WASHINGTON, July 24, 2013 — The House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing Tuesday on the upcoming spectrum auction, focusing primarily on possible restrictions on larger carriers and efforts to ensure that broadcasters are treated fairly. The question of whether or not to impose restrictions on AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. dominated much… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 2, 2013 - The Institute for Local Self-Reliance released a fact sheet describing the basic principles behind wireless internet technology and policy on June 17. The fact sheet defines the basic terminology associated with wireless internet such as fixed wireless and data caps. It describes the differences between licensed and unlicensed spectrum and… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 27, 2013 - Witnesses from government agencies and private industry underscored the importance of making more efficient use of radio-frequency spectrum, including sharing and utilization of new technology, at a hearing on Thursday afternoon. In his opening remarks at the Communications and Technology Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Rep.… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 19, 2013 – Under questioning from the Senate Commerce Committee during a confirmation hearing to be chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Tom Wheeler said spectrum auctions need to be designed to provide incentives for broadcasters to sell, and carriers to bid, on prime wireless frequencies. Upcoming spectrum auctions were one of the… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 17, 2013 – President Barack Obama on Friday introduced several new initiatives to facilitate more efficient use of radio-frequency spectrum in order to encourage further development of wireless broadband. In addition to investments totaling to $100 million in the development of spectrum-sharing technologies and advanced communications, Obama also directed federal agencies to make… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 12, 2013 - Concerns over spectrum policy and data privacy dominated the conversation between AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson and Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., at a Wednesday panel on “Accelerating the Mobile Technology Revolution” at the Brookings Institution. Stephenson praised the approach that the Federal Communications Commission has taken with the incentive… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, May 22, 2013 – Addressing spectrum demands and encouraging mobile innovation are the two keys to advancement in communications, said Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association 2013 convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Monday. Clyburn highlighted a number of strategies the FCC has enacted or plans to… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON April 6, 2012 – Last week the National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) announced their finding that 95 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum residing in the 1755-1850 MHz band can be repurposed for commercial wireless use. NTIA’s report was in response to a 2010 Memorandum from the president asking the Department of Commerce through NTIA to… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON March 8th, 2012 – Last month Congress passed one of the more important pieces of legislation regarding the future of wireless access and innovation in our country. The bi partisan legislation has already garnered support from many of the stakeholders and parties involved. Given that we have not covered this legislation up to date,… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON April 21, 2011- Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski visited the Economic Club of Washington Wednesday to answer questions that covered spectrum auctions and the impending merger between AT&T and T-Mobile. “To continue our growth in mobile broadband we need to free up more spectrum,” Genachowski said. “Spectrum is the oxygen of the mobile world and without more it will be stifled.” Keep Reading
WASHINGTON March 29, 2011 - With the acquisition of T-Mobile, AT&T may be not only solving a long standing question about where it would find the spectrum to deploy its planned 4G network, but also make a leap in its public image. Currently, AT&T uses a band of spectrum not supported by any other carrier in the world, meaning handsets must be specially made for the carrier. Both T-Mobile and AT&T use the same base technology, but the two carriers run their 3G networks on different bands of spectrum. The acquisition of T-Mobile would greatly increase the amount of spectrum and infrastructure that AT&T would possess, bringing service to a greater number of Americans. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 1, 2010 - The FCC unanimously passed three measures aimed at improving spectrum availability and efficiency while spurring innovation at its November open meeting on Tuesday. The wireless industry applauded the agency's move. The first measure would reallocate over-the-air broadcast television stations so that two or more would share a 6 megahertz channel. The commission anticipates that channel sharing could free up to 120 MHz of spectrum, which would be reallocated to also carry wireless broadband. The move would comprise nearly one-fifth of the 500 MHz of spectrum the commission plans to make available for wireless broadband over the next 10 years as part of the National Broadband Plan. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON July 30, 2010 –Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., in coordination with ranking member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., unveiled a new bill aimed at addressing America’s scarce supply of spectrum. The legislation, titled the “Voluntary Incentive Auctions Act,” would permit the FCC to conduct incentive-based spectrum auctions. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 22, 2010 – The Federal Communications Commission announced yesterday that it would seek comment on its Web-based system which tracks the information of applicants seeking to operate in existing frequencies. The system is designed to operate as a means for nonfederal applicants to determine the availability of RF spectrum in any location, or the need for detailed frequency coordination of a specific newly proposed assignment within the shared portions of the radio spectrum. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 22, 2010 –Sprint has announced that it has successfully completed a technological overhaul that frees up 35 MegaHerz of spectrum for general usage. The overhaul was undertaken pursuant to the Federal Government’s goal of freeing up additional spectrum, given the general scarcity of the resource, a fact which Sprint spokespeople acknowledged. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 21, 2010- LightSquared, a new broadband wireless data network, is expected to cover 92 percent of the United States population with LTE by 2015. Private-equity firm Harbinger Capital Partners announced its LightSquared network on July 20, and is expected to officially launch the network sometime next year. The network will initially start in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Denver and Baltimore. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 21, 2010- Market barriers to minority and small business owners must be removed so that they can compete in the global marketplace says Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 19, 2010- Three Federal Communications Commissioners Robert McDowell, Meredith Baker, and Mignon Clyburn encouraged use of the internet and new media applications to assist minorities and women entrepreneurs and connect them to financial resources. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON July 19, 2010 – The Mexican government recently completed their auction of the 1.9 Ghz band which raised 2 billion pesos ($156 million) and the 1.7 Ghz band which raised 4.91 billion pesos ($379.7 million). The government now plans to auction the 3.4 Ghz band and 3.7Ghz bands and possibly the 700Mhz band. The Mexican telecommunications commission has yet to release the names of the winners. