Putting Public Spectrum to Work to Close the Digital Divide
06/10/02 - Digital Divide Network


by Kevin Taglang, Telecommunications Policy Consultant

How can we unlock the public interest potential of the Internet and other new information technologies? How can we ensure that Internet content resembles the offerings of schools, libraries and museums more than that of broadcast TV? Over the last several years, the United States has made an enormous investment in connecting classrooms and libraries to the Internet and bridging the digital divide. We now need to compliment these investments in hardware and networking infrastructure with a drive to make available content and applications that transform the way teachers teach and students learn.

The Digital Promise Project is proposing to establish a major educational trust fund, the Digital Opportunity Investment Trust (or "DO IT") that will help transform education, training and lifelong learning to meet the needs of the nation's new knowledge-based economy. The fund would use spectrum auction revenues to digitize the wealth of information housed in the nation's noncommercial organizations so that it could be easily shared with students and lifelong learners. In early May, without much public notice, Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), the Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, introduced legislation which could help make the trust fund a reality, leveraging one of the nation’s most valuable resources, spectrum, to bridge the digital divide.

The Wireless Technology Investment and Digital Dividends Act of 2002 (H.R. 4641) has three main provisions:

1. Telecommunications Infrastructure Development And Citizen Empowerment

The bill would create the Digital Dividends Trust Fund and with these monies the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) would implement two new grant programs.

The Human Capital Telecommunications Investment Program would provide funding for school, nonprofit and state and local agency project that address:

technology training for educational professionals at E-rate eligible institutions,
research and development of content-related educational software designed for use by schools, libraries and museums, digitizing educational materials held in our nation's libraries, archives, and museums and other institutions of learning,technology projects supported by volunteers enrolled in the AmeriCorps and designated by the Corporation for National Service, enhancing the access of individuals with disabilities to advanced telecommunications services, retraining workers and unemployed individuals with skills applicable to the new economy, and after-school programs for youth focused on computer literacy and interaction.The Public Broadband Infrastructure Investments Program would make funds available to nonprofits and state and local governments to expand access to advanced telecommunications and information services at public access points and deploy broadband telecommunications services in unserved rural areas. The fund would also make $300 million available to convert public broadcasting facilities to digital technologies.

2. Availability Of Spectrum For Advanced Commercial Mobile Services

The bill would require the NTIA, by January 1, 2003, to present the President, Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) a plan that identifies spectrum bands for advanced commercial mobile services, reallocates spectrum currently used by the federal government and designates a 20-megahertz (MHz) band of contiguous frequencies for unlicensed use. The FCC, however, could not reallocate spectrum currently used for instructional television fixed services. By December 31, 2005, 30-45 MHz of spectrum would have to be available for advanced mobile services. An additional 50 MHz would be made available by December 31, 2008. Unlicensed spectrum would be made available to the public by December 31, 2004.

The bill would motivate governmental users to free up valuable bands of spectrum by creating the Spectrum Relocation Trust Fund. These monies, again raised through spectrum auctions, would compensate agencies for the costs of relocating the agencies operations to new frequencies.

The bill would require the FCC to adopt any rules necessary to effectuate the timely transition to DTV. These rules include regulations requiring must-carry of free, over-the-air signals of broadcast television stations, minimum digital television network programming and broadcasting requirements, and rules requiring that models of television receiver equipment have the capability of displaying digital television signals by certain dates. The rules would also prevent incumbent licensees from “unjust enrichment” for clearing frequencies used for advanced mobile services.

The bill also aims to preserve competition-based spectrum policy by requiring the FCC to reestablish limits on the amount of spectrum that a licensee may accumulate or utilize in individual markets in a manner that is sufficient to ensure, at a minimum, the same number of unaffiliated licensees that were competing in such markets as of October 1, 2001.

3. Distribution Of Proceeds Of Auctions For Advanced Commercial Mobile Services

The final provisions of the bill outline how spectrum auction revenues should be divided. The first $5 billion in revenues generated by advanced commercial mobile services auctions would be earmarked for the Spectrum Relocation Trust Fund and the remainder would be deposited in the Digital Dividends Trust Fund.

Conclusion

Introduction of the Wireless Technology Investment and Digital Dividends Act raises for public debate two pressing national concerns: 1) the need for comprehensive spectrum policy that addresses the demands of existing and emerging commercial services, government agencies and noncommercial users and 2) a holistic approach to bridging the digital divide which goes beyond access to computers and the Internet to include training and content.

Passage of HR 4641 is uncertain, especially at a time when tax revenue shortfalls are tightening the federal budget. But the bill does provide a starting point for a reevaluation of federal spectrum policy – a discussion many lawmakers seem eager to engage in. And Rep. Markey has offered a list of public interest dividends that the public could come to expect in return for commercial use of our airwaves.

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