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May 17, 2010

Various representatives and top executives from the wireless industry are attempting to influence policymakers in Washington on a variety of key issues, and have greatly increased the amount of lobbying they normally do in Washington on any given day.

Much of the industry's grip on the matter is mostly in the hands of Steve Largent, a former Congressman from Oklahoma. Since taking over as president of the CTIA (Cellular Telephone Industries Association) more than 7 years ago, Largent has closely watched the wireless industry move from 2G technology to 3G and now soon to 4G technology.

During his tenure as head of the CTIA, overall network penetration has grown to more than ninety percent with almost every American now owning at least one mobile phone or smartphone.

As the mobile services industry grows into a major contributor to the U.S. economy, generating billions of dollars in revenue each year, as well as creating millions of jobs, Largent and his team of lawyers and lobbyists are making sure the industry's interests are heard on Capitol Hill, and especially within the confines of the Federal Communications Commission.

Recently, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced his methods of regulating broadband services to make sure that its agency maintains authority over the Internet. This plan essentially changes how high-speed Internet access will soon be regulated, applying some old telephony rules to broadband services.

Much of the discussion thus far has centered around wired broadband services. How will the FCC's new plans affect wireless broadband and other matters is at the heart of many of those discussions.

Essentially, Largent thinks that such plans would most likely have a very profound effect on many if not all wireless users in the U.S. He also says that there will be exceptions made for wireless, but he still believes there isn't any need to apply Net Neutrality regulations to the wireless industry.

Largent adds that there's never been a violation of Net neutrality rules by any wireless carrier, so that's never been an issue either. Some lawmakers on Capitol Hill think that the wireless industry should be treated differently than any other kind of high-speed Internet service provider.

He added that wireless broadband will be used in many places to replace or compete against wired broadband, but was quick to point out that in the past, there's been instances in communications regulation where services are regulated differently.

Largent said "if you look at wireline and wireless networks, they are regulated differently. Satellite is regulated differently. Cable is treated differently from broadcast TV as well, and the list goes on and on."

"The real difference is that wireless has spectrum constraints. So it must be treated differently. You look at the usage of wireless service and smartphones and there are already constraints in some markets like New York City and San Francisco. There have already been a lot of complaints in those places," he said.

"I don't think and I certainly do not agree that Net neutrality regulations should apply to anybody. The Internet is and should remain absolutely neutral, whether it is wired or not. And I definitely don't think they should apply to the wireless industry either. So we're working to educate the FCC about that," said Largent.

"FCC Chairman Genachowski has been very adamant publicly about including wireless in Net neutrality regulation. But at the CTIA, we have been hearing some very mixed signals lately. At the very least, I think there will be exceptions made for network management with respect to wireless. But in general, it looks like wireless will be included in the reclassification from Title I to Title II and in the Net neutrality regulations," added Largent.

Also, there's been a lot of talk lately about a spectrum crisis. But there are new technologies today that could be available soon that would allow radios to sense unused spectrum and allow mobile devices to use that unused spectrum.

For wireless spectrum that is allocated for services today there is not enough of it, and if the explosion in wireless data use that we are seeing now continues, it will certainly intensify. And I think regulating wireless or changing the classification of service to Title II will have a chilling effect on investments in the industry.

A lot of senators and policy makers in Washington would probably not want to admit to this, but they like the fact that wireless spectrum auctions organized by the FCC have generated a lot of money for the U.S. government in the past two to three years. Just in the last two wireless auctions the wireless industry has spent $33 billion on mobile spectrum. They certainly didn't invest that kind of money for the sake of investing money. They invested it because they saw real value in owning all that wireless spectrum.

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Source: The CTIA.