NTIA Chief Says Market Will Solve Broadband, Wireless Problems
SAN JOSE -- NTIA Dir. Michael Gallagher stuck to his free-market guns Wed. when challenged over the low U.S. ranking in broadband penetration and mobile carriers use of their control over networks and handsets to deflect or destroy new capabilities. The U.S. will have the highest broadband adoption rate in the world, but through private efforts, not govt. mandates that lock in particular technologies, Gallagher said after speaking to the VON Conference here.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
Gallagher emphasized the positive -- that the U.S. is the biggest broadband market in absolute terms and by far the largest e-commerce market. He recited the litany of American geographic, social and economic diversity as reasons high broadband “takes some time,” as well as “multiple technologies.” Gallagher hailed the U.S. for pushing broadband over power line despite international skepticism and for being the lone nation in which ultra- wideband deployment is lawful, and the Pentagon for giving up considerable spectrum for use by unlicensed devices.
Wireless carriers have good reason to keep a tight grip on handsets using their networks, Gallagher said. Carriers want to achieve greater efficiency and give users the best experience, so companies avoid the cost of $5 per customer-service calls, he said. “Overall, you'll see competition solve these issues,” Gallagher said. The high rate of cellular churn shows customers aren’t shy about moving when they see greener pastures, he said.
Gallagher said networks come under tight controls in countries where wireless services outpace those in the U.S. -- a point contested by a questioner who said U.S. carriers are testing applications only to turn them down and then rip them off. Gallagher said he'd learned of the issue only recently. “Eventually the market sorts these things out,” he said. Such conditions spur development of new technologies like WiMax, Gallagher said. But he said he worried in the meantime about foreign countries getting more benefit than the U.S. from new services and functions.
Asked about the FCC’s impending decision on Level 3’s petition for forbearance from access charge application to IP-to-switched network traffic, Gallagher said, “this is the time to apply the maximum amount of creativity” in solutions presented to the Commission, and acknowledged he was talking “in code.”
Washington doesn’t focus on the exciting intersection of radio and computing technologies -- “Moore meets Marconi” -- Gallagher said. Beneath this rubric he ranks Wi-Fi, WiMax, software defined radio, including cognitive radio, smart antenna systems, mesh networks and ultra wideband. WiMax “is moving faster, it’s in a better position than Wi-Fi was at a similar point in its evolution,” he said. Gallagher also said the govt. is examining its role, if any, in promoting IPv6, which would improve VoIP service quality and security through a flow label in the header, Gallagher said.
The rise of new technology markets, notably China, India and Russia, presents the U.S. with huge risks and opportunities, Gallagher said. American firms could find these countries to be enormous customers -- or fearsome competitors, he said. U.S. success depends on “a pro- technology entrepreneurial environment,” respect for the diversity of IP services, vindication of social policies such as 911 and law enforcement support, and regulatory stability to encourage investment in innovation, he said.