TIA filed comments with the FCC this week in response to its two Public Notices on broadband network management practices – net neutrality – arguing that network management may be not only beneficial to users overall but indeed necessary to widespread deployment of broadband service.

TIA believes the FCC should monitor the marketplace for violations of consumer protection principles, as embodied in the "connectivity principles" TIA and the High Tech Broadband Coalition worked to create in 2003. The FCC's subsequently-adopted Policy Statement reflects these principles and offers consumers the right to access information and connect devices of their choosing, and also provides network operators the flexibility required in the ever-evolving technological environment. This policy statement has succeeded in promoting a vibrant Internet ecosystem and significant investment in broadband infrastructure, in part by avoiding the rigid regulatory regime net neutrality rules would impose.

"Reasonable network management should continue to be allowed and encouraged," TIA said in its comments, because it is necessary for providing a satisfying consumer experience. Premature rules would only hurt innovation and investment, largely because the inability to manage a network would keep providers from increasing investment, as resulted from Title II nondiscrimination regulation.

Importantly, TIA feels service providers have a responsibility to disclose quality of service, speed and price data to consumers in an open, clear way. The chief question surrounding broadband network management practices concerns is one of business practices, not technology. Today's limitations may result in tomorrow's innovations, and TIA strongly discourages rulemaking that would hinder the emergence of new products and services.

TIA will actively engage with the FCC on this matter.

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As this week opened, bidding on the FCC's 700 MHz spectrum auction continued; there have been 51 rounds to date, and the commission began a six-round per day schedule effective Monday.

There were a total of 142 bids in Round 51. The sum of all provisionally winning bids (PWBs) at the end of Round 51 was $19,229,168,700, an increase of more than $135 million from the close of Round 45 at the end of Thursday.

At press time, there are 1089 licenses with PWBs and 10 FCC-held licenses – the same as at the close of Round 45 Tuesday. At the close of Round 51, the Stage Transition Percentage is 4.93% (this represents the percentage of licenses as measured in bidding units on which new bids have been placed in this round). 

There have been no recent bids on any C Block, and no new bids have been placed on the D Block license since Round 1. The PWB for the D Block license is still $472,042,000, far below the reserve price. 

TIA will continue to monitor this very important auction and report to members.

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President Bush signed an economic stimulus package into law today that should benefit small and large U.S. businesses in all industries, including the ICT sector. While TIA has pushed for a stimulus plan that addresses not only consumer spending but also the more fundamental challenges to the U.S. economy, the tax rebates in the current plan will nonetheless benefit TIA members, especially small businesses.

The plan includes tax provisions that will provide short-term investment incentives for small business, including one that allows small business to expense the cost of property purchased in the year the assets are placed in service in lieu of depreciation, the traditional standard for write-offs. In addition to this "elective expensing," the package contains a provision to allow a trade or business to depreciate an additional 50 percent of the cost of an asset acquired and placed into service in the same yearin 2008. These provisions mean asset investments, such as network infrastructure, would effect a smaller hit to a small business's bottom line this year.

TIA applauds Congress and President Bush for working in a bipartisan fashion to move this stimulus package into law quickly and efficiently – and will continue to press for broader, long-term changes in tax policy that stimulate investment and research and development in our industry and others.

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TIA announced the hire of Nicolas Fetchko as Director of International and Government Affairs last week, bringing a longtime veteran into the policy fold as TIA establishes its new presence in Washington, D.C. Fetchko contributes more than 10 years’ public sector experience in international telecom and information technology trade policy to augment the association’s extensive policy and advocacy operations.

Fetchko will work to further the international interests of information and communications technology (ICT) manufacturers in the U.S. and abroad, advocating TIA members’ positions and facilitating business opportunities through coordination of and participation in bilateral and multilateral dialogues.

“Nicolas Fetchko brings an extraordinary breadth of experience in international and government affairs to TIA," said Grant Seiffert, TIA President. “He has a reputation as a skilled strategist and consensus-builder, and brings valuable competencies to enhance TIA’s efforts as a world-wide organization.”