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 16, 2010 -The Federal Communications Commission will increase its transparency by overseeing the creation of a spectrum inventory that includes users and license holders, agency Chairman Julius Genachowski told senators in a Thursday letter. Last May, Senators John D. Rockefeller and John Kerry asked Genachowski and the FCC to create a comprehensive database of spectrum users and licensees. Genachowski’s Thursday reply said that the FCC is now taking an inventory of all spectrum users and licensees. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON June 30, 2010- In a show of support for President Obama’s memorandum ordering the release of 500 MHz of spectrum, Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass) will author a bill to give additional guidance in the release of the spectrum. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 29, 2010On Monday the President announced that he has instructed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) to make 500 MHz of spectrum available over the next 10 years. This release of spectrum is one of the first direct implementations of recommendations made by the National Broadband Plan. “America's future competitiveness and global technology leadership depend, in part, upon the availability of additional spectrum” said President Obama. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 24, 2010 – The Federal Communications Commission announced Monday that it would begin a plan to increase spectrum availability by freeing up loose spectrum allotted to satellite companies. The plan will be initiated in July after an FCC proceeding examining how to increase value, utilization and investment in mobile satellite services (MSS). Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 23, 2010 – The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau appointed 20 members to its Emergency Response Interoperability Center’s Technical Advisory Committee Monday. The ERIC mission is to establish a technical and operational framework that will ensure nationwide operability and interoperability in deployment and operation of the 700 megahertz public safety broadband wireless network. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 14, 2010 – With spectrum policy, playing a major role in the national broadband plan the Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications & Information Administration will have to increase their cooperation. Towards that end, FCC Chair Julius Genachowski met with NTIA Administrator Lawrence Strickling to discuss increased cooperation between the agencies. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 4, 2010 – The issue of spreading around communications spectrum so that businesses, consumers and others can perform and innovate effectively was discussed as a conference hosted by Public Knowledge on Thursday. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, April 28, 2010 - Chapter Seven of the national broadband plan is one of the shortest of the entire document, with a primary focus on research and development. The key recommendation that this chapter makes is that Congress needs to fund long-term projects rather than short-term fast moving ones. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, April 19, 2010 - Chapter Five of the plan focuses on spectrum, and its content is the most technical of the entire 360-page document. The two key issues surrounding spectrum policy are the number of stakeholders that own large chunks of spectrum, and the possibility of moving or reallocating that spectrum. Keep Reading
Twenty-five years ago, the World Wide Web did not exist. Very few Americans had even seen a mobile phone, and broadband networks were available only to a few businesses and research institutions. Today, innovations such as broadband and others like it drive the creation of a wide variety of products and services. The competitive forces that sparked these breakthroughs need to be nurtured so that the United States can continue to reap the benefits of its unrivaled culture of innovation. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 26, 2010 - The national broadband plan aims to present not just a roadmap of how to expand broadband but also to provide a long-term vision of innovation. While the first chapter of the plan explains its overarching goals and congressional mandate, the plan is really outlined in the second chapter. The plan has six goals that the Federal Communications Commission plans to achieve through four general recommendations. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 26, 2010 – The Federal Communication Commission’s National Broadband Plan is an ambitious blueprint for the country’s future containing lofty goals and pragmatic solutions, and implementing it will require action from the agency and lawmakers, experts said Thursday at a hearing on Capitol Hill. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 8, 2010 - With about a month left until the Federal Communications Commission delivers its National Broadband Plan to Congress, Commissioner Robert McDowell spoke about the impending plan – as well as spectrum politics, Net neutrality and competition in the video media landscape – on C-SPAN’s “The Communicators.” Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 4, 2009 - The United States must act soon to meet the increasing demand for more spectrum, a key lawmaker said on Friday. "Our nation is on the verge of a wireless spectrum shortage," said Sen. John Ensign, R-N.V. "As evidenced by the tremendous success of smart phones, demand for wireless broadband devices and services is exploding. If the United States does not act soon to meet the increasing demand for more spectrum, we risk falling behind other nations in developing new technologies." Keep Reading
Half a century ago, economist Ronald Coase criticized the political allocation of radio frequencies by the federal government in a seminal article, entitled “The Federal Communications Commission,” in the Journal of Law and Economics. He argued that the government could achieve efficient allocation by allowing property rights in the electromagnetic spectrum. He later won the Nobel Prize in Economics for the ideas first articulated in that paper. Keep Reading
SAN DIEGO, October 7, 2009 -- The future of telecommunications technology will literally be in the palms of users' hands, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski said Wednesday while speaking at CTIA - The Wireless Association's annual convention in San Diego. Keep Reading
The Federal Communications Commission has issued a notice seeking comment on whether more radio spectrum is needed for wireless broadband services. The notice is part of the Commission's process in crafting a national broadband plan, which is due to Congress in February 2010. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, September 17, 2009 – A three-panel workshop on the role of wireless spectrum in the Federal Communications Commission’s national broadband plan considered how one could tell the value of spectrum: by its current use, by its cost, and by demand. These were the central discussions at the agency’s Spectrum workshop on September 17. Among the issues discussed were fourth-generation wireless supply and demand, sources of spectrum, and innovation in spectrum access. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 8, 2009 -- The Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday approved S. 649, the Radio Spectrum Inventory Act, which would give the National Telecommunications and Information Agency and the Federal Communications Commission 180 days to present Congress with a complete inventory of the radio frequencies that they manage from 300 Megahertz to 3.5 Gigahertz. Keep Reading
SAN MATEO, Calif., May 12th, 2009 - Increased demand for wireless bandwidth will require a wholesale reassessment of how the U.S. allocates wireless spectrum, a group of experts told attendees at the 2009 Tech Policy Summit. Keep Reading