Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Looking For Broadband Wireless Help On the Hill ...

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2002 19:08:14 -0500

http://www.wirelessweek.com/index.asp?layout=print_page&doc_id=108132

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Looking For Broadband Wireless Help On the Hill ...

By Mark Rockwell
November 21, 2002
news@2 direct

WASHINGTON--A draft bill in the U.S. Senate that would
make unlicensed spectrum another entry in the broadband access horse race
alongside cable modems and DSL lines is drawing some skepticism from wireless
organizations.

Sen. George Allen, R-Va., and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D., Calif., are fishing for
support on their idea to allocate 255 MHz of contiguous spectrum below 6 GHz for
unlicensed use for 'wireless broadband devices.' The bill also makes provisions
with the Department of Defense and National Telecommunications and Information
Administration to ensure interference protection for military spectrum.

Senators Allen and Boxer also sent out a letter to other lawmakers asking for
support in the next Congress to pursue wireless as an alternative to DSL and
cable modems. The two say the regulatory debate between cable companies and
wireline telephone companies over those two technologies has reached a stalemate
and unlicensed wireless provides a third alternative.

The Allen-Boxer bill and the ensuing effort to get other lawmakers to back
the use of more unlicensed spectrum has drawn some wireless communications
groups' cautious attention. 'We back the use of unlicensed spectrum, but not at
the expense of licensed providers,' says Steve Berry, senior vice president of
government affairs at CTIA. Introducing more unlicensed spectrum service
providers could offer a way to get to broadband applications, but those
providers shouldn't be able to use spectrum that's already licensed to other
companies.

Not all wireless groups are looking askance at the
Allen-Boxer idea. The Wireless Communications Association International has a
large constituency looking to capitalize on the opportunities in the unlicensed
realm, which could be enormous.

'The License Exempt Alliance of the WCA strongly supports legislative
initiatives to promote broadband deployment over license-free spectrum. It is
essential that lawmakers create additional spectrum for license-free services,
and the LEA will continue to work with Congress and the FCC to achieve that
goal. The ultimate winner will be consumers, many of whom still have little or
no access to wireless broadband service,' says WCA President Andrew
Kreig.

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