STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER MEREDITH ATTWELL BAKER Re: Promoting Expanded Opportunities for Radio Experimentation and Market Studies under Part 5 of the Commission’s Rules and Streamlining Other Related Rules, ET Docket 10-237; 2006 Biennial Review of Telecommunications Regulations—Part 2 Administered by the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET), ET Docket No. 06-105 (“Notice of Proposed Rulemaking”); and Promoting More Efficient Use of Spectrum Through Dynamic Spectrum Use Technologies, ET Docket No.10-236 (“Notice of Inquiry”). This holiday season kicks off a new cycle of fundamental change in the wireless device market. Consumers everywhere are choosing powerful new smartphones. Gartner reports that worldwide smartphone sales grew 96 percent from the third quarter last year, and SNL Kagan projects smartphones accounting for 30 percent of overall mobile phone subscriptions by the fourth quarter of 2010 in the US. Moreover, tablets that use hundreds of times more data than even the most advanced smart phones may well be the stars of this year’s giving season. In fact, yesterday’s Wall Street Journal cites a recent ChangeWave Research survey that found that 9% of holiday shoppers plan to buy an iPad in the next 90 days. I have little doubt that whether smartphone or tablet, these devices will challenge networks as much as they will delight their owners. I am convinced that our efforts to find additional spectrum to power these devices—and all those that are going to follow—constitute only half the battle to meet the dramatically exploding needs of this country’s wireless consumers. We must also promote greater innovation to help use the spectrum we have today—and the spectrum we will allocate tomorrow—as efficiently as possible. The two items we are considering today are a good place to start. In fact, the innovation they will support may well provide the tools we will need to unlock the full potential of the TV broadcast bands. I am excited about today’s item expanding opportunities for radio experimentation. I am a firm believer that we need to support research and development efforts whenever and however we can. Making it easier and more straightforward to conduct real-world research is a natural and straightforward step that we can take. Our action today offers practical support to our nation’s inventors by enhancing their ability to test their theories and innovations and streamlining the procedures they must follow to do so. This should help shorten the innovation cycle, which will benefit consumers and operators across the country by reducing the time it will take to get new devices to the market. It will also help maintain our country’s leadership in the development of wireless technologies, applications and services. Dynamic spectrum access is thought by many to be a key technical advance that can substantially improve the way spectrum is used for both commercial and non-commercial services. It is an area where the Department of Defense has shown great leadership and innovation over the years. However, it has proven difficult to apply their research and development in the area of dynamic spectrum access to commercial radio systems. Technical issues have been too complex and costs have been too high. It is my hope that in issuing the NOI on dynamic spectrum access, we can focus our collective attention on what it will take to overcome these challenges. If we are successful, dynamic spectrum access technologies could become one of the go-to tools operators rely upon to more efficiently manage their commercial spectrum resources. Coupled with an enhanced Spectrum Dashboard and potentially other ways to get information about available spectrum to prospective users, dynamic spectrum access might foster secondary markets for short term, “spot” spectrum transactions—another potentially useful way to manage congestion. I want to thank the staff for their hard work, which I hope did not include too much time over the Thanksgiving weekend.