If this goes through, it may free up some of that much needed spectrum we WIPSs need.
Scott ---------- Original Message ---------------------------------- From: d berns <dbe...@panix.com> Reply-To: Telecom Regulation & the Internet<cyberteleco...@listserv.aol.com> Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2009 01:16:22 -0400 (I'm not so sure about the "expense" the article talks about in the last paragraph. Hasn't "channel loading" always been part of the deal with maintaining a commercial radio license?) [from WSJ] Lawmakers Seek Inventory of U.S. Airwaves Wireless phone companies scored a victory Thursday when key lawmakers introduced legislation requiring the government to take stock of how the nation's airwaves are used -- and whether some spectrum isn't used efficiently. Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass) and Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine introduced legislation Thursday requiring the Commerce Department and Federal Communications Commission to make an inventory in six months of how government and private companies are using their airwaves. "Our public airwaves belong to the American people, and we need to make certain we are putting them to good use in the best interests of those citizens," said Mr. Kerry, chairman of the newly reinstated Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, in a prepared statement. "We need to make sure we're making as much of (the airwaves) available to innovators and consumers as possible," he said. The legislation is a priority for the wireless industry, which is still looking for more airwaves to scoop up despite an auction last year of TV airwaves that netted the federal treasury upwards of $20 billion. Just a small fraction of U.S. airwaves are used by commercial wireless vendors like AT&T Inc. TV and radio stations use a portion of it but big chunks of airwaves are reserved for use by federal agencies and the military. The idea behind the report is to identify so-called "spectrum squatters" -- both government agencies and private companies -- which aren't actively using the frequencies for which they hold licenses. If Congress approves the legislation, it would set the stage for the FCC and Commerce Department to try to reclaim the airwaves for future auctions -- a task that could be difficult and expensive. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123750147891089303.html --- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus] Wireless High Speed Broadband service from Info-Ed, Inc. as low as $30.00/mth. Check out www.info-ed.com/wireless.html for information. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
