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.”

In a Hillcon Valley blog post on Monday, Ruth Milkman, FCC's Wireless Bureau chief said, "There is tremendous agreement that wireless is vibrant and contributes to the economy. It’s a phenomenal set of services and applications."
 
We couldn't agree more. While we may be a bit biased, I think all of us have been impressed by some wireless app, device, technology, etc. As I mentioned in yesterday's post on our filing to the FCC on innovation and investment, this is an industry that is responsive to consumers and fiercely competes with one another for each customer. 
 
In CTIA's wireless competition filing to the FCC  in response, we highlight numerous examples of how the wireless ecosystem (made up of carriers, infrastructure suppliers, device manufacturers, operating system providers, and applications developers) remains competitive at every level.
 
This means that consumers and businesses are benefiting from the lowest prices, highest minutes of use, most innovative services and devices, most robust mobile broadband networks, and least concentrated wireless market among our global competitors.
 
But this fiercely competitive state of the mobile industry was no accident: it emerged from long-standing, market-driven policies, embraced on a bipartisan basis, favoring flexibility over command-and-control and competition over economic regulation.
 
Finally, we also highlighted additional steps (starting on page 77) that the Commission can take to facilitate on-going competition and ensure that consumers will continue to reap tremendous benefits from the mobile wireless sector. 
 
After all, as John Donovan, AT&T’s CTO said in his keynote at CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment Show last week, “It’s a customer’s world; we’re just a part of it.”

To say CTIA's Regulatory Affairs team has been busy is certainly an understatement! Since September 29th, they've submitted nine filings to the FCC on various issues.
 
Over the next couple of weeks, we'll summarize the ones that have received the most attention and/or interest. Today's blog post is on the FCC's NOI wanting more information on the innovation and investment in the wireless industry  (GN Docket No. 09-157).
 
First, the filing discusses the industry's virtuous cycle, with innovation and investment happening within each of the five groups and putting pressure to the other groups to innovate and invest. It's a constant evolution with consumers as the winners.
 
But as readers of this blog know, the wireless industry needs more spectrum. When the FCC Chairman was at International CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment 2009®, he pledged his support and commitment to providing the industry with more spectrum and approving a tower siting shot clock. This is a vital key to the industry's ability to continue innovations whether it's new phones, new capabilities, new applications, faster Internet speeds, etc.
 
The virtuous cycle and spectrum needs are closely intertwined. By having network reliability, coverage, and capacity, carriers are able to compete and attract customers in the competitive industry. This also means carriers are constantly investing in their networks. In fact, over the past twenty years, wireless carriers committed more than $264 billion in capital expenditures -- a combined average carrier investment of more than $22.8 billion per year to expand and upgrade networks from 2001-2008.
 
In addition, we've seen an explosion of wireless making a positive impact on other industries such as health care management (mHealth), smart grids, mobile learning (mLearning), "green" innovative wireless technologies, etc.
 
While we have a tendency to focus on these "new" technologies that rely on wireless to make a difference, we frequently forget about the non-technical innovations. It's hard to believe it was only eleven years ago when the first "bucket" plan was offered. And now think about how the industry has evolved to now offer rollover minutes, family plans, nights and weekends, etc. Carriers also offer extended trial periods, detailed coverage maps, prorated early termination fees, prepaid plans, etc.
 
This is an industry that is responsive to consumers and fiercely competes with one another for each customer.
 
Finally, CTIA closed with some regulatory suggestions, including:

• Facilitating the timely deployment of wireless infrastructure by adopting CTIA’s petition on tower siting.
• Improving the process for identifying spectrum for future reallocation and, particularly the need for greater information, transparency and coordination between Federal and commercial entities in future relocations under the CSEA.
• Seeking input from the Technical Advisory Committee on technical issues.
• Taking steps to streamline equipment and special temporary authorizations.
• Exercising care to ensure that the Commission does not hamper efforts by the wireless industry to develop industry-wide standards for challenging issues.

I think the Regulatory team summed the wireless industry's innovation and investment best when they closed their summary by saying, "We are living in a period of intense innovation and investment in the mobile wireless communications marketplace. American consumers and businesses are reaping daily the innovation that results from a robust and competitive mobile ecosystem, and the FCC should take the necessary steps to ensure that the virtuous cycle of innovation and investment continues to advance."

In response to a letter from 24 CEOs and founders from some of the leading Internet and technology companies to the FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, I issued the following statement:

"This morning, 24 CEOs and founders from some of the leading Internet and technology companies sent a letter to FCC Chairman Genachowski on net neutrality. 
 
