Today, I issued the following statement after appearing on a panel at the FCC's Distracted Driving Staff Workshop:

"We appreciated the opportunity to discuss this important issue at the FCC. 

"Over the last few months, CTIA and our members have participated in several Congressional hearings, developed a teen-focused anti-texting and driving campaign, and spoken with numerous stakeholders to discuss ways our industry can help stop distracted driving.

“I want to reiterate our support of bans on manual texting and emailing while driving. We also believe in mobile device restrictions for teen and novice drivers so they can better focus on learning how to be better drivers. 

"We support technological advancements, but caution that they cannot be based on inflexible mandates that could stifle innovation. They must also be affordable and consumer-friendly.

"Finally, we will continue our focus on educating drivers of all ages about safe driving and responsible wireless use. Most recently, CTIA partnered with the National Safety Council this year to release our teen-focused ‘On the Road, Off the Phone’ campaign with a TV public service announcement and Web site.

“CTIA and our members look forward to working with the FCC as well as other policymakers and stakeholders at all levels to address the dangers of distracted driving."

For more information about the CTIA and NSC "On the Road, Off the Phone" campaign, please visit: www.onroadoffphone.org.

Today, I issued the following statement after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to approve a "shot clock" for tower siting applications:

"On behalf of CTIA and the wireless industry, I would like to thank the Commission for moving ahead with this item. The Chairman's leadership and the efforts of the other Commissioners have given us a foundation for our continued deployment of wireless broadband.  

"Tower siting is a vital piece of our industry. It enables mobile services, including voice and broadband, for consumers, public safety, and businesses. Both Congress and the Supreme Court recognized the importance of taking concrete steps to ensure that the zoning process does not become a barrier to the reasonable deployment of, and competition among, diverse wireless networks. 

"In early October at our International CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment Show, the Chairman declared his support for CTIA’s request for a tower siting 'shot clock' that would require state and local zoning authorities to act within a reasonable, fixed timeframe on wireless tower siting requests. Fast forward to today's meeting when the Commission provided much-needed certainty to the process by setting a reasonable review period and clarifying that a zoning authority may not deny an application filed by one provider based on the presence of another wireless provider in the area. We sincerely appreciate the Commission and the Chairman for quickly acting to fulfill this promise. 

"CTIA and the wireless industry look forward to continuing to work with the Commission, state and local zoning authorities and others involved in tower siting to provide more Americans with the most advanced wireless services and technology on the planet."

Texting and driving don't mix, and CTIA supports laws that make texting while driving illegal. Learn more about the industry's safe driving positions and watch our new public service announcement aimed at helping parents to tell their teens, when you're on the road, get off the phone. To learn more watch this segment from our November installment of our Wonder of Wireless webcast, and take a few moments to see what else we have to offer in this month's WOW.

Today, I issued the following statement after the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet's hearing on the "Universal Service Reform Act of 2009." The bill is sponsored by Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Representative Lee Terry (R-NE):

"CTIA welcomes the effort by Chairman Boucher and Congressman Terry to reform the way that universal service funds are collected and distributed. As this bill moves forward, we urge Congress to work toward competitively neutral reforms that target support to where it is truly needed."

Today I testified before the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittees on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection and on Communications, Technology and the Internet in a joint hearing called “Driven To Distraction: Technological Devices and Vehicle Safety.”

While you can read my testimony  and the statement, here are some of the key points. We believe there are three components to making safer drivers and safer roads. They are:

• Legislation:  The wireless industry joins Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in supporting a state and local ban on manual texting and emailing while driving. In fact, we are working with the National Conference of State Legislatures, the American Legislative Exchange Council, and other state organizations to craft model legislation that could be adopted across the country that would prohibit this activity. In addition, the industry supports restrictions on provisional or novice drivers from using their wireless devices while driving. 
• Technology:  We support technological advancements, but caution that they cannot be based on inflexible mandates that could stifle innovation. They must also be affordable and consumer-friendly.
• Education:  Last, but most importantly, CTIA and the wireless industry have a longstanding commitment and support to educating all drivers about the dangers of distracted driving. For almost 10 years, the association and many of our members have independently developed educational campaigns. We’ve launched several TV and radio public service announcement (PSA) campaign on safe driving. Most recently, CTIA and the National Safety Council launched our teen-focused “On the Road, Off the Phone” campaign. 

Please tell everyone you know that no one should be texting and emailing while driving. It will lead to safer drivers and safer roads for all of us.

Today, CTIA’s Executive Vice President Bobby Franklin issued the following statement after his testimony before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit hearing on "Addressing the Problem of Distracted Driving":
 
"CTIA and the wireless industry appreciated the opportunity to participate at the House hearing on this very important issue. With so many Americans relying on mobile devices as a great safety tool, it's important to remind consumers that there is an appropriate time and inappropriate time to use them.
 
