By Katie Ardmore
The quest to solve the spectrum crunch is far from over, said panelists at an Institute for Policy Innovation conference Wednesday. The success of the wireless industry, with new technologies and more efficient spectrum usage, is "far from final," said CTIA President Steve Largent. U.S. carriers will need more spectrum, and competition in the industry is needed to keep up with innovation and usage levels, meet consumer needs and for the country to remain a global wireless leader, he said.
Largent urged Congress to "see the light" and pass more deregulation legislation that could help the wireless industry through tax reform. He pushed for S-543, which would delay new state taxes on wireless services, and HR-1860 and S-971, which would regulate the taxation of digital purchases.
Capitol Hill's focus should now be how to get a continuous supply of spectrum, said Charla Rath, Verizon Wireless policy development vice president. There is much work ahead to ensure the success of incentive spectrum auctions, which only serve as a down payment towards the amount of spectrum that is truly needed, she said. There shouldn't be another discussion in five years on the need for spectrum, she said: "We need to roll up our sleeves" and find a way to establish a continuous supply of spectrum.
MetroPCS's geographical growth is stunted until it has access to more spectrum, Vice Chairman Mark Stachiw said. Spectrum is the "lifeblood" of the wireless industry, and mobile companies need even more spectrum than Congress has given them, he said. MetroPCS applauds Congress's efforts, but to describe recently passed spectrum legislation as "a downpayment would be charitable," Stachiw said. "We need a lot more, and we obviously need it distributed into the industry in such a way that everybody that needs it is able to get their hands on it."
The biggest problem with spectrum allocation is that it's case by case, said Tom Hazlett a George Mason University professor of law and economics: "There's no real generic spectrum policy that allows" all possible companies to enter the market and innovate. Stachiw said the next step is to put all spectrum on the table and consider it all, including government spectrum. The industry is doing all it can to use spectrum efficiently and must now look to the government for more, Rath said.