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 SEPARATE  STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS 
 October  16,  2003 
 Re:  Allocation  and  Service  Rules  for  the  71-  76  GHz,  81-  86  GHz  and  92-  95  GHz  Bands;  Loea  Communications  Corporation  Petition  for  Rulemaking  (Report  and  Order; 
 WT  Doc  No.  02-  146;  RM-  10288) 
 Thanks  to  the  Bureau  for  bringing  us  this  item.  It’s  surely  good  news  that  consumers  will  soon  be  able  to  make  use  of  spectrum  in  the  70,  80,  and  90  GHz  range. 
 My  hope  is  that  this  decision  will  promote  investment  and  assist  us  in  bringing  new  broadband  service  to  consumers.  I  am  also  pleased  that  we  decide  to  extend  our  use  of 
 the  unlicensed  spectrum  concept  in  portions  of  the  90  GHz  band.  I  believe  that  we  should  look  to  using  the  unlicensed  tool  even  more  than  we  do  today,  consistent  always, 
 of  course,  with  whatever  public  interest  safeguards  may  be  necessary. 
 I  also  want  to  note  that  this  spectrum  is  licensed  in  a  way  that  will  encourage  companies  to  initiate  service  without  the  need  for  extensive  Commission  action.  And  our 
 licensing  scheme  recognizes  the  unique  interference  characteristics  of  this  spectrum. 
 Spurring  the  use  of  this  new  technology  will  hopefully,  one  day,  allow  for  more  choices  of  broadband  providers  than  those  narrow  choices  available  to  consumers  and 
 businesses  today.  But  we  should  never  count  our  chickens  before  they  hatch.  Perhaps  one  day  we  will  see  millimeter  wave  wireless  broadband,  along  with  powerline 
 broadband  and  other  technologies,  providing  real  intermodal  competition.  I  also  hope  that  these  new  technologies  will  not  be  dominated  by  the  few  companies  that  dominate 
 currently  available  broadband  technologies,  and  that  they  thereby  reach  their  competitive  potential.  But  until  that  wonderful  day  arrives,  I  hope  that  the  Commission  will  not 
 mistake  the  promise  of  future  competition  with  the  reality  of  today’s  limited  competition  when  we  make  policy. 


 So  I  congratulate  the  Wireless  Bureau  for  this  item,  and  I’m  eager  to  see  the  great  things  that  this  band  brings  us. 
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