FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 01, 2008

TIA Urges the FCC to Oppose RTG’s Proposal for Spectrum Cap

Reinstating a Spectrum Cap Would Reverse Current Policies and Severely Harm the Mobile and Wireless Broadband Product Market, Says TIA

Washington, D.C. – The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), the leader in advocacy, standards development, business development and intelligence for the information and communications technology (ICT) industry, today urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reject the Rural Telecommunications Group, Inc.’s (RTG) Petition for Rulemaking to mandate a 110-MHz county-by-county spectrum cap on all commercial terrestrial wireless spectrum below 2.3 GHz.

TIA stated in Comments that reinstating a spectrum cap would reverse the Commission’s current spectrum policies and severely harm the mobile and wireless broadband product market.

“We agree with the Commission’s findings that wireless broadband technologies are vital components of the FCC’s effort to deploy broadband services to rural and other underserved areas,” said Danielle Coffey, TIA Vice President for Government Affairs. “The Commission’s existing spectrum policy complements this policy goal by addressing competition issues on a market-by-market basis,” she added.

“However, in its Petition, RTG attempts to resurrect a failed, arbitrary, and innovation-stifling spectrum cap that has been summarily discarded by the Commission,” Coffey continued. “The Commission has replaced this arcane policy with a flexible spectrum screen method to review competition issues on a market-by-market basis. Such a review affords the Commission a fuller understanding of market competitiveness. RTG has not in any way established that a reversal of the current policy is necessary to protect consumers or that the discarded policy is any more viable now than it was prior to its elimination in 2003.”

“The Commission should also acknowledge in any future policy that innovative wireless broadband networks will be built on blocks of spectrum ranging from 1.25 MHz to 20 MHz or more,” Coffey stated. “These evolving networks should not be regulated with an antiquated spectrum cap policy that disregards the spectrum needed for deployment of wireless broadband service. Additionally, the Commission should implement spectrum policies that ensure that wireless carriers can migrate their spectrum to broadband uses.”

TIA’s comments are available on the FCC filings page at tiaonline.org.

For more information, please contact Patrick Sullivan at 202-346-3244 or psullivan@tiaonline.org.

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About TIA
The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) represents the global information and communications technology (ICT) industry through standards development, advocacy, tradeshows, business opportunities, market intelligence and world-wide environmental regulatory analysis. With roots dating back to 1924, TIA enhances the business environment for broadband, mobile wireless, information technology, networks, cable, satellite and unified communications. Members’ products and services empower communications in every industry and market, including healthcare, education, security, public safety, transportation, government, the military, the environment and entertainment. TIA co-owns the SUPERCOMM® tradeshow and is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Visit tiaonline.org.

TIA’s Board of Directors includes senior-level executives from ACS, ADC, ADTRAN, Alcatel-Lucent, ANDA Networks, ArrayComm, AttivaCorp, Avaya, Bechtel Communications, Inc., Cam Communications, Cisco Systems, Corning Incorporated, Ericsson, Inc., GENBAND, Inc., Graybar, Henkels & McCoy, ILS Technology, Intel Corporation, LGE, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia Siemens Networks, Nortel, OneChip Photonics Inc., Panasonic Computer Solutions Co., Qualcomm, Research In Motion, Sumitomo Electric Lightwave Corporation, Tellabs, Tyco Electronics, Ulticom, Inc., and Verari Systems. Advisors to the Board include FAL Associates, Orca Systems and Telcordia Technologies.

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