Subject: [NEXTEL-1] LEAGUE RECOMMENDS CLOSER FCC-NTIA SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT COOPERATION

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2004 17:26:25 -0500

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LEAGUE RECOMMENDS CLOSER FCC-NTIA SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT COOPERATION

The ARRL has suggested that the FCC and National Telecommunications and
Information Administration (NTIA) spectrum management professionals work
more closely and cooperatively. It also called for more open allocation
proceedings where federal/non-federal spectrum sharing is involved. The
League offered the recommendations in comments filed on an NTIA Notice
of Inquiry, "United States Spectrum Management Policy for the 21st
Century"

<http://spectrumreform.ntia.doc.gov/notice.htm>. While the FCC oversees
private and commercial spectrum, the NTIA--part of the US Department of
Commerce--administers spectrum allocated to federal government users. It
also advises the White House on telecommunications issues. ARRL said the
current bifurcated spectrum management system has benefits and
drawbacks. "A significant advantage of maintaining the present scheme .
. . is that the separate functions provide a system . . . of checks and
balances," ARRL said in addressing whether spectrum management should be
centralized. On the other hand, the League added, this separation can
"delay needed action and promotes somewhat parochial and divergent
priorities." The FCC "has acted as a self-described 'cheerleader' for
new, typically unlicensed, technologies without a firm grasp of
technical compatibilities and incompatibilities," the League said.

On the other hand, ARRL continued, the NTIA has tended to see its role
as protector of the noncommercial spectrum it administers. The FCC has
been "inconsistent at best" in spectrum protection, ARRL said, while
NTIA spectrum managers regularly provide "professional and impartial
evaluations of new technologies" and their interference potential.
Amateur Radio shares some of its allocations with federal users,
especially in the UHF and microwave spectrum. Given "competing goals and
interests," ARRL suggested the FCC and NTIA return to the approach used
in years past when spectrum management officials of both agencies
"worked closely and cooperatively," and there was regular staff-level
communication. The ARRL cited the proceeding that led to the Amateur
Radio 5 MHz (60 meter) allocation to emphasize its belief that spectrum
management and sharing should operate according to "negotiated rule
making procedures" in which all stakeholders participate. Last-minute
NTIA intervention led to the current five-channel allocation at 5 MHz
instead of the band the ARRL had sought and the FCC was poised to grant.
"The process for considering new federal and non-federal sharing plans
should be more open than it currently is," the ARRL asserted. "There was
no procedure for ARRL, FCC and NTIA (or the individual agencies
concerned about this allocation) to meet and address potential
concerns." Lacking any public procedure, the League said, the NTIA and
FCC instead agreed to a compromise that was "inadequate for the
purpose." The ARRL said a negotiated rulemaking procedure could address
such issues more quickly and efficiently than current procedures permit.
Comments in response to the NTIA NOI, including ARRL's, are available on
the NTIA's spectrum reform Web site

<http://spectrumreform.ntia.doc.gov/responses/index.htm>.

http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/04/0326/

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