[HQRP] FCC's new direction on USA Today

[Rick Hiller]

Scene 1

Robot: (Arms flinging, lights blinking)  "Warning....Danger, Will Robinson"

Well folks, here it comes.......especially the sentence in 
bold......Regards...Rick...W5RH

                  10/29/2002 - Updated 09:41 PM ET

                  FCC's Powell takes path to free up airwaves

                  By Paul Davidson, USA TODAY

                  The nation's top communications regulator is
                  expected today to fire the first salvo in a
                  controversial plan to liberalize the use of the
                  nation's increasingly scarce airwaves.

                  That could free spectrum space for high-speed
                  wireless Internet services and revive the
                  telecommunications industry by jump-starting
                  innovation. Critics say it also could create
                  interference and disrupt existing services.

                  In a speech at the University of Colorado, Michael 
Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications
                  Commission, will trumpet the wider use of unlicensed 
spectrum, say people familiar with his plans.

                  He also will call for relaxing rules on how mobile-phone 
carriers, broadcasters and satellite companies use
                  the licensed spectrum they buy at FCC auctions, they say.

                  FCC officials would not comment, but Powell, a 
free-market proponent, has long signaled his leanings on the
                  subject.

                  His speech is expected to be followed in the next couple 
of weeks by the release of an FCC task-force
                  report on spectrum policy and, in six to 12 months, new 
rules.

                  Today the FCC earmarks specific blocks of frequencies 
for, say, TV broadcasters or wireless companies,
                  charging billions of dollars for them at auction. The 
agency also makes it tough for companies to lease their
                  spectrum to others or use it for different purposes.

                  Powell is expected to propose loosening those 
restrictions in a bid to free up airwaves.

                  Also, just a couple of frequency bands are reserved for 
unlicensed services, such as the Wi-Fi (wireless
                  fidelity) Internet networks sprouting in cafes and airports.

                  Users of unlicensed bands don't pay for airwaves. 
Instead, they share them with other services, avoiding
                  interference by operating at low power and using smart 
antennas that can pluck out relevant signals and
                  ignore all others.

                  Academics have long argued that more bands should be set 
aside for unlicensed services and that they  could even share certain 
frequencies with licensed services without interfering.

                  Powell is expected to encourage those ideas, paving the 
way for further study and likely action by Powell
                  and the three other FCC commissioners.

                  Details have yet to be worked out, but Powell's vision 
would let more companies use the USA's
                  fast-dwindling stock of airwaves. It also could spur 
innovation by suppliers, who must now tailor their
                  offerings to the few big firms that control the airwaves.

                  "Entrepreneurs and high-tech companies will be freed up 
to experiment, innovate, invest ... rejuvenating a
                  key sector of our economy," Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., 
sponsor of a bill promoting unlicensed services, said
                  in a recent letter to Powell.

                  Early this year, for example, the FCC approved a 
breakthrough unlicensed service called ultrawideband,
                  which can permit wireless home video networks and other 
new services.

                  But big wireless companies worry about the interference 
that might result if unlicensed services are allowed
                  to share their spectrum.

                  "People paid billions for their licenses with the 
expectation of their ability to perform," says Tom Wheeler,
                  president of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet 
Association.


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