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 NEWS  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT:  August  9,  2002  Robin  Pence  at  (202)  418-  0505 
 FCC  CHAIRMAN  MICHAEL  K.  POWELL  OUTLINES  CRITICAL  ELEMENTS  OF  FUTURE  SPECTRUM  POLICY 
 Washington,  DC  –  FCC  Chairman  Michael  Powell  today  outlined  four  critical  elements  for  future  spectrum  policy  initiatives.  Powell  made  his  remarks  at  the  opening  of  the  final  day  of 
 four  public  workshops  the  FCC  Spectrum  Policy  Task  Force  has  convened  to  seek  broad  industry,  government  and  public  input  on  spectrum  policy  issues. 


 1.  More  efficient  use  of  spectrum.  Powell  called  for  more  efficient  use  of  existing  spectrum,  not  just  allocation  of  more  spectrum. 
 Powell  said  the  problem  increasingly  is  that  demand  for  spectrum  far  outstrips  the  amount  of  available  spectrum.  “The  real  challenge  is  how  to  get  more  use  out  of  spectrum  that  80  percent 
 of  the  time  lies  fallow.”  Powell  suggested  the  answer  relies  on  the  empowerment  of  technology  that  will  allow  for  more  innovative  uses  of  existing  technologies  like  software  defined  radio  and 
 spectrum  sharing.  He  also  cited  the  need  for  continued  use  of  unlicensed  bands  which  he  called  “a  source  of  innovation  for  showing  us  the  vision  of  alternative  ways  spectrum  can  be  used  that 
 are  outside  the  traditional  ‘command  and  control’  model.” 
 “The  time  has  come  to  realize  that  there’s  not  a  whole  lot  of  spectrum  in  the  closet  we  have  back  here  at  the  FCC  that  hasn’t  been  put  out  yet,”  Powell  said.  “If  there  was,  I  assure  you  we’d  roll  it 
 out  and  get  it  out  of  here.” 
 2.  Shift  from  a  “command  and  control”  model  of  regulation  to  market  based  mechanisms.  Powell  said,  “There  is  no  question  that  we  need  to  be  able  to  deal  with  unpredictable  and 
 dynamic  changes  fast  enough  to  be  meaningful  in  the  market  and  meaningful  to  consumers.”  He  said  that  the  “laborious  process”  of  government  command  and  control  “has  served  the  country 
 well  to  this  point,  but  is  futilely  too  slow  to  rapidly  move  things  to  new  and  better  innovative  uses.” 


 3.  Reconciling  critical  governmental  uses  of  spectrum  with  commercial  uses.  Powell  said  that  both  the  government  and  commercial  sectors  must  improve  the  balance  and  processes  used 
 for  reconciling  critical  governmental  uses  with  commercial  uses.  “At  a  minimum,  there  needs  to  be  a  better  process  for  the  management  of  the  challenges  and  a  more  unified  consensus  about  the 
 concepts  and  principles  of  the  use  of  that  spectrum.”  -More- 
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 He  said  spectrum  sharing  should  be  part  of  the  consideration  and  applauded  the  National  Telecommunications  and  Information  Administration  for  taking  on  the  challenges  of  third 
 generation  (3G)  wireless  services  and  ultra  wideband. 
 4.  Fostering  innovation.  Powell  said,  “There  has  to  be  air  for  innovation  and  oxygen  for  things  that  none  of  us  can  predict  right  now.”  He  said  there  has  to  be  “serious  consideration”  of  new 
 developments  such  as  how  to  expand  and  exploit  the  values  of  the  unlicensed  band  and  how  to  encourage  other  ways  to  promote  innovations  that  have  yet  to  be  identified.  “Otherwise,  we 
 freeze  ourselves  in  time  to  the  detriment  of  the  market,  the  technology  and  our  citizens,”  Powell  concluded. 


 Powell  announced  the  formation  of  the  Spectrum  Policy  Task  Force  in  June  to  assist  the  Commission  in  identifying  and  evaluating  changes  and  improvements  in  spectrum  policy.  The 
 Task  Force  will  present  its  recommendations  in  a  report  to  the  Commission  by  the  end  of  October. 
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