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To: Eric L who wrote (8841)	1/15/2001 11:53:23 AM
From: Eric L	Respond to of 34857

re: FCC >> Wireless Players Will Miss Kennard By Malcolm Spicer CT Wireless January 16, 2001 While some sectors of the U.S. telecom industry may not agree, the wireless industry is sorry to see William Kennard resigning as Federal Communications Commission chairman. And why shouldn't it be? After all, the number of U.S. wireless subscribers nearly doubled - from 55 million to 108 million - during Kennard's tenure, which began in November 1997 and lasted through this month. "American wireless consumers and those who competitively supply their services are better off because of Bill Kennard's leadership at the FCC," said Tom Wheeler, president and CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association. "He's really taken the telecommunications industry from pretty much of a monopoly-oriented institution to a very competitive institution," Edward Evans, president and chief operating officer of wireless operator Dobson Communications, told Wireless Today. "It's been a pretty wild ride, but he's done a great job." Kennard was particularly effective in prompting telecom service providers to extend digital services to areas without access, Evans added. And the chairman made it clear that reaching Native American communities should be a priority. "The wireless environment is obviously the way to do it," Evans said. "I think Chairman Kennard was able to see that from a visionary standpoint." Kennard's successor will need some visionary attributes to continue shepherding the growth of competition in the telecom industry, he added. That's because the pace of competitive changes called for in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 is accelerating. "It's going to be a huge challenge for the next chairman," Evans said. "The FCC has really got to undergo a metamorphosis in a very short period of time." Changes created in the 1996 Telecom Act require the commission to transition from being a purely regulatory entity toward an agency that advises rather than mandates, he said. "When there's a problem, you regulate it," Evans said. "When there's not a problem, leave them alone and let them do what they need to do." Kennard last Friday announced he would resign from the FCC, effective this Friday. He will leave the commission to advise the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program, a human rights forum in Washington, D.C., on leadership, communications policy, and program activities and operations. Wireless companies may be shedding tears as Kennard departs, but it's not as if the FCC chairman never dished out any criticism of the industry. While he often called wireless carriers the "poster child for competition in telecommunications," he also admonished the industry for its slow response to using spectrum more efficiently. "We are running out of spectrum," Kennard said at an industry convention last February. "Spectrum policy has got to be at the very top of your public policy agenda because we can't afford to run out of spectrum." FCC Commissioner Michael Powell, son of Secretary of State-nominee Colin Powell, has been mentioned as a possible nomination by pres.-elect George W. Bush as the next chairman. The Bottom Line It will take more than a FCC chairman that isn't a fan of wireless technologies to slow the growth of U.S. mobile telecom services. Chairman Kennard performed astute and exemplary work at the FCC, but we suspect the country's wireless numbers will continue rising even if someone less sympathetic to the wireless industry succeeds him. << - Eric -

To: Eric L who wrote (8841)	1/15/2001 12:53:53 PM
From: tero kuittinen	Respond to of 34857

Sadly, this is the first anniversary of the month when Ericsson GSM/TDMA phone was announced to be available (January 2000) back in 1999. Strictly speaking - it's the second straigth year when the hybrid models should have been out. So I'd say that the captivating Unicom/CDMA dramedy still gets the "All My Children" award for the longest-running soap in the biz. But there's a good reason to believe that much of the hold-up has been due to the fact that American TDMA operators have been hesitating about which direction to take. I guess AT&T really does need the first units for next Xmas, so it's going to be interesting to see how fast the product materializes. Happy holidays for Americans. Tero