[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 14, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S300-S302]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mr. Allen):
  S. 159. A bill to require the Federal Communications Commission to 
allocate additional spectrum for unlicensed use by wireless broadband 
devices, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today, Senator Allen and I are introducing 
the Jumpstart Broadband Act. The Act directs the FCC to set aside an 
additional 255 megahertz of spectrum in the 5 gigahertz band for 
unlicensed devices to use to deploy broadband connections. It also 
directs the FCC to establish rules to minimize interference in that 
spectrum among devices and to ensure that Department of Defense systems 
operating in that spectrum are not compromised.
  We need this legislation to unleash the potential of new, exciting 
technologies that promise to deliver high-speed broadband connections 
wirelessly. Currently, congestion and interference from numerous 
devices such as cordless phones, ham radios, microwave ovens, ham 
radios and garage door openers is limiting the potential of these new 
networks. If we can tap the potential of high-speed broadband, then we 
can provide numerous benefits to the American people as well as create 
jobs in high tech industries.
  I know that talking about megahertz and spectrum seems somewhat 
esoteric. But we strongly believe our bill will have real world 
implications for families, workers, and communities. Making additional 
spectrum available for new wireless broadband technologies will help 
make broadband connections more attractive to consumers by extending 
the reach of those connections. That means more people will sign up for 
wired connections, creating jobs in the turbulent telecommunications 
and high-tech industries. Also, as technologies thrive in this area, 
manufacturers will also create jobs producing and selling more devices 
to make the connections work.
  One such technology is called wireless fidelity, or Wi-Fi for short. 
In the home, wireless networking can link all the digital products in 
your house, computers, printers, handheld organizers, DVD players, to 
each other and to the Internet without cables. Imagine a PC in the 
bedroom transfering songs to a music system in a car parked in the 
garage. Imagine an oven being turned on via the Internet by a worker 
stuck at the office, allowing him to get home to a meal that cooked 
while he or she commuted.
  In rural areas, wireless technologies have the potential to allow 
communities to use signal repeaters to bring Internet connections to 
places where wires do not reach, or where the signal over the wire is 
too weak. Another possibility is that current or new technologies can 
be manipulated to extend the reach of the initial connection longer 
distances without repeaters. Our legislation will make all of those 
kinds connections more likely and reliable.
  The benefits greater use of wireless broadband connections are 
numerous. For rural health clinics, for example, these new wireless 
connections would connect them quickly to resources at hospitals in 
cities hundreds of miles away. For schools anywhere, an efficient 
wireless connection would save

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them the cost of knocking down walls to wire the entire school.
  Senator Allen and I circulated a draft of this legislation in 
November 2002 and the response we received from the technology and 
consumer electronics communities was very positive. We made some 
modifications to address the concerns that some in the cellular 
community expressed and worked hard to ensure that the new spectrum 
would allow a variety of new technologies to thrive with minimum rules 
of operation in the spectrum . Our first modification was to specify 
that the spectrum would be allocated in the 5 gigahertz band rather 
than below 6 gigahertz. The previous language was of concern to 
cellular companies that operate below 3 gigahertz. The second 
modification was to limit any new FCC rules only to rules that ensure 
robust and efficient use of the spectrum for broadband delivery 
devices.
  It is our hope that this bill will provide the sparkplug necessary to 
help jumpstart the broadband market. I look forward to working on this 
bill with Senator Allen and the rest of our colleagues in the 108th 
Congress.
  I ask unanimous consent 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. 159

       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 ``Jumpstart Broadband Act''.

     SEC. 2. ENCOURAGEMENT OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES.

       (a) Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure 
     Devices.--
       (1) Immediate allocation of spectrum.--Within 180 days 
     after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 
     allocate not less than an additional 255 megahertz of 
     contiguous spectrum in the 5 gigahertz band for unlicensed 
     use by wireless broadband devices while ensuring that 
     Department of Defense devices and systems are not 
     compromised.
       (2) Interference protection.--Within 180 days after the 
     date of enactment of this Act, the National 
     Telecommunications and Information Administration shall, 
     after consultation with all interested agencies and parties, 
     including the Department of Defense, establish standards for 
     interference protection that is reasonably required to enable 
     incumbent Federal government agency users of spectrum 
     allocated under paragraph (1) to continue to use that 
     spectrum, and advise the Commission of those standards.
       (3) Device requirements.--Within 360 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Commission shall--
       (A) with respect to spectrum allocation under paragraph 
     (1), adopt minimal technical and device rules to facilitate 
     robust and efficient use for wireless broadband devices; and
       (B) amend its rules to require that all wireless broadband 
     devices manufactured after the effective date of those rules 
     that operate in the spectrum allocated under paragraph (1)--
       (i) be capable of 2-way digital communications;
       (ii) meet the interference protection standards established 
     under paragraph (2).

