[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 48 (Wednesday, April 4, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3447-S3448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BROWNBACK:
  S. 696. A bill to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission from 
applying spectrum aggregation limits to spectrum assigned by auction 
after 2000; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, today I rise to reintroduce the Third 
Generation Wireless Internet Act. This legislation, which I first 
introduced in the 106th Congress, is needed today more then ever. The 
Act requires The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to lift the 
current cap on the amount of spectrum any one company may be licensed 
to use in a market.
  Today, over 104 million Americans are benefitting from the products 
and services being offered by our nation's wireless industry. The 
public has benefited from stiff competition among industry participants 
as 244.8 million Americans can choose between three and eight wireless 
service providers, with 181.7 million of them able to choose from at 
least five service providers. The result of this competition has been a 
fifty percent decrease in wireless rates between 1988 and 2000, while 
the total number of minutes used has increased forty-two percent over 
that same period.
  Impressive as is the development of the wireless marketplace, our 
nation's wireless industry is fast approaching a crossroads where it 
will transition from voice and text messaging services to a marriage of 
wireless mobility with the power of the Internet and broadband Internet 
access: the ability to deliver voice, video, and data simultaneously 
over one wireless device. This transition will be made possible by the 
deployment of third generation technology, commonly referred to as 
``3G,'' which combines wireless mobility with transmission speeds and 
capacity resembling that of the broadband pipes being laid primarily in 
urban markets by wireline companies.
  Congress, the FCC, and the National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration continue to work to identify sufficient 
spectrum resources for a timely 3G deployment. The Third Generation 
Wireless Internet Act will ensure that companies currently at the 
limits of the spectrum they are permitted to use under FCC regulations 
will still be able to participate in 3G deployment once the spectrum is 
identified.
  Just as Internet access, especially broadband Internet access, 
promises to

[[Page S3448]]

be a great equalizer across socio-economic lines, 3G promises to be a 
great equalizer between those consumers with access to broadband and 
those without. As Congress continues to look for ways to close the 
digital divide as it relates to broadband, wireless technology can play 
a key role in ensuring that all Americans have access to broadband 
irrespective of their geographic location. It is incumbent upon 
Congress to recognize and act upon the potential of 3G to close the gap 
between urban and rural broadband access, and the Third Generation 
Wireless Internet Act does just that.
  I request that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows;

                                 S. 696

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Third-Generation Wireless 
     Internet Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       The Congress finds the following:
       (1) Mobile telephony has been one of the fastest growing 
     industries of the telecommunications sector, offering 
     consumers innovative services at affordable rates.
       (2) Demand for mobile telecommunications services has 
     greatly exceeded industry expectations.
       (3) Mobile carriers are poised to bring high-speed Internet 
     access to consumers through wireless telecommunications 
     devices.
       (4) Third Generation mobile systems (hereinafter referred 
     to as ``3G'') are capable of delivering high-speed data 
     services for Internet access and other multimedia 
     applications.
       (5) Advanced wireless services such as 3G may be the most 
     efficient and economic way to provide high-speed Internet 
     access to rural areas of the United States.
       (6) Under the current Federal Communications Commission 
     rules, commercial mobile service providers may not use more 
     than 45 megahertz of combined cellular, broadband Personal 
     Communications Service, and Specialized Mobile Radio spectrum 
     within any geographic area.
       (7) Assignments of additional spectrum may be needed to 
     enable mobile operators to keep pace with the demand for 3G 
     services.
       (8) The application of the current Commission spectrum cap 
     rules to new spectrum auctioned by the FCC would greatly 
     impede the deployment of 3G services.

     SEC. 3. WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES.

       Section 332(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
     332(c)) is amended by adding at the end thereof the 
     following:
       ``(9) Non-Application of Spectrum Aggregation Limits to New 
     Auctions.--
       ``(A) The Commission may not apply section 20.6(a) of its 
     regulations (47 C.F.R. 20.6(a)) to a license for spectrum 
     assigned by initial auction held after December 31, 2000.
       ``(B) The Commission may relax or eliminate the spectrum 
     aggregation limits of section 20.6 of its regulations (47 
     C.F.R. 20.6), but may not lower these limits.''.
                                 ______