In his most recent position as Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Department of State, Fetchko advanced international communications and information policy with South and Central Asia, Latin America, Canada, Italy, Portugal, Germany and El Salvador. Fluent in Spanish, French and German, Fetchko holds an M.A. in Latin American Studies from Tulane University and a B.A. in International Affairs from George Washington University.

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TIA laid out its support for the Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee's (CMSAAC) recommendations to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this week in comments in response to a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). CMSAAC, established by the FCC to evaluate technologies and provide recommendations on the technical requirements and protocols of a commercial mobile alert system (CMAS), was comprised of representatives of commercial mobile service providers, broadcasters, state and local government, Indian tribes, developers, manufacturers within the disability community, technical experts, and industry associations, including TIA. CMSAAC sought to craft recommendations that would lead the most effective deployment of a CMAS – a system that allows wireless carriers to broadcast public safety announcements to subscribers in an affected geographic area.

TIA, an active participant in CMSAAC proceedings, in its filing this week urged the FCC to adopt CMSAAC's recommendations without change, persuant to the wishes of Congress, which directed the commission in 2006's WARN Act to create CMSAAC. TIA made the following six points in its filing:

1. Commercial mobile alerts should be geographically targeted at the county level. After a year of study, the CMSAAC determined it is currently not technologically feasible to "geo-target" such alerts at a more granular level. More stringent requirements would delay the deployment of a strong CMAS, though future testing and development could refine the scope of such a system in the long term.
   
   
2. Commercial mobile alerts should be delivered using point-to-multipoint technology. Point-to-point, or unicast, technologies aren't practical deployment methods, in part because they can experience significant delays, can result in radio interface congestion, often lack geo-targeting capabilities because they are targeted by phone rather than location, and often lack the support of roamers.
   
   
3. The FCC shouldn't require legacy handsets to be CMAS-capable. TIA believes the rules should be crafted to encourage voluntary participation by carriers. The extreme cost of upgrading legacy and non-initialized handsets would greatly inhibit participation and slow the process of implementing a nationwide CMAS.
   
   
4. CMAS manufacturers should be able to recoup development costs and have design flexibility.  Though the WARN Act prohibits carriers from charging users for emergency alerts received over their handsets or charging a CMAS fee, it does not prohibit carriers from recouping the expenses incurred in developing the CMAS, either through increased rates or handset prices. In a similar vein, TIA argued the FCC shouldn't mandate a specific technology, which would be inconsistent with the commission's longstanding policy of remaining technology neutral so as not to place a burden on deploying certain technologies and services.
   
   
5. CMAS testing shouldn't involve subscribers. Unsolicited tests to large subscriber groups would strain network resources and confuse consumers. An amendment to the recommendations that would have required such testing was soundly defeated by CMSAAC.
   
   
6. CMAS should be limited to alerts in English. Though CMSAAC thoroughly analyzed whether the CMAS should support alerts in other languages, any such system isn't technically feasible at this time. Also, CMSAAC faced questions about which languages would qualify for CMAS and at what threshold.  Only Spanish is spoken in more than 1 percent of housholds nationally, but locally, there are 37 languages that not only reach 1 percent of the local population but also require more than 16 characters to be supported in a mobile device.

TIA urged the FCC to move to adopt CMSAAC's recommendations as quickly as possible, so the wireless sector can move forward to adopt an advanced alert system.

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Just over $18.5 billion in provisionally winning bids (PWBs) had been placed after 27 rounds of bidding in the FCC's 700 MHz spectrum auction, with clear trends emerging within the blcoks.

Block A has drawn over $3.7 billion in PWBs, a full 26 percent more than the reserve price set by the FCC.  Block B has mostly greatly exceeded the reserve price, tallying about $8.9 billion, more than 644 percent better than the reserve price price.  Block C has also met its reserve, if more closely, pulling in $4.7 billion. 

Blocks D and E hadn't yet met their reserve prices at our deadline, but the E Block stood at 86 percent of its reserve. The D Block, set aside for public safety, remains well below its reserve price of $1.33 billion.

TIA will continue to monitor the 700 MHz spectrum auction due to its importance to our members.

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