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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:  November  10,  2004  Fred  Thomas  at  (202)  418-  2449 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL  AND  ASSISTANT  SECRETARY  GALLAGHER  MEET  TO  PLAN  AND  COORDINATE  SPECTRUM  POLICY 
 Washington,  D.  C.  -  Federal  Communications  Commission  (FCC)  Chairman  Michael  K.  Powell  and  Assistant  Secretary  of  Commerce  for  Communications  and  Information  Michael  D. 
 Gallagher  today  met  formally  to  plan  and  coordinate  the  efforts  of  the  FCC  and  the  National  Telecommunications  and  Information  Administration  (NTIA)  on  spectrum  policy  issues.  The 
 meeting  included  senior  spectrum  policy  teams  from  both  organizations.  Its  purpose  was  to  continue  the  coordinated  efforts  of  the  two  agencies  on  spectrum  policy  as  required  by  47  U.  S.  C. 
 Section  922. 
 FCC  Chairman  Powell  said,  “I  am  pleased  that  the  FCC  and  NTIA  teams  are  continuing  to  work  closely  on  these  challenging  issues  that  are  important  to  the  continued  development  of 


 new  and  enhanced  spectrum-  based  services  for  businesses,  consumers  and  the  military  and  other  federal  users.  With  mutual  cooperation  and  a  strong  technical  foundation,  we  are  making  great 
 progress  both  on  the  introduction  of  new  technologies  and  the  identification  of  spectrum  for  those  technologies,  as  well  as  improving  our  IT  processes.  I  look  forward  to  working  with 
 Assistant  Secretary  Gallagher  to  achieve  our  common  goals.” 
 Assistant  Secretary  Gallagher  stated,  “The  close  cooperation  and  mutual  respect  between  NTIA  and  the  FCC  has  led  to  a  strong  level  of  achievement.  We  have  met  President  Bush's  call 


 for  creating  an  innovation  environment  by  implementing  policies  that  support  advanced  wireless  services,  next  generation  networks,  ultrawideband,  and  most  recently,  broadband  over  power 
 lines.  I  am  proud  to  say  that  we  have  made  more  spectrum--  both  licensed  and  unlicensed-  -  available  for  new  purposes  than  ever  before,  while  continuing  to  protect  critical  government 
 systems  from  harmful  interference.  I  am  thankful  for  Chairman  Powell's  leadership  and  contribution  to  our  joint  efforts." 


 The  Communications  Act  assigns  joint  jurisdiction  for  spectrum  management  to  the  FCC  and  the  NTIA  at  the  Department  of  Commerce.  The  FCC  is  responsible  for  non-  Federal 
 spectrum  uses,  e.  g.,  broadcast,  commercial,  public  safety,  and  state  and  local  government  users,  and  NTIA  is  responsible  for  Federal  spectrum  uses. 


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