I really think it’s time to clear the air, and I’m not the only one. Specifically, now that the 700 MHz auction is over and done with, it seems like the perfect moment to take a look at what is and what is not working with regard to U.S. spectrum policy, and just where we should go from here.  

Last week Georgetown University held a series of discussions on the spectrum allocation mechanisms currently in place.  We’ll soon have audio and video from the event up at www.ctia.org , and I’ll let you know when that’s available. But in the meantime, here’s my two cents worth on a handful of different spectrum-related issues.

Number One: As the volume and variety of content continues to increase and flow on and through wireless networks, and as more Americans turn to wireless for their broadband access – according to the FCC, about 70% of new broadband lines over the last years were mobile wireless subscriptions (:http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-280906A1.pdf ) -- the need for more spectrum is real, plain and clear.  A regular, reliable schedule of spectrum auctions to achieve that goal makes sense for all involved.  

Number Two: As was so obviously demonstrated in the recent 700MHz auction, the market, not regulation, does the best job getting spectrum into the hands of those that will use it.  Look at the recent “D” block debacle – this was a nationwide license of some of the most valuable spectrum ever to come up for auction, and yet it was rendered entirely unappealing (i.e. valueless) because of regulatory stipulations. It’s been the freedom to innovate, and use the spectrum to address consumer demand that has enabled the US wireless industry to deliver the most advanced wireless services at some of the world’s most affordable prices – this model clearly works.  Why tamper with it? The “D” block experiment clearly gets an “F” for failure.    

Number Three: Spectrum is clearly a valuable resource. Duh, right? Regarding the ongoing “white spaces” debate, it is CTIA’s position that licensed use of this spectrum is the best deal for everyone.  Unlicensed wireless use brings with it a number of different issues, not the least of which is the problem of who a licensee should contact if someone out there starts messing in the frequency bands that a licensee has already paid substantial amounts of money (millions, maybe billions) for, and causes all kinds of interference for their customers. Think about it in television terms. You’re watching your TV at home and someone operating some gizmo in an adjacent, unlicensed band is running an application that degrades the quality of your TV signal. So, you call the cable company to complain, and then it calls………… who? Unlicensed spectrum users running amok is a terrible deal for consumers and for the industry.

Again, we’ll have highlights from the Georgetown session up for you soon. Also, I know what I’m talking about is hardly anything new. But as it is with so many wireless policy discussions in Washington these days, I think it’s important to keep common sense and practicality in the forefront, and let those citing idyllic hypothetical situations or taking wild swings for the fences do so at their own risk, not the general public’s.

I know it's happened to me before, and it's probably happened to you, too. You're talking just fine on your cell until you get inside an office building or a high-rise of some type, possibly riding up in an elevator, and there goes the signal. There's no doubt coverage is better these days than it used to be. Wireless carriers have added more than 30,000 new towers and cell sites in just the last two years alone. However, this is still physics we're dealing with here, and there are still trouble spots. The New York Times recently ran a story that focused on a new technology called femtocells that at least one carrier is currently deploying to improve coverage in small areas, such as your home. The article went on to mention the use of cell phone repeaters, or boosters, as another possible remedy, saying..

"The presence of boosters on frequencies that belong to the carriers has made them somewhat controversial. The Federal Communications Commission certifies the devices for some purposes, but they recommend contacting your carrier before installing one.

If a person is interested in improving coverage with a booster, “we would encourage that person to first work with his or her wireless carrier to identify a certified device that the carrier also approves of before installing it and using it on the network,” said Robert Kenny, a spokesman for the F.C.C."
  
It's not only important for someone interested in installing a booster to contact their carrier, it's actually against federal law to do so without your carrier's permission. The Telecommunications Act clearly states that a licensee must approve use of any transmitter in its spectrum, and the reason for that is clear. Improperly installed, a booster might do wonders for your coverage, but wreak absolute havoc with your neighbors'. That could disrupt such important transmissions as emergency calls to 911, and that's one of the primary reasons why protecting the integrity of the network, everyone's network, is important. Using repeaters or boosters on frequencies licensed by the government, without your carriers' consent, means you are violating the terms of the license.  So before you take matters into your own hands, make sure you're not doing it at someone else's expense.    

Be sure to check out the May edition of our Wonder of Wireless (WOW) webcast. This month we're featuring the Paulding County (GA) School District's novel use of wireless technology to better manage its massive bus fleet, and an insider interview with CTIA Chairman and Verizon Wireless CEO and president Lowell McAdam.

In the 1980s, Justine Bateman appeared on the TV sitcom “Family Ties,” perhaps best known for the character Michael J. Fox portrayed, the young free market adherent Alex Keaton.  We know from her appearance on “Family Ties” that Ms. Bateman can read her lines, and that skill was on display again today at the Senate Commerce Committee’s hearing on “The Future of the Internet.”  But beyond reading her lines well, what did the former “Mallory Keaton” have to say?  Well, a good deal that would have driven her brother Alex nuts.

In her testimony, Ms. Bateman implied that broadband providers are attempting to constrict access to the Internet.  She offered no evidence to support this assertion, and since broadband providers are in the business of trying to earn a return on their investments, the market would discipline any provider that did so.  As Adam Smith noted in The Wealth of Nations, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest."

Next, Ms. Bateman sites the Book of Genesis to allege that broadband providers are somehow conspiring.  With all due respect to Ms. Bateman, I don’t recall an extensive discussion of corporate interests in the Good Book.  What I do recall is a pretty well-developed discussion of how human beings are created in the image of God and endowed with both rationality and responsibility. Because we have rationality and free will, we can choose between various competing products and services, including in the broadband marketplace.   

