Dear Editor:
As pointed out by Jeff Silva in his “D.C. Notes” column Nov. 9, many industry players, including the Personal Communications Industry Association, are supportive of additional spectrum for third-generation services worldwide.
Representatives from these groups and from the government have expended a great deal of time, effort and resources to determine the need for additional spectrum. In fact, in May 1998, PCIA issued its Market Demand Forecast, which identified future 3G terrestrial wireless services in the year 2010. Demand for 3G service is one of the criteria used by the working task group 8/1, created by the International Telecommunication Union to calculate 3G spectrum requirements for the future.
And, last August, PCIA produced the first seminar to address the need for additional spectrum for 3G services. The diligent efforts of PCIA and the many participant companies should send a strong message to the government that picking up the pace to identify and assign spectrum allocations for future technology must be a priority.
Failure to identify additional spectrum for future wireless requirements threatens the continued economic growth of an industry that today contributes upward of .06 percent of the $8.6 trillion U.S. Gross Domestic Product. We are pleased that the FCC has set a goal of enhancing competition and encouraging the development of emerging telecommunications technologies. It was heartening to see the government taking seriously the task of identifying additional spectrum in their recently released policy statement outlining the guiding principles for managing spectrum in the years ahead.
When I took over the helm of the newly merged PCIA back in 1994, I said at that time that the scarcity of spectrum is the greatest ongoing challenge for the industry. That continues to be the case today. In the upcoming decade of information mobility, the issue of bandwidth becomes strikingly critical for the continued viability and growth of the wireless and Internet industries.
Looking at 3G and beyond, competitors in the industry must not be hamstrung. If we are to provide powerful global networks designed to maintain the high quality of new and existing service and the solid coverage and low cost that customers demand, additional spectrum must be found. If we are to ensure hearty competition that gives birth to a plethora of advanced products delivering the optimum in service and the ultimate in flexibility at a competitive price, the answer lies in allocating additional spectrum, not in a premature lifting of the spectrum cap.
The wireless industry, the Internet industry, the U.S. government and the American public have a huge stake in ensuring that there is enough spectrum in the new millennium for 3G services. There is much to lose if we ignore the impact this shortage would have on technological development and robust competition.
We are in danger of losing out on a fundamental opportunity-to get wireless into the mainstream of communications in this country and around the globe. We must work together to ensure the United States continues to be a telecommunications leader, a global team player and a worldwide partner in the wireless information evolution.
Jay Kitchen
President and CEO
PCIA
