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Technology Stocks : Broadband Wireless Access [WCII, NXLK, WCOM, satellite..]

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To: transmission who wrote (1752)	4/2/2001 8:46:45 AM
From: transmission	Read Replies (1) of 1860

April 2, 2001 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Agencies Warn Wireless Industry On Shortage of Radio Spectrum By MARK WIGFIELD Dow Jones Newswires WASHINGTON -- A trio of federal agencies has raised a caution flag in the wireless industry's race for more space in the nation's crowded airwaves. Under a review ordered last year by the Clinton administration, the Commerce Department, Pentagon and Federal Communications Commission said in reports released last week that there isn't enough room on the radio spectrum to readily accommodate companies seeking to develop new mobile wireless Internet services. Asked to detail prospects for giving up some government-allotted spectrum, the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Pentagon could only clearly identify about 45 megahertz out of 140 MHz studied. Officials also said it would cost $2.1 billion in engineering and other changes for Washington to clear that spectrum for commercial use -- an expense that under law would have to be picked up by the industry. Meanwhile, the FCC, examining 190 MHz now utilized by schools and fixed wireless Internet providers, said mobile Internet would disrupt those uses. But Commerce Secretary Donald Evans immediately downplayed the results, saying he would work "at the highest levels" to find a compromise between private and public interests. The Clinton administration launched the quest to move aside traditional government and industry uses of the radio spectrum to make way for so-called third-generation wireless services. Mr. Clinton warned that Japan and Europe were outpacing the U.S. in mobile Internet technology, and he set an aggressive schedule to auction new spectrum by July 2002. Mr. Evans signaled his strong interest in finding a solution to the spectrum impasse at a Thursday meeting with wireless-industry leaders. But at a briefing Friday to release the Pentagon's findings, a Defense Department official told reporters that the wireless sector has yet to prove that it really needs more spectrum. That challenge could exploit rifts in the wireless industry. Sprint Corp. PCS Group, for example, says it can provide most third-generation services without new spectrum, a position backed by wireless-handset maker Qualcomm Inc. But Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC, has aggressively sought new spectrum. Verizon last week asked the FCC to stop granting schools new spectrum licenses until the third-generation issue is resolved. The petition is certain to be opposed by companies such as WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp., which lease spectrum from schools to supplement their own.

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