The Power of the Third

Wireless Internet Caucus, CTIA Conference
Remarks of Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy
Orlando, FL --March 17, 2002
As prepared for delivery.

Thank you, Tom, for that all-too-revealing introduction.  It 
is great to be here at CTIA and at the WIC.  As Tom 
indicated, I really came of age as a communications 
attorney during my five years at Airtouch.  So it's good to 
be here with an industry that I know so well and with so 
many friends.  

Since I came to the Commission last year one thing has 
become exceedingly clear - as a commissioner, it's not 
always easy to get everything you want - even when you 
enjoy a three to one majority.  On our five-member 
Commission, it's something I affectionately refer to as the 
power of the THIRD - absent that THIRD vote - nothing 
gets done.

The power of the THIRD in the Commission voting context 
has a parallel from my Airtouch experiences in the mid-
90s.  In those days, most markets had two cellular providers 
- and in 1995 the Commission moved to launch additional 
providers through the PCS auctions.  I remember first hand 
the impact of the market entry of the THIRD - it changed 
the marketplace - for the better - and validated the hands-
off regulatory approach taken at the FCC - through the 
competitive forces that are now so readily evident - lower 
prices, better quality, innovation, continuing growth in 
subscribership. 

That is a great public policy story to tell - and a few years 
down the road I want to be able to tell the same story about 
broadband - I want to be able to speak about the power of 
the THIRD platform to the home.  That is - today we have 
two main broadband competitors - wireline telephony and 
cable.  I believe the impact of the THIRD provider will be 
transforming --- we will never look at wireline and cable 
broadband the same if we can develop the THIRD 
broadband platform to the American people.

We at the Commission have a tremendous opportunity to 
ensure our regulatory environment allows the capital 
markets and consumers to assess the viability and utility of 
various broadband offerings - and not allow antiquated 
regulatory buckets to determine the fate of various 
platforms.  I am not here to say that the FCC has decided 
wireless SHALL be the THIRD pipe to the home - that's 
not our role -- I am here to say that we want to create rules 
that allow you to compete for that role with other 
competitors.    

Obviously, there are two potential avenues for the wireless 
delivery of broadband - fixed and mobile.  On the fixed 
side, I continue to hope and believe that fixed wireless 
technology will evolve in a way that allows additional 
capacity and operational flexibility in our current fixed 
wireless spectrum allocations.  In this regard, fixed services 
may ultimately be ubiquitously deployed or may serve to 
fill in gaps left by the technical limitations in other 
technologies - such as DSL.
In addition to fixed service, I believe the current public 
policy debate has often failed to appreciate the role of 
mobile wireless technologies as an increasingly viable 
broadband provider.  Third generation wireless 
technologies offer significant promise - and the 
Commission is committed to providing additional spectrum 
for these services.  Within the year, we will conclude our 
so-called 3G proceeding that will allocate additional 
spectrum.  I am also committed to working with the 
Administration to free additional government spectrum for 
commercial use and to take a careful look at the current 
commercial allocations to assess whether any reallocations 
are appropriate.   We must tackle this issue and get more 
spectrum into commercial hands so that the United States 
can continue to evolve as a global wireless leader.  

We are also scheduled to hold our auction of television 
channels 60-69 and 52-59 during the year with the goal of 
providing additional spectrum.  In general the future 
licensees in these bands will be given significant flexibility 
to provide the types of services they deem the most 
valuable - so long as they do not interfere with other 
licensees' ability to utilize their rights.  

Beyond additional allocations we will also be moving to 
revise our rules to foster a stronger secondary market in 
spectrum resources - so that spectrum can change hands 
more readily and evolve to their highest valued uses.  Our 
current antiquated approach is more restrictive than 
necessary to comply with the statute and I look forward to 
getting an order out that will facilitate spectrum leasing as 
well as license transferability.  

In addition, I will continue to support policies that allow for 
the natural evolution of current bands to next generation 
use.  And this Commission will use its biennial review and 
forbearance authority to retire or modify regulations that 
have outlived their usefulness.  

The promise of mobile wireless broadband is beginning to 
be realized today.  I recently read of one such example in a 
report describing the CTIA Wireless Foundation's activities 
in bringing broadband to rural America through 
demonstration projects.  As part of that program, the Terry 
High School in Terry, Montana is currently receiving two 
years of broadband complements of CTIA.  Projects like 
this dramatically illustrate the potential role of wireless 
broadband. 

I don't think it is possible to overstate the promise of 
wireless broadband services.  You will serve populations 
that are currently under-served, provide competition to a 
high speed internet market currently dominated by cable 
and DSL - while simultaneously simplifying our regulatory 
challenges with regard to cable and wireline.  So a 
particularly positive side effect is that your success will 
have the effect of making my job easier! 

As we go forward, I also want to stress that my door will 
remain open.  I believe that we as commissioners have an 
obligation to seek out as much information as practicable in 
order to make the best decisions possible for the American 
people. More information is only the enemy of a bad 
decision.  As I have stated before, we cannot replicate the 
knowledge base that is present in this room - we need to 
recognize that - and be humble about what we can and do 
know as we attempt to craft regulations.  If you have an 
issue that you need to discuss with me or my wireless 
advisor, please let us know.   After all, that is what the 
taxpayers pay us to do - 

Thank you again for allowing me to be with you this 
evening.  I'd be happy to take any questions...
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