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NEWS
Federal Communications Commission

News Media Information 202 / 418-0500

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This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.
See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:



NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
July
20,
2012
Matthew
Berry:

202-418-2005
Email:
matthew.berry@fcc.gov

STATEMENT OF FCC COMMISSIONER AJIT PAI ON THE REPORT OF THE

PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL OF ADVISORS ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

I look forward to reviewing in more detail today’s report from the President’s Council of
Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). At first glance, it presents many ideas worthy of
further study. In particular, we need to figure out how to provide federal agencies with
additional incentives to use spectrum more efficiently, and I will examine PCAST’s analysis of
this issue carefully.


That having been said, I have serious concerns about the report’s apparent dismissal of
clearing and reallocating federal spectrum for commercial use. To be sure, geographic spectrum
sharing has its place—all reasonable means of making more spectrum available for commercial
use do. But I continue to believe that clearing federal spectrum bands and reallocating them for
exclusive commercial use is a critical component of any sensible spectrum strategy.


Although initiatives to repurpose federal spectrum for commercial use have ground to a
virtual standstill recently, now is not the time to wave the white flag. Rather, we must
reinvigorate our efforts to reallocate additional federal spectrum for mobile broadband use.

Doing so will require leadership across agencies. To that end, I commit to working with
my colleagues here at the Commission as well as with the National Telecommunications &
Information Administration to make sure we do everything possible to reform the management
of federal spectrum. We should also collaborate closely with the House Energy and Commerce
Committee’s bipartisan Federal Spectrum Working Group to accomplish this important
objective.1






1 See, e.g., Letter from Representatives Walden, Eshoo, Shimkus, DeGette, Rogers, Barrow, Scalise, Matsui,
Guthrie, and Christensen to The Honorable Lawrence Strickling, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for
Communications and Information (July 10, 2012) (“Making additional spectrum available for commercial use will
help meet the growing demand for mobile broadband services, fuel the investment that has made the United States
the world leader in wireless innovation, and create jobs.”), available at
http://republicans.energycommerce.house.gov/Media/file/Letters/112th/071012NTIA.pdf.

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