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 Remarks  of  Michael  K.  Powell  Chairman,  Federal  Communications  Commission 
 Video-  taped  Comments  for  the  Opening  Session  International  Telecommunications  Union 
 Task  Group  on  Ultra-  Wideband  Communications  Boston,  Massachusetts 
 June  9,  2004 


 On  behalf  of  the  United  States  and  as  Chairman  of  the  Federal  Communications  Commission,  I  want  to  welcome  you  to  the  United  States  and  to  Boston  for  this  third  meeting  of 
 the  ITU’s  task  group  on  ultra-  wideband  communications. 
 Boston  is  a  historic  city  that  goes  back  to  the  beginning  of  this  country,  and  to  the  revolution  that  created  it.  Thus  it  seems  appropriate  that  your  discussions  on  the  revolutionary 
 technology  of  ultra-  wideband  are  being  held  in  this  location.  I  trust  that  you  will  have  a  pleasant  and  productive  week  here  in  the  U.  S. 


 I  am  pleased  to  open  this  meeting  because  it  gives  me  an  opportunity  to  highlight  the  important  role  ultra-  wideband  technology  will  play  in  the  communications  market.  UWB 
 technology  holds  great  promise  for  a  vast  array  of  new  applications  that  will  provide  significant  benefits  for  businesses,  consumers,  and  the  public  safety  community.  In  addition,  because  ultra-wideband 
 devices  can  operate  using  spectrum  occupied  by  existing  radio  services,  they  promote  the  efficient  use  of  scarce  spectrum  resources. 


 Firefighters,  police  officers,  emergency  personnel,  and  industry  can  make  use  of  UWB  technology  to  detect  and  provide  images  of  objects  that  are  behind  walls,  buried  underground  or 
 even  inside  the  human  body.  Automotive  applications  such  as  collision  avoidance  and  improved  airbag  mechanisms  will  have  a  direct  impact  on  consumer  safety.  Consumers  also  stand  to 
 benefit  from  enhanced  laptops,  phones,  video  recorders,  and  personal  digital  assistant  devices  that  can  send  and  receive  streams  of  digital  video,  audio,  and  data  without  wires. 


 What  is  especially  exciting  from  a  spectrum  manager’s  perspective  is  that  ultra-  wideband  technology  challenges  the  notion  that  use  of  particular  frequencies  or  bands  must  be  restricted  to 
 specified  users.  Whereas  the  traditional  allocation  paradigm  often  forces  us  to  pick  “winners  and  losers”  in  the  face  of  competing  spectrum  demands,  UWB  technology  will  allow  us  to  have  more 
 winners. 
 Of  course,  UWB’s  substantial  benefits  can  only  be  realized  if  regulators  adopt  the  proper  regulatory  environment  -  -  -  that  is,  an  environment  that  ensures  UWB  devices  do  not  cause 
 harmful  interference  to  existing  licensees  and  other  important  radio  operations. 
 At  the  FCC,  we  know  first-  hand  how  challenging  and  complex  the  spectrum  management  decisions  involving  the  introduction  of  UWB  are.  I  am  pleased  to  say  that  last  year,  after  much 


 public  debate,  we  adopted  final  rules  with  technical  standards  and  operational  restrictions  for  the  use  of  ultra-  wideband  devices  within  the  U.  S. 
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 But,  while  UWB  presents  challenges  for  spectrum  managers,  they  are  challenges  we  should  all  embrace.  The  promise  of  UWB  technology  is  simply  too  great  to  do  otherwise. 
 That  is  why  your  work  on  developing  UWB  global  standards  and  recommendations  is  so  important.  In  an  environment  where  spectrum  resources  need  to  be  used  efficiently  to  meet 
 growing  demand,  it  is  vital  that  we  all  make  interference  and  sharing  decisions  that  promote  the  best  use  of  spectrum. 


 The  work  you  are  continuing  here  at  this  meeting  will  allow  us  to  do  just  that.  Thank  you.  I  wish  you  much  success. 
 -FCC  - 
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