Contact: Katie Barr
Glen Echo Group
202-525-4343
kbarr@glenechogroup.com
Congress should not impose “harmful constraints on the ability of the FCC to make appropriate spectrum allocation decisions,” 20 companies, trade associations, and public interest groups said today.
In a letter to the Senate and House, the groups expressed concern over spectrum allocation provisions included in the JOBS Act passed by the House on Tuesday, and urged negotiators to “modify these provisions to preserve the FCC’s existing authority to respond to changes in this continually evolving and dynamic market,” saying,
“As demand for licensed and unlicensed services continues to grow and evolve, we believe that sound communications policy counsels an approach that avoids anticipatory action, and instead, to the maximum extent possible, preserves agency flexibility to assess then-current demands for both licensed and unlicensed spectrum…
“We therefore strongly urge Congress to heed the advice of independent spectrum experts and the concerns of the Federal Communications Commission by preserving agency flexibility to consider allocations for licensed and unlicensed use. … Under its existing authority… the FCC has… rais[ed] over $50 billion for the U.S. Treasury and driv[en] growth of the wireless industry to over $150 billion in annual revenue…
“We remain fully committed to working with Congress to pass legislation that allows us to fully unlock and bring to reality the power of the wireless revolution.”
The following groups signed on to the letter: The Center for Media Justice, Center for Media & Democracy, Center for Rural Strategies, Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), Consumer Federation of America (CFA), Consumers Union, Cricket, Free Press Action Fund, Google, m@in, Media Access Project (MAP), Media Alliance, Microsoft, National Cable & Telecommunications Association, New America Foundation, Public Knowledge, Rural Cellular Association (RCA), Rural Telecommunications Group, Sprint, and Wireless Internet Service Providers Association.