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 STATEMENT  OF  CHAIRMAN  MICHAEL  K.  POWELL 
 Re:  Additional  Spectrum  for  Unlicensed  Devices  below  900  MHz  and  in  the  3  GHz  Band  (rel.  December  11,  2002). 


 Americans  have  always  been  pioneers.  We  have  used  technology  to  open  up  the  West,  to  explore  the  seas,  and  to  enter  space.  Just  as  the  American  entrepreneurial  spirit 
 compelled  those  new  frontiers,  so  must  the  Commission  explore  new  spectrum  frontiers  made  possible  by  technological  change.  Today’s  item  does  just  that.  Technological 
 advances  now  allow  “smart”  low  power  devices  to  communicate  in  spectral  open  spaces  that  were  previously  closed  to  development.  These  technological  advances  are  great 
 news  for  the  American  people.  Our  goal  in  today’s  item  is  to  allow  for  the  more  efficient  and  comprehensive  use  of  the  spectrum  resource  while  not  interfering  with  existing 
 services.  The  Commission’s  Spectrum  Policy  Task  Force  Report  provided  some  guideposts  to  achieving  that  goal.  Among  the  Task  Force’s  key  findings  was  the  obvious 
 success  of  our  current  unlicensed  spectrum  policy  model.  Indeed,  unlicensed  devices  have  become  ubiquitous,  with  estimated  sales  of  over  $2  billion.  With  that  lesson  in 
 hand,  whether  or  not  we  put  in  place  policies  that  build  on  that  success  is  the  question  we  begin  to  answer  today. 
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