June 27, 2006—Washington, D.C.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein told a group of more than 100 attendees at WCA 2006 in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday that the agency needs to get spectrum in the hands of people who can best use it if it wants to achieve its goal of bringing broadband to every corner of the world.
“We are not making any more spectrum, so we need to find ways to use what we have more efficiently,” Adelstein said. “And policy is key to moving this agenda forward.”
The commissioner said the FCC needs to find the right balance for its licensing model—in part by allowing for more flexibility in spectrum allocation. He said the recent decision to impose blind bidding in the upcoming advanced wireless services (AWS) auction will have a negative effect on small- and medium-sized carriers and present a real missed opportunity for everyone in the industry.
The FCC will auction 90 MHz of spectrum in the 1710-1755 MHz and 2110-2115 MHz bands on Aug. 9. More than 200 applicants have filed an application to participate in the auction, which is expected to be one of the largest in the agency’s history.
WCA 2006 will continue through June 30 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. More than 193 speakers from 40 countries are slated to discuss such issues as WiMAX, 3G, and Wi-Fi relationships, Voice over Internet Protocol over wireless, global spectrum harmonization, demand for wireless content and partnerships, and enterprise applications within industries.