"In their letter, they said, 'Entrepreneurs, technologists, and venture capitalists have previously been able to develop new online products and services with the guarantee of neutral, nondiscriminatory access by users, which has fueled an unprecedented era of economic growth and creativity. Existing businesses have been able to leverage the power of the Internet to develop innovative product lines, reach new consumers, and create new ways of doing business.'
 
"I do not believe we could have said it any better than the way that they did when they closed their letter by saying, ’America’s leadership in the technology space has been due, in large part, to the open Internet.’ 
 
"The wireless industry could not agree more. The FCC should preserve the existing wireless Internet that has fostered tremendous innovations, provided broadband for more people, and enabled new businesses. We should all be mindful of the dangers of unintended consequences coming from new rules implemented for the wireless Internet. The fact is that wireless is different than wireline and there's no need to change what these CEOs acknowledged is working well." 

It’s been a busy time for us at CTIA this week with FCC filing deadlines, Hill activities, Distracted Driving Summit and of course, our International CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment show next week.

But on Tuesday, we submitted a very important ex parte filing  to the FCC requesting more spectrum because, to put it simply, it is the backbone of our industry. 

It’s not something that most people think about, but it’s what allows the wireless industry to create and develop the great things that you and I take for granted everyday. As Steve said in his statement about the filing, spectrum drives the innovation and competition.

In our filing, this was the first time we had suggested a specific amount of spectrum to be identified and allocated. We said that the goal should be at least 800 MHz of additional spectrum over the next six years. We also requested policymakers to meet short-term spectrum needs by pairing and allocating readily-available spectrum.
 
To read the filing, please click here.

Here are a few of the media stories on our filing:

• mobihealthnews, CTIA to FCC: More spectrum for mHealth
• WIRED, Wireless group tells FCC: Show us the spectrum
• Broadcasting & Cable, CTIA wants more spectrum
• WirelessWeek, CTIA Petitions FCC for More Spectrum
• mocoNews.net, CTIA To FCC: Without More Wireless Spectrum, ‘Demand May Outpace Supply’
  

I issued the following statement today in response to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s address on new guidelines for the Internet:

“While we are waiting to read the contents of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), we welcome the Chairman's interest in wireless and his commitment to pose a series of detailed questions on how the Internet openness principles should apply to mobile broadband. 
 
“As we have said before, we are concerned about the unintended consequences Internet regulation would have on consumers considering that competition within the industry has spurred innovation, investment, and growth for the U.S. economy. 
 
“As a justification for the adoption of rules, the Chairman suggested that one reason for concern ‘has to do with limited competition among service providers.’ This is at the core of our concerns. Unlike the other platforms that would be subject to the rules, the wireless industry is extremely competitive, extremely innovative, and extremely personal. How do the rules apply to the single-purpose Amazon Kindle? How does it apply to Google’s efforts to cache content to provide a better consumer experience? How about the efforts from Apple and Android, Blackberry and Nokia, Firefly and others to differentiate the products and services they develop for consumers? Should all product and service offerings be the same? 
 
“Regarding spectrum investment, the Commission need only look at the results of the 700 MHz auction to understand the impact on investment. The C Block rules, which included an open requirement, had only two bidders, and sold for significantly less. The other licenses, which sold for significantly more, were sold with the promise that the spectrum would not be subject to the open rules. Now the Commission is considering changing the rules after the auction -- impacting companies’ confidence in the auction process -- just as carriers are facing a brewing spectrum crisis.”

For more information on Net Neutrality/Internet Regulation, please click here. 

I issued the statement below in response to today’s FCC Open Commission Meeting:

“CTIA and the wireless industry appreciate the opportunity to respond to the Notices of Inquiry and to provide the Chairman and Commissioners, as well as other policy-makers, with information on the status of the evolving wireless ecosystem.  Whether it be the almost 100,000 applications that are now available to consumers since the opening of the first applications store 14 months ago, or the launch in the United States of the newest smart phones, or the ability of more consumers in the U.S than anywhere else on the planet to access the highest speed wireless networks, or the lowest price per minute of the 26 countries tracked by Merrill Lynch, or the highest minutes of use of those same 26 countries, or the fact that we have the least concentrated wireless market on the planet, or the evolution in the way services are sold – we are excited to tell the industry’s story.  The wireless ecosystem – from carriers, to handset manufacturers, to network providers, to operating system providers, to application developers – is evolving before our eyes and this is not the same market that it was even three years ago.  In this industry, innovation is everywhere.” 

For an independent review of the wireless industry, please click here.