Brought to you as a public service of the Open Spectrum Foundation (Stichting Open Spectrum), Amsterdam - Prague

NEWS

US Senate hearing today on wireless issues and spectrum reform

The Commerce Committee of the US Senate will hold hearings today (14 March) on wireless issues and spectrum reform. Starting at 10 a.m. East Coast Time (1500 GMT), video coverage of the hearings will be streamed live at http://commerce.senate.gov/live.ram. For those who can attend the hearings in person, they will be in Room 106 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, which occupies the block bounded by Constitution Avenue, Second Street, First Street, and C Street in Washington, DC (Northeast).

Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens recently introduced legislation (S.2332: "The American Broadband for Communities Act of 2006") to "allow manufacturers to design unlicensed devices to be operated in the broadcast spectrum not being used by broadcasters... [and it] also directs the Federal Communications Commission [to] craft technical requirements for unlicensed devices in the broadcast band that would protect broadcast stations..." [quoted from the news release announcing the bill]

This legislation, and a similar bill introduced by Senators George Allen and John Kerry (S.2327: "The Wireless Innovation Act of 2006"), are likely to be the hearing's main focus.

The announced witnesses are:

Ms. Catherine W. Seidel - Acting Chief of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau
Mr. John M. R. Kneuer - Acting Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, US Department of Commerce
Ms. JayEtta Hecker - Director of the Physical Infrastructure Team, US Government Accountability Office
Mr. Thomas F. Walsh - President of the Board, Rural Cellular Association
Dr. Kevin Kahn - Director of the Communications Technology Lab, Intel Corporation
Mr. Robert W. Hubbard - Secretary and Treasurer, Association for Maximum Service Television
Mr. Thomas J. Sugrue - Vice President of Government Affairs, T-Mobile USA, Inc.
Ms. Jeannine Kenney - Senior Policy Advisor, Consumer Union
Mr. Lawrence J. White - Co-Chair of the Spectrum Policy Working Group, The Digital Age Communications Act Project, Progress & Freedom Foundation