Alex Keaton would have gotten both of these points, and it’s too bad Ms. Bateman doesn’t.  Skilled reading of one's lines is nice, but her presentation would have been a whole lot more compelling if she had spent more of the ‘80s listening to her "brother."

I know it's in there somewhere .. buried underneath the notepads, and the phone books, and the carry-out menus... maybe even tucked away in the nightstand with all of those old newspaper and magazine articles that you really are going to read sometime. Yeah, right. I'm talking about that old cell phone. What do you do with it? Unfortunately, for many of us, the answer is---- "not much". So, there's no better time than Earth Day to remind you there's a responsible, safe, and environmentally-friendly way to dispose of them. All of the major wireless carriers in the country and many of the regional and local providers participate in the "Wireless- The New Recyclable (TM)" initiative. They have all pledged to provide consumers with reliable outlets for end-of-life wireless products, and that includes devices, batteries, and other accessories. You can take any of those products to any carrier store and they'll make sure they are appropriately handled--- all you have to do is dig them out from wherever you've stuck them and get them to the store. A number of carriers have recycling programs which benefit various charities and causes, and The Wireless Foundation has been a long-time supporter of groups helping domestic violence victims through its "Call to Protect®"  effort. Device manufacturers are also doing their part, producing devices that weigh about half as much as in recent years, and phasing out such materials as lead and cadmium. You can learn all about phone recycling at the "Wireless- The New Recyclable (TM)" web site-- take a few moments, and make sure to check out the tips such as terminating your service and erasing your device's memory. Now go home, and check your drawers. You might be surprised just what you find, and equally surprised at just how easy it is to do something responsible to get rid of it!

You might have seen some of our postings about how unfair taxes and government fees are on wireless consumers... to the tune of more than 15% on the average bill. I think this Jeff Koterba cartoon in the Omaha World-Herald sums it all up!

I choose to look at it this way...in the summertime, it can get really hot.  In the fall, many of us have to rake leaves.  The winter can be dark and cold, and in the springtime, well in the springtime we all have to pay the Taxman.  Two steps forward and one big step back, especially when it comes to wireless users and the monthly taxes we pay.   As I've posted here before, the average wireless user in America pays more than 15% of his or her monthly wireless bill in government-imposed taxes and fees.  This is more than twice the amount of taxation placed on other goods and services.  
 
The Omaha World-Herald recently ran a front-page story in their Sunday edition drawing attention to this painful truth.  The St. Petersburg Times, Providence Journal and the Salt Lake Tribune have also published recent articles about the very high tax burden wireless users in those states are forced to shoulder.
 
While it's not unusual for public policy trends of decades past to haunt modern innovations of today and tomorrow, it is unusual that something hasn't yet been done about this particular policy anachronism.  Today roughly 84% of the nation uses a wireless device.   Consumers are increasingly turning to wireless for their broadband needs and wireless companies are churning out devices that allow us to perform desk-top computer functions right in the palm of our hand.   Placing sin-tax level surcharges on a service that could help America achieve its broadband penetration goal makes no sense what-so-ever.   CTIA Chairman and Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell McAdam summed it up best; “The wireless sector of the technology industry continues to be an important driver for growth in our nation’s economy.  Americans don’t just talk on their wireless phones anymore; they access the Internet, get information, pay bills and use wireless to be more productive at work and other every day activities. With about 15 percent of each customer’s monthly bill already going to taxes and fees, increasing discriminatory and unfair taxes on wireless customers presents a clear and present danger to future growth.  Policymakers should roll back taxes on wireless customers.”
 
And on this beautiful spring afternoon there is light at the end of the tunnel and it comes in the form of bi-partisan legislation sponsored by U.S. Representatives Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Chris Cannon (R-UT).   Their bill - The Cell Tax Fairness Act - grants consumers a 5-year "tax-holiday" from discriminatory state and local wireless taxes and it was introduced today in the U.S. House of Representatives.   In her press statement, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren said;  “The Cell Tax Fairness Act will help ensure that consumers make choices about communications technology based on the merits of that technology, rather than on the rate of taxation.”       
 
I don't know about you, but this is best news I've received on Tax Day in many years.  Let's pass it!
  

What's on your calendar today? That's a pressing question to which every one of us can relate. We hustle from meeting after meeting to conference calls... back to meetings, a business lunch, more calls... and before you know it the day's over. And then we do it all again. And again. Deadlines are always hanging over our heads, reports are due, problems crop up. So there's not much time to step back and take a look at the big picture and assess how what we're doing fits in. 

That's what I like so much at the keynotes at CTIA WIRELESS, our annual trade show which just concluded in Las Vegas and is scheduled to return there in 2009. We all get to hear where industry leaders think wireless is going, and how they think it's going to get there. They share their insights, their concerns, and their philosophies that are driving the direction of the industry. The recent show in Las Vegas featured one of the best keynote line-ups in its history, and now you can see and hear what the movers-and-shakers had to say by watching clips in the CTIA Keynote Highlight Webcast. 

Take a listen, and pass along the link to your colleagues. You can select the speaker you want to hear, on a specific portion of their remarks. Lowell McAdam, Steve Largent, Dan Hesse, Sir Richard Branson (does anyone REALLY want a one-way trip to Mars?!), Chairman Kevin Martin, Marco Boerries, Arun Sarin, Pat Russo, Mike Zafirovski, Carl Henric-Svanberg, former Senators John Edwards and Fred Thompson. This is a stellar line-up, so I invite you to take a look at what they had to say and other features such as the Show Overview and the backstage interviews on each day of the show. Do yourself a favor. Take a few minutes out of your day to step back and listen to the big picture. Their words will no doubt inform you and in some cases, inspire you as well. Enjoy the webcast and be sure to let us know what you think.