WASHINGTON-The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission last week said he only partially agreed with an exhortation by the secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union that the United States is falling behind in the global race for third-generation wireless.
“Parts of it I agree with and parts of it, I don’t agree. … I am not a fan of national championship comparisons. … This is a marathon. Sometimes the best place to be is in the third slot at mile 20,” said FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell.
Powell made his statement at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee the same day that press reports made public statements from Yoshio Utsumi, the secretary-general of the ITU.
Utsumi said the United States is falling behind in the development 3G. “In the case of USA, unfortunately USA hasn’t secured frequencies for this service. That means that USA, at this moment, [is] left aside at the development of 3G. The development of 3G in the U.S. market is very, very crucial to the success of this service. The USA should secure the frequencies which have been internationally agreed to in ITU,” said Utsumi.
The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association said it would be a shame if the United States doesn’t win the 3G race.
“If this is a marathon, we cannot afford not to finish the race in the top tier. Unfortunately, all of our industry’s technology leadership will fall short if the right government decisions are not made. The Japanese and Europeans have given their marathoners enough spectrum to finish the race. It would be a shame if the U.S. marathoners do not lead the pack at the finish because the U.S. government fails to find more spectrum!” said Diane Cornell, CTIA vice president for regulatory policy.
Utsumi was in the United States as a guest of the Personal Communications Industry Association, which gave him a global achievement award at its annual charity dinner. At the dinner, Utsumi made other comments about the need for the United States to get on the ball in allocating 3G spectrum.
Julius Knapp, deputy chief of the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology, was awarded the 11th annual Eugene Bowler Award given to an FCC employee in the memory of Bowler by the PCIA Foundation.
The PCIA Foundation also set up a scholarship award fund in the memory of Amy Zoslov, to be known as the Amy Fund, to be given to a student at Case-Western University School of Law. Zoslov died last August of breast cancer. She was chief of the auctions division of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.
