The second event in TIA's International Trade Seminar series, the "International Business Development Panel", will take place at NXTcomm on June 21 during the association's tradeshow in Chicago. The panel, free of charge for all NXTcomm attendees, will include keynotes discussing U.S. government export programs for small to medium-size ICT companies, as well as opportunities in emerging markets. Panelists will outline demand trends and how to do business in China, the world's fastest growing ICT market. The Honorable Israel Hernandez, Assistant Secretary for Trade Promotion and Director General of the U.S. Department of Commerce's U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service, will provide a keynote address. His Excellency Basem Rousan, Minister, Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, Jordan, has also been invited to address the event. Invited panelists include Greg Shea, Managing Director, United States Information Technology Office (USITO), Beijing, China; Luis Fiallo, Managing Director, Marketing and Corporate Development, China Telecom USA; and Ivor Simpson, head of investment promotion for Invest Hong Kong.

For more information, email Michael Nunes of TIA or call him at (703) 907-7725 or email James Maday of TIA or call him at (703) 907-7724.

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After 11 years of preparation and nearly eight years of negotiation, Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) on January 11, 2007. As a condition of WTO entry, Vietnam committed to reduce tariffs and other barriers on a variety of goods and services, including in the information, communication and technology (ICT) sector. With respect to ICT, Vietnam joined the WTO's Information Technology Agreement (ITA), thereby eliminating tariffs on a wide range of IT products. Vietnam's services commitments enable telecom carriers to hold a majority share for the provision of most basic and value-added telecommunication services. Finally, by joining the WTO, Vietnam's regulatory process will become more transparent, and the country is now subject to the WTO's dispute settlement process, which promises to improve investor confidence in the country.

Vietnam's WTO entry will no doubt improve operating conditions and provide incentives for TIA members to enter the market. In 2003, Vietnam's telecommunications revenue totaled $1.5 billion, but with total Internet users and wireless penetration each at only 5.3 percent of the market, the country is ripe for ICT investment. Annual telecom growth in the country now exceeds 25 percent, and the International Telecommunication Union rates Vietnam as the second fastest growing market after China. In coming years, the government has pledged to invest between $400 million and $600 million to upgrade its telecommunications networks. The government also has ambitious plans for its Internet sector, with $127 million allotted for expanding the Internet into remote areas.

As part of its "Global Market Services" program, TIA is developing a series of market research reports to educate members about the benefits of exporting. TIA's first report in the series, "Doing Business in South Korea," was published in early April 2007. That report discussed opportunities in Korea's highly-developed ICT market. The next report will examine trends in Vietnam's underdeveloped but rapidly-growing ICT sector, where landline, wireless and Internet penetration currently represent only a small share of the population. The Vietnam report will be published sometime in July. For more information, email Michael Nunes of TIA or call him at (703) 907-7725 or email James Maday of TIA or call him at (703) 907-7724.

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TIA was one of five "supporting organizations" (along with the American Electronics Association [AeA], the Semiconductor Industry Association [SIA], the Software & Information Industry Association [SIIA] and the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration's Trade Compliance Center [TCC]) that participated in a May 9 signing agreement event in San Francisco organized by the Chinese trade mission with assistance from the U.S. Information Technology Office (USITO) in support of trade between U.S. and Chinese ICT companies. The total value of the deals being signed by TIA members and other companies during the China trade mission are estimated to be in excess of $15 billion. The San Francisco event was part of a larger signing series, with over 20 ICT sector contracts being signed involving 15 U.S. companies, 12 of which are currently members of USITO. The Chinese trade mission is also expected to visit other cities. For more information, email Michael Nunes of TIA or call him at (703) 907-7725.

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U.S. advances fueled by communications technology-driven innovation will have far-reaching positive effects on society in the decades to come, but investment in that technology and more broadband deployment are crucial if America is to maintain its primacy as a global leader in the industry, a leading technologist and Advisor to TIA told Congress on April 24.

"Communications technology is vital to the global economy, and broadband technology will be the foundation of 21st century global communications networks," Adam Drobot, Chief Technology Officer of TIA-member company Telcordia Technologies, told members of the Senate Commerce Committee. "Telecommunications, as an industry, represents roughly 7 percent of our gross domestic product and plays a fundamental role that touches all other industries, impacts the productivity of our industries and our economy, and pivotally affects public safety, education, health care and countless other functions in our daily lives."

The exploitation of technology in telecom is important because it has a day-to-day impact that improves productivity for individuals, government and corporations. "For example, advancements in technology have led to the removal of economic barriers in the enterprise market," Drobot pointed out. "Advancement of technology accomplishes two things: it promotes creativity and drives the economy to improvements in productivity. In other words, there are new things that can be done, and old things can be done at a lower cost."

To realize future advances, incentives that increase broadband deployment must be in place, since next-generation broadband communications capabilities are dependent upon them. "In the past several years, we have witnessed the demand for broadband and high-speed services fuel the revitalization and growth of telecommunications industry, as carriers invest in new fiber, new IP technology and new wireless infrastructure to provide state-of-the-art voice, video and data services," Drobot noted.

As a recommendation for spurring broadband deployment, TIA believes the best scenario for ensuring U.S. competitiveness is for regulators to strike a balance between government involvement and incentives. "We should first determine where broadband deployment has not occurred and why, so that we can identify incentives and solutions moving forward," Drobot noted. "The constant goal must be to achieve a market-based policy framework that fosters investment in network facilities and competition in the provision of converged multimedia services and applications."