"Legislation, technology and education are three vital components that we believe are needed to develop safer drivers and safer roads. CTIA believes that manual texting and emailing while driving are incompatible with safe driving and join Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in supporting a state and local ban on this activity. In fact, we are working with the National Conference of State Legislatures, the American Legislative Exchange Council, and other state organizations to craft model legislation that could be adopted across the country that would prohibit manual texting and emailing while driving.
 
"We also support technological advancements, but caution that they cannot be based on inflexible mandates that could stifle innovation. They must also be affordable and consumer-friendly.
 
"Finally, we are proud of our long-standing educational activities, including our recent partnership with the National Safety Council to launch a teen-focused campaign, ‘On the Road, Off the Phone.' As part of the campaign, we developed a Web site and a television public service announcement which has been viewed thousands of times since we launched last month.
 
"CTIA and our members look forward to continuing to work with policymakers and stakeholders at all levels to combat distracted driving."
 
For more information about the CTIA and NSC "On the Road, Off the Phone" campaign, please visit: www.onroadoffphone.org.

While we have a fierce net neutrality debate within the wireless telecom and technology industries, the one thing we all agree on is that America’s appetite for mobile broadband services is increasing at a rapid pace. At CTIA, we like to call it the “virtuous cycle” where the multiple players within our ecosystem (such as a device manufacturer or network provider or app developer) are constantly investing, innovating, and competing in order to keep up with consumer demand. 

But, all of the cool apps, faster speeds, new devices and other innovations from the wireless industry are in jeopardy unless we get more spectrum and improve the tower siting process. 

We’ve heard a lot about the brewing spectrum crisis, but why is tower siting just as important? To expand their service offerings and meet consumer demand for “always-on” broadband, wireless carriers need to be able to build out their networks, which involves constructing new towers or adding new equipment to already existing structures.

Today, there is no timeframe for local zoning authorities to act on tower siting applications. CTIA surveyed our members and found that they collectively had more than 3,300 wireless siting applications pending before local jurisdictions. Of those, approximately nearly a quarter have been in queue for more than a year, and more than 180 such applications have been awaiting final action for more than 3 years. That’s just silly in a country that wants to expand broadband access and put people to work.

To remedy this problem, the industry is asking for a common-sense, reasonable solution that would establish 45 and 75 day “shot clocks” for zoning authorities to act on tower siting applications. You can read our petition with the FCC on the matter here.

During FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s keynote remarks earlier this month at International CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment 2009®, he pledged his support and commitment for getting the industry more spectrum and a tower siting shot clock. These are big – and complementary – steps that will help ensure that the U.S. maintains its world leadership in wireless.

Last week, U.S. Representatives Jay Inslee (D-WA) and George Radanovich (R-CA), Co-Chairs of the House Wireless Caucus, sent a letter  to Chairman Genachowski commending his commitment to setting a shot-clock on tower siting and calling on the Commission to act as quickly as possible on this petition. We applaud Representatives Inslee and Radanovich for staking out this pro-broadband, pro-investment, pro-jobs position, and we look forward to working with them and Chairman Genachowksi to get it done.  

I issued the following statement today in response to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) on net neutrality:

“We are pleased that Chairman Genachowski and the Commission acknowledge that ‘wireless is different,’ and that as part of the NPRM, the Commission will investigate ‘how, when, and to what extent’ the rules should apply to the mobile wireless broadband platform. 

“We agree wireless is different, and believe that whatever the case may be for applying rules to other platforms, applying these rules to mobile wireless broadband services during a period of dynamic innovation and change in the wireless ecosystem could have significant unintended consequences. Consumers benefit when innovation can occur BOTH at the edge and in the network. Rules that could impact the ecosystem from continuing to evolve, such as the ability of wireless carriers, device makers, and applications developers to optimize their devices, applications, and networks to work together will stifle innovation and harm consumers.
 
“Further, the imposition of net neutrality rules will degrade the value of unencumbered licenses purchased in the most recent auctions and threaten the integrity of the auction process. The FCC considered ‘openness’ requirements in the 700 MHz auction and chose to apply those requirements to a single block of spectrum. To extend that requirement, and more, now would raise serious legal issues and threaten the integrity of future auctions.
 
“We appreciate the extended comment period established by the Commission and its commitment to improving its understanding of the complex process of managing networks. Our member companies work every day to provide customers with a positive mobile broadband experience. We look forward to working with the Chairman and the Commission to ensure that Commission policies do not unintentionally harm the mobile wireless ecosystem and wireless consumers.”