If there is a scenario where they’re going to be coordinating commercial deployments prior to the relocation, it’s going to be incumbent upon the licensee to have a competent, technical decisionmaker to sit at the table. And it is
likewise incumbent upon the agencies to have a thoughtful, empowered, technically competent system manager sitting on the other side of the table so they can talk about what their technical issues are and how to resolve them.
And as far as the actual relocation itself goes, that’s going to be driven by agencies getting access to the resources in the fund and to the particulars of each individual system.
For some of these systems, it’s going to be a matter of upgrading software to retune and they’ll be gone in a matter of months. Others are going to require more infrastructure changes. They have laid out a predicted time line as part of their relocation estimates. While I know there’s information that wasn’t made available prior to the auction for security purposes, that now can be made available to the
licensees under nondisclosure agreements.
To the extent there are snags or there are problems at the operational level, this office is always open to anybody who has those concerns, whether it’s CTIA or the individual licensees. I know I have partners in the leadership of each of the agencies to help broker and resolve differences.
But, like I said earlier, the licensees have responsibilities as well, which will be just as important as the agencies meeting their respective responsibilities to make sure that we have an equal partnership to resolve these issues.
Wave: As we talk about auctions, 700 MHz is scheduled for January of ‘08. What is the likelihood of that going off as scheduled?
Mr. Kneuer: It’s in the statute. That’s when it’s going to be and that’s when it’s going to happen.
Wave: Do you have any specific thoughts about some of the alternative proposals that have been submitted after Congress so thoughtfully considered the environment, passed the legislation, and the president signed it into law?
Mr. Kneuer: What I expect is for our team here at NTIA to work towards our existing obligations under existing law. Proposals to change laws don’t rise to the level of changing our game plan. We have existing responsibilities under the existing law of the land and that’s what we’re driving towards. Should Congress decide to make changes, we’ll react to that.
