[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 20, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1167-E1168]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           FCC--A BLACK HOLE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PETE SESSIONS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 20, 2001

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, seven years ago some enterprising Texans 
came to the FCC seeking approval to deploy their innovative wireless 
technology. Alas, all these years later, they still await a ruling from 
the FCC. Once licensed, Northpoint Technology could offer consumers a 
low-cost service that would provide multi-channel video programming--
including all local television stations--and high-speed access to the 
Internet.
  As many of my colleagues know, incumbent DBS operators carry some 
local channels, but only in the largest television markets, and in no 
market do they carry all local stations on a must carry basis. My 
Congressional District, for instance, falls within two local television 
markets. My constituents in the seventh-ranked Dallas market can get 
four stations from DBS carriers, but that's less than one-third of the 
stations in the market. My constituents in the 94th ranked Waco market 
are unable to get any local stations from DBS carriers. If the FCC 
would grant licenses to Northpoint, all the stations in the Dallas and 
Waco markets would become available to consumers.
  I would like to submit for the Record an editorial that appeared 
recently in the Wall Street Journal that examines Northpoint's struggle 
to obtain regulatory approval but raises broader issues. Namely, are 
our telecom regulators and regulations serving the New Economy or 
burdening it? At least in the case of Northpoint, I think we can all 
agree that regulators should not take seven years to approve the entry 
of a new competitor into the marketplace.

                    Review & Outlook: Space Invaders

               [From the Wall Stree Journal June 5, 2001]

       Space, as every Star Trek fan knows, is the final frontier, 
     but Federal regulators behave as though it's already been 
     conquered. All of it.
       This behavior takes the form of spectrum allocation, a 
     process by which the Federal Communications Commission 
     decides who gets to use--and even how they must use--the 
     invisible electromagnetic wavelengths that transmit radio, 
     television, satellite and wireless phone signals.
       The allocation system may have worked well enough when it 
     was designed 80 years ago to broadcast first radio and later 
     TV. But a proliferation of wireless innovations has led to 
     increased demand for spectrum space, and the current method 
     of doling it out, like all attempts at central planning, has 
     resulted in an artificial shortage.
       Wireless technologies, we'll add here, are but another way 
     to shake America's thirst

[[Page E1168]]

     for broadband Internet access, and we suspect that the 
     slothful deployment of broadband has played a significant 
     role in Nasdaq's struggles of late and the dot-com skid in 
     general. In effect, government control of the airwaves has 
     helped to create virtual queues.
       One way that industry has responded to the FCC's frequency-
     hoarding is by developing ways to increase the capacity and 
     efficiency of available spectrum. The idea is to share and 
     reuse bandwidth with existing spectrum occupants, and without 
     drowning out what's already being transmitted over the same 
     frequency.
       Northpoint Technology, for example, wants to offer a low-
     cost alternative to DirecTV and EchoStar, the direct 
     broadcast satellite giants. Northpoint's plan is to use part 
     of its capacity to offer channels like MTV and HBO, while 
     using the other part to offer high-speed Internet and other 
     data services. But before any of this can happen. Northpoint 
     needs access to the spectrum. DirecTV and EchoStar, which 
     already occupy the spectrum and would have to compete with 
     Northpoint, are defending their turf. That's understandable, 
     even if their claim that Northpoint's signal would interfere 
     with theirs is largely bogus. Repeated independent studies 
     and field tests have provided no evidence of anything 
     extraordinary.
       What we don't understand is the behavior of the FCC, which 
     says it's still thinking about it. Northpoint first applied 
     for the license in 1994, so the FCC has been thinking about 
     it for seven years.
       A provision of the 1996 Telecommunications Act requires the 
     FCC to act on new technology within 12 months, but never mind 
     that. If fundamental reform of the allocation process isn't 
     in the cards right now, the very least that regulators can do 
     is allow the Northpoints out there to make innovative use of 
     the available spectrum.
       The larger issue is whether our telecom regulators and our 
     telecom regulations are serving the New Economy or burdening 
     it. How many would-be innovators have looked at Northpoint's 
     ordeal and concluded, why bother? And how much longer must we 
     wait for mass deployment of broadband? something is in the 
     way of all this happening sooner rather than later, and it's 
     certainly not the technology.
       FCC Commissioner Michael Powell has at least signaled an 
     awareness of these problems. Last month, he told House 
     appropriators that spectrum allocation ``is on the top of my 
     agenda'' and that broadband deployment is a priority. 
     Industry and consumers alike have reason to hope he means it.

     

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