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       (a) In General.--In this Act:
       (1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
     Communications Commission.
       (2) Broadband service.--The term ``broadband service'' 
     means high rate digital transmission service--
       (A) via cable modem, digital subscriber line, wireless, 
     satellite, or other telecommunications technology; and
       (B) capable of reliably transmitting voice, data, and/or 
     video simultaneously between and among digital devices and 
     between these devices and the Internet, on a consistent 
     basis, at data transfer rates no slower than those defined 
     from time to time by the Commission.
       (3) Wireless broadband device.--The term ``wireless 
     broadband device'' includes--
       (A) U-NII devices (as defined in section 15.403(i) of title 
     47, Code of Federal Regulations); and
       (B) other devices used to access wireless broadband 
     services.
       (b) Terms Defined in the Communications Act of 1934.--
     Except as provided in subsection (a), any term used in this 
     Act that is defined in section 3 of the Communications Act of 
     1934 (47 U.S.C. 153) has the meaning given that term in that 
     section.

  Mr. ALLEN. Mr. President, today I rise to introduce and present to my 
colleagues the Jumpstart Broadband Act of 2003. I am happy to be the 
lead Republican sponsor of this legislation and I want to thank my 
colleague from across the aisle, Senator Boxer, for working with me on 
this positive important issue.
  The goal of the Jumpstart Broadband Act is to create an environment 
that embraces innovation and encourages the adoption of next-generation 
wireless broadband Internet devices. Most important, our legislation 
will build confidence among consumers, investors and innovators in the 
telecommunications and technology industries to eventually make the 
broadband dream a reality.
  Unfortunately, we are all too familiar with the recession in the 
telecom sector. Analysts estimate that over the last 24 months 
approximately 500,000 jobs have been lost. Debt loads in the 
telecommunications sector range from anywhere between $500 billion to 
$1 trillion dollars. Since 1999 approximately $2 trillion dollars in 
market value has been lost in the telecom sector.
  We know that promises of the Internet doubling every 100 days were 
never realized. Fanciful expectations like these have left this country 
with Internet bandwidth capacities that no levels of demand can 
sustain. Unfortunately for investors and the industry the ``if you 
build it, they will come'' business model did not materialize and is 
the primary reason the telecom and technology sectors are in a weak 
economic state.
  Over this past few years Congress, and specifically the Senate, have 
been locked in debate over the best approach to promote and encourage 
widespread broadband adoption. There is no doubt that consumers, 
businesses and government officials fully recognize the importance of 
broadband to our communications capabilities and the economy. Indeed, 
the proliferation of next-generation broadband Internet connections 
will reinvigorate growth in the technology and telecommunications 
industries and improve our lives.
  Economists at the Brookings Institution estimate that widespread, 
high-speed broadband access would increase the national GDP by $500 
billion annually by 2006. Full deployment of broadband will 
substantially change and significantly impact every aspect of our 
society. Whether in education, healthcare, commerce, entertainment or 
government services; broadband deployment is a key aspect to improving 
this nation's overall economy and competitiveness.
  However, the current debate over broadband has focused only on two 
platforms, Digital Subscriber Line, DSL, and cable and the regulatory 
treatment of those services. This perspective fails to consider that 
alternative modes or other technologies are available that can 
jumpstart consumer driven investment and demand in broadband services. 
I think it is beneficial to shift the policy discussion away from this 
debate and focus on something positive Congress can do that fosters 
innovation, stimulates the technology and telecom sectors, and 
encourages the adoption of broadband services.
  The Jumpstart Broadband Act seeks to create an environment where 
alternative modes of broadband communications can be created and 
deployed into homes, schools, public places and businesses by making 
more spectrum available for exciting, new unlicensed wireless 
technologies. In doing so, the legislation directs the Federal 
Communications Commission, FCC, to set aside an additional 255 
megahertz of spectrum in the 5 gigahertz band for unlicensed broadband 
devices. This allocation will harmonize wireless devices in the United 
States with the international allocation in countries like Japan, 
Brazil, Canada and Europe. The 5 gigahertz band also contains favorable 
propagation and power levels to provide reliable wireless service. Our 
legislation also directs the FCC to establish minimum rules of 
interference protection for devices in that spectrum and to ensure that 
Department of Defense systems operating in that spectrum are not 
compromised.
  Our legislation complements and encourages the exciting work being 
done in the area of Wireless Local Area Networks, WLANs. Also known as 
Wireless Fidelity or WiFi, this technology provides wireless broadband 
service operating in the unlicensed spectrum bank with up to 10 
megabits of capacity and an always-on connection. WiFi is a technology 
driven platform, viewed by many as a possible answer to wire-line

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limitations and obstacles that exist in the current marketplace. WiFi 
however is only the beginning and this legislation will create an 
environment where cognitive radios and dynamic frequency selection of 
technologies can grow and innovate to offer services that are 
unimaginable today.
  While I support a competitive telecommunications environment and have 
been an advocate for federal deregulation, the Jumpstart Broadband Act 
of 2003 moves the policy discussion away from this stagnant maginot 
line battle and offers an alternative invigorating approach that 
encourages innovation and creates confidence in the market.
  Providing a way to jump start high speed broadband Internet access 
through the adoption of wireless broadband devices is vital to helping 
us keep pace with the new global economy. The benefits to Americans 
would include more jobs, increased productivity, improved health care 
delivery, and more accessible education. Our economy needs it, our 
technology sector needs it, and the American people will benefit from 
these new and innovative technologies.
  I have been working together in a bipartisan fashion with Senator 
Boxer, and I am hopeful by also working with technologists, the Federal 
Communications Commission and the Department of Defense, we can move 
forward to create an alternative that promotes broadband adoption using 
advances in technology and spectrum efficiency.
                                 ______