployment issues including supply and demand for services and the technical, economic, or regulatory barriers to broadband deployment, which NTIA said will help it to finalize its broadband policy....
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...
WASHINGTON-Energy, water and railroad industries-key sectors of the nation's critical infrastructure-have urged the Bush administration to address pressing spectrum needs, which have been largely neglected since the passage of a 1993 budget law authorizing the federal government to sell the airwaves to commercial wireless...
WASHINGTON-While the Pentagon last week downplayed a news report on a letter that sources said is being drafted for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that would convey to President Bush serious concerns about transferring spectrum to the mobile-phone industry, an internal memo written by the...
WASHINGTON-President Bush is expected to appoint wireless lawyer Nancy Victory to head the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, according to administration and industry sources.Victory is a law partner at Wiley, Rein & Fielding in Washington, D.C., where she specializes in the firm's communications and...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission, lacking solid options and clear direction from the Bush administration, likely will be forced to postpone a final decision in July on spectrum for third-generation wireless systems.While FCC officials have publicly stated they want to decide the 3G spectrum issue...
I've noticed a curious pattern emerging. At agency after agency with telecom and high-tech oversight, key positions have yet to be filled. Some are not even close to being filled.To be fair, President Bush-owing to Recount 2000 delays-got a late start. Here's progress to...
WASHINGTON-House and Senate budget leaders are at odds over President Bush's plan to delay auctions of valuable broadcast spectrum, a dispute that arises at a time when the mobile-phone industry desperately wants to secure additional frequencies for third-generation wireless systems.The Senate budget resolution embraces...
WASHINGTON-Last December, two months after President Clinton ordered government studies on spectrum availability for third-generation wireless systems and at a time when mobile-phone and Pentagon officials were intensely studying the issue, Senate Armed Services Committee member James Inhofe (R-Okla.) quietly directed the General Accounting...
WASHINGTON-The mobile-phone industry, stung by two government reports last week that largely rule out use of the 1700 MHz and 2500 MHz bands for third-generation wireless systems, managed to win a commitment from Commerce Secretary Donald Evans to work with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld...
WASHINGTON-Government testing of potential interference between the global positioning system and ultra-wideband devices seems to be politically inconclusive, while an UWB-industry funded study shows that UWB devices do not interfere any more than other unlicensed RF-using products."The report documents the results of the measurement...
WASHINGTON-FCC Chairman Michael Powell initially expects to focus on the internal workings of the commission rather than on regulatory initiatives, according to an aide."I think it is unfair to start off with a regulative initiative," said Peter Tenhula, Powell's senior legal adviser. "On top...
WASHINGTON-The National Telecommunications and Information Administration said last week testing showed that ultra-wideband systems "have the potential" to operate in the 3 to 6 GHz bands even though the power may exceed the interference protection criteria for unlicensed devices."We are hopeful this will provide...
WASHINGTON-In a move being watched closely by the wireless industry, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration proposed rules to reimburse the Pentagon and other federal agencies relocated to other frequencies to free up spectrum for third-generation mobile-phone systems.The initiative, announced by NTIA chief Gregory...
WASHINGTON-Commerce Secretary-designate Donald Evans said he will stress spectrum management in the next administration and told Senate Commerce Committee members he realizes the international implications of third-generation mobile-phone development in the United States."We need to put a lot more emphasis on management of the...
WASHINGTON-The Bush administration and a Republican-majority Federal Communications Commission likely will put their stamp on wireless issues in 2001, even though telecom issues are largely nonpartisan."Understand a lot of these issues are not Republican/ Democrat. They are not liberal/conservative. They are not in many...
WASHINGTON-President Bill Clinton last week gave long-time supporter and FCC Commissioner Susan Ness an early holiday gift by naming her to a recess appointment on the Federal Communications Commission."I am honored that President Clinton has appointed me to serve a recess term at ....
WASHINGTON-The mobile-phone industry last week raised serious questions about data and methodology used by government to determine whether the 1700 MHz band can be shared by third-generation wireless systems and the Pentagon users, a concern that has led some to worry whether the Clinton...
Wireless broadband started out as a unique and rapidly growing concept, poised on the edge of a data revolution that promised to produce millions of dollars and bring the Internet to those left out in the cold by wireline technologies.For months, momentum has been...
WASHINGTON-Federal Communications Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth last week leveled perhaps his strongest criticism yet against fellow telecom regulators and the Clinton administration, accusing both of subverting the process for moving military users and others off spectrum so frequencies can be auctioned for third-generation mobile-phone systems...
WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration last week cast doubt on large-scale sharing of spectrum designated for third-generation mobile systems, a development likely to shift the government's focus to broadcast spectrum and to clearing military, educational, religious and broadband Internet licensees off the 1700 MHz and 2500...
