NTIA Spectrum Management Inquiry Poses No Danger to Ham Radio:

Apparently not to be outdone by the FCC's Spectrum Policy Task Force (SPTF) and resulting proceedings, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has initiated its own spectrum management Notice of Inquiry http://spectrumreform.ntia.doc.gov/notice.htm. The NTIA administers spectrum used by the federal government and advises the White House in telecommunications matters. Comments on the NOI--which carries the somewhat unwieldy Docket No 040127027-4027-01--are due by March 18. Some in the amateur community believe the NOI represents a threat to Amateur Radio. ARRL Chief Technology Officer Paul Rinaldo, W4RI, says the League is taking a hard look at the NTIA NOI and its potential impact on the Amateur Radio Service and will comment formally by the filing deadline.

"In a nutshell, there is no specific threat to the Amateur Radio Service in this proceeding," Rinaldo said, "unless one considers opening spectrum management to scrutiny as the US government does every so often."

As it did with the FCC's SPTF, the League's Washington office is participating in meetings related to the NOI. On February 12 Rinaldo delivered a presentation on Amateur Radio spectrum management at an NTIA Forum on Spectrum Management Policy Reform, sponsored by the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of The National Academies.

Among other things, Rinaldo noted that amateurs are concerned about potential interference from unlicensed Part 15 devices, "particularly those that are broadband and distributed throughout residential areas." Such devices, he asserted, should have "globally harmonized bands and standards" designed to preserve a low-noise environment needed for scientific uses and to avoid power escalation in radio services as the noise level rises.

The NTIA released the NOI February 2 in response to a May 29, 2003, executive memorandum from President George W. Bush called "United States Spectrum Policy for the 21st Century." The NTIA NOI now is being viewed as a counterweight to the FCC's SPTF.

The NTIA proceeding is broader than the FCC's SPTF initiative, however, and it poses some fundamental questions--including whether the FCC and NTIA spectrum management functions should be combined in a single entity.

"The League sees this NOI as a healthy opportunity for the airing of views on spectrum management and not a threat aimed at the Amateur Radio Service," Rinaldo concluded. "We appreciate an opportunity to hear members' views."

FCC Chairman Michael Powell and Acting NTIA head Michael Gallagher met February 27 to plan and coordinate the efforts of the FCC and the NTIA on spectrum policy. The meeting included senior spectrum policy teams from both government agencies.

Source:

The ARRL Letter Vol. 23, No. 10 March 5, 2004

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