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 cases regional,” said Rep. Michael Oxley (R-Ohio). Oxley is battling with Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.) to be chairman of the House Commerce Committee. That decision should be made within the next couple of weeks.
“People will change. Does that mean policies will change? Does that mean they will change for the good or for the worse?” asked Rob Hoggarth, senior vice president of government relations for the Personal Communications Industry Association.
President-elect George W. Bush is likely to name FCC Commissioner Michael Powell interim chairman of the agency, at least. No one knows yet when Chairman William Kennard will leave the agency. Kennard’s term does not expire until June and he has said publicly he expects to fill out his term. However, it would be unusual for a chairman to stay on at the agency after handing over the reins of the commission.
Powell tends to be more deregulatory and favors lifting the spectrum cap. At RCR Wireless New’s deadline, the wireless industry was eagerly awaiting the release of proposed rules that would re-examine the cap.
“Get rid of it. It is arcane. It is history,” said Brian Fontes, vice president for federal relations for Cingular Wireless Inc.
Any change in FCC membership will force industry lobbyists to spend the first part of the year acquainting themselves to the new faces at the commission.
“With new leadership at the commission, that means it is a busy year to meet and introduce your advocacy positions to the new leadership,” said Mark Crosby, president of the Industrial Telecommunications Association. ITA represents private-wireless interests and has seen its light in policy-making influence dim over the last decade with the emergence of commercial mobile radio service.
FCC reform
The FCC may face strong reform in 2001.
“I think it is time now for an attic to basement review of the FCC. … The time is more than right to streamline the FCC to make it look like the 21st Century rather than the 20th Century,” said Oxley.
In late 1999, Kennard set out a five-year strategic reform plan that was criticized as both too slow (in that it did not deregulate enough) and too aggressive in its plans to change the structure of the agency from one that governs according to industry sectors to one that governs by functions.
Congress most likely would have to approve any radical restructuring.
“There are things we can do on our own and there are things that we have to work with our committees in Congress. … You are not going to regulate broadcasters like common carriers. In fact, there is statutory language that says they are not common carriers,” said Robert Pepper, chief of the FCC’s Office of Plans and Policy.
“A licensing bureau seems like a good idea, but all of the rules for the various industry segments differ,” agreed Fontes.
One area ripe for change is the way the agency reviews license-transfer requests, a necessary part of any telecom merger.
“I think the very minimum we could and should do is put a shot clock on the FCC’s merger-review efforts. … If I were king, I would eliminate entirely the FCC’s role in the merger review process. But I don’t have the votes to be king so I suspect we are going to hash that out in the democratic process,” said Oxley.
Raw materials
Meanwhile, the wireless industry this year would like the focus at the commission to be on what one industry lobbyist called the raw materials necessary for the industry to function.
“The raw materials to run the business are spectrum, No. 1, and numbers, No. 2. We can’t run the business without a steady supply of those raw materials,” said John T. Scott III, vice president and deputy general counsel of regulatory law for Verizon Wireless.
Across the board, spectrum-and the emergence of third-generation wireless-is the big thing for 2001.
In October, the Clinton administration set out an aggressive timetable for both the FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for allocating 3G spectrum.
The FCC is studying whether spectrum in the 2500-2690 MHz band can be shared with MMDS licenses already sold to WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp. Each company paid more than $1 billion for their licenses and are not willing to move without a fight.
Also fighting 3G is the Department of Defense. When the Clinton administration issued its executive memorandum on 3G, the Defense Department gave what can best be called a tepid endorsement. It is up to NTIA to study whether spectrum in the 1710-1885 MHz band can be shared with existing DOD systems.
Wireless lobbyists on Capitol Hill think they can convince both the Bush White House and Congress to give them the spectrum industry believes it needs.
“Everyone acknowledges that Europe and Asia are racing ahead and getting spectrum into the hands of their carriers. If we are going to be part of the 3G economy, we need spectrum … I think we will get their attention,” said Howard Woolley, vice president of wireless federal relations for Verizon Communications.
The top lobbyist for the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association believes that DoD needs to be made aware that the 1800 MHz band is set to be used around the world for 3G services, making it impossible for Defense to use that spectrum when it deploys troops overseas.
“DoD doesn’t live in a vacuum and they don’t deploy in a vacuum,” said Steven K. Berry, CTIA senior vice president for congressional affairs, noting that “in the long run-10 to 15 years-there needs to be a transition to different spectrum for those critical needs.”