Drobot also noted the critical connection between long-term basic telecommunications research and next-generation communications capabilities. "Fierce competition and financial realities have made it difficult for U.S. industry to self-fund long-term, basic research, and because the U.S. government is not devoting sufficient resources to long- term communications research, the U.S. position in this vital area is waning," he pointed out to committee members. "New partnerships between industry and government are needed to meet tomorrow's challenges and to maintain the competitive position of the United States in the communications industry."

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On April 30, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down decisions in a pair of patent cases. In the case of KSR International v. Teleflex, the court reviewed the test used to decide whether an invention is "obvious," and, therefore, unpatentable. In the other case, Microsoft v. AT&T, the court had to decide whether assembling a product abroad that violates a U.S. patent constitutes an infringement.

In the KSR case, Teleflex claimed that KSR infringed a Teleflex patent by assembling a gas pedal composed of two elements, the pedal and the electronic sensor. Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, stated that this combination would be obvious to any engineer. This decision will make it more difficult to obtain and enforce patents, since it will be easier to demonstrate an invention's obviousness.

Microsoft v. AT&T centered on whether Microsoft was liable for infringing an AT&T patent on a speech processor used in computers Microsoft assembled and loaded with software abroad. The court held that U.S. patent law does not inhibit international creations of copies of digital code, patented in the United States to be installed in computers made and sold abroad. Some experts claim that this provides a disincentive for companies to do research in the United States due to apprehension that their patents will not be adequately protected. For more information, email Rebecca Schwartz of TIA or call her at (703) 907-7477.

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In late April, the FCC released a Broadband Deployment Notice of Inquiry (NOI) and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which greatly affects members of the technology industry. The NOI asks what "advanced telecommunications capabilities" (broadband) should be defined as; whether broadband services are being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion; and what actions can accelerate deployment.

The NPRM asks whether the FCC should modify collection of speed tier information and how to improve the data collected about wireless broadband Internet access service; how the Commission can best collect information about subscribership to VoIP; and the NPRM also seeks comment on how the Commission can develop a more accurate picture of current broadband deployment, as well as gather information on price, other factors that affect consumer uptake of broadband services, and international comparisons. The collection and analysis of this information is of great importance to the information, communications and entertainment technology industry, as it affects the business and policy decisions that are made on an ongoing basis. For more information, please email Danielle Jafari or call her at (703) 907-7734.

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Within less than a week's time, two universal service reform proposals were released from the federal government; one as a bill from the U.S. House of Representatives and the other as a recommended decision by the U.S. Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service (Joint Board). Both proposals address the issues of broadband's role in universal service and the method by which universal service dollars should be distributed.

The House bill, entitled the Universal Service Reform Act of 2007, is a bipartisan bill introduced by Representatives Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and Lee Terry (R-Neb.) on April 26. The bill attempts to address the high-cost support fund, one of the four programs within the Universal Service Fund (USF), by restricting the contribution level, limiting support to provider's actual costs of providing service and expanding the contribution base. Notably, the bill attempts to allocate USF support for broadband deployment, with the condition that broadband lines provide download speeds at a rate of 1 Mbps or greater within five years of the bill's enactment.

On the regulatory side, the Joint Board advised the FCC on universal service matters, recommending that the FCC establish an interim emergency cap on the high-cost support fund and recommended elimination of the "identical line rule." The identical line rule allows competitive carriers to receive the same amount of USF dollars per line as incumbents, without having to justify their costs financially. Competitive carriers, such as wireless providers, might receive less funding if this recommendation were adopted, as their costs might be considerably less than the incumbents.

As a variety of new providers of voice services, such as voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), enter the market and the high-cost fund continues to expand, policy-makers have become increasingly concerned about universal service reform. For more information, email Rebecca Schwartz of TIA or call her at (703) 907-7477.

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) recently re-released her Innovation Agenda, which now calls for increased broadband deployment to promote the development of new jobs and enhanced technologies for health care, education and convergence of information, media and telecommunications. The agenda advocates creating a national broadband access map in partnership with state governments to identify where federal broadband resources need to be allocated.

The Innovation Agenda attempts to create a sustained federal research and development commitment that promotes private-sector innovation, affordable access to broadband technology, a national access map in partnership with state governments, access to broadband in rural communities by ensuring that broadband initiatives effectively target underserved areas in rural America and a globally competitive R&D tax credit to increase domestic investment and create more high-quality American jobs. For more information, please contact Ben Branch of TIA, telephone (703) 907-7726, or Danielle Jafari, telephone (703) 907-7734.

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TIA was very pleased with the Senate's America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education and Science (COMPETES) Act, S. 761, which contains provisions that would increase federal funding for basic telecommunications research. TIA believes the research provisions in S. 761 will benefit the future of communications technology, the future of our industry and the future of U.S. innovation.

On May 3, the U.S. House of Representatives passed two bills aimed at improving global competitiveness and reinvesting in information technology. The House passed H.R. 1867, which seeks to increase funding for the National Science Foundation. The House also passed H.R. 1868, to authorize increased funding for the National Institutes of Standards and Technology. The House will now go to conference with the Senate to reconcile the two chambers' legislation. TIA strongly urges that the conferees include the telecom-specific language in the Senate's bill, authorizing over $200 million for telecom research over four years. These provisions will provide help for research in areas vital to communications such as broadband accessibility, wireless communications, network security and reliability and communications interoperability. For more information, please contact Ben Branch of TIA, telephone (703) 907-7726, or Danielle Jafari, telephone (703) 907-7734.

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