IMPACT OF ELIMINATING THE NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION (NTIA) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE I. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee reported out legislation yesterday on a party-line vote to scatter the functions of the Department of Commerce to three new agencies and eliminate many other important functions altogether. With respect to NTIA, the "Commerce Department Termination and Government Reorganization Act of 1995" would: o Establish a United States Trade Administration (USTA) within the Executive Branch, and transfer, among other things, the Under Secretary [sic] of NTIA relating to telecommunications policy analysis in support of international trade policy and negotiation functions to USTA, along with standard setting functions. o Transfer NTIA spectrum management functions to GSA o Transfer telecommunications domestic policy to the White House o Terminate all other NTIA functions, including its legal functions, grant programs, research and laboratory activities II. The Impact: The proposed legislation will hurt the ability of the United States to remain a world leader in telecommunications and information services. o Telecommunications and information services are the world's largest economic sector, generating more than $590 billion in annual revenues domestically and employing about 3.6 million U.S. workers. o The proposal would hinder efforts to promote pro- competitive policies. By splitting up various NTIA/DOC functions, the proposal will scatter important domestic policy-making, legal, economic and technical expertise throughout the government. Worse still, some important activities would be eliminated. o NTIA's operations are interrelated. NTIA brings a strong multi-disciplinary approach to complex telecommunications policy issues. Spectrum engineers, policy analysts, economists, and lawyers work together on such diverse issues as negotiating for more global spectrum for mobile satellite services, hammering out the basic principles for competition between countries, and establishing U.S. positions on such issues as privacy and intellectual property rights. o NTIA's domestic telecommunications policies affect the ability of U.S. business to compete internationally. By the same token, the international policies that NTIA pursues affect the success of business back at home. For example, NTIA's domestic policy office promoted competition in the provision of wireless services through reports, testimony and FCC filings. NTIA's international office is currently promoting such pro-competitive policies in Europe, Latin America and Asia, with government-run monopolies, in an effort to give U.S. business greater opportunities in those markets. o The proposal would eliminate NTIA's laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS). ITS provides the technical telecommunications foundation for all of NTIA's efforts. For example, ITS is involved in long term research to find ways to use higher frequency spectrum that is not now viable for many radio services. ITS is also helping to promote U.S. standards for telecommunications services in international fora and thereby helping U.S. business gain access to foreign markets. The proposed legislation will reduce the availability of telecommunications services to millions of Americans. o The proposal would eliminate an extremely popular nationwide grant program, the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP), that relies on public-private partnerships to help extend the benefits of advanced telecommunications technologies to all Americans. o TIIAP's $24 million in 1994 grants generated $40 million in private investment to support projects in health care, education, economic development, infrastructure planning and library services. Telecommunications and information technology can reduce the cost and improve the availability of critical services for all Americans, particularly those living in underserved and rural areas. o The proposal would eliminate the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP), a 33 year-old program that has helped to ensure the availability of public television and radio services to every region of the country. This program offers matching grants to public broadcasting stations to help purchase necessary telecommunications equipment. o It has been estimated that approximately 10 million Americans still do not receive a reliable public television signal, and approximately 25 million do not receive a reliable public radio signal. Almost all of the unserved citizens reside in rural areas. Abolishing the PTFP now would mean that many of these Americans would continue to be deprived of these services. o The proposal would eliminate the National Endowment for Children's Educational Television (NECET), the only Federal program dedicated exclusively to the funding of educational programming for children, the National Endowment for Children's Educational Television (NECET). o Numerous studies indicate that students in the United States are lagging considerably behind students in other countries in such fundamental skills as reading, writing, math, geography, and science. Such skills are essential for the future economic success of this nation. Through a very modest grant program, NECET provides funding for the creation and production of important children's programming to help children learn. The proposed legislation would transfer Federal spectrum management activities to the General Services Administration, an agency with no expertise in this highly technical area. o Federal agencies need radio spectrum to provide essential services to the public including air traffic control, law enforcement, weather forecasting, and national defense. NTIA processes some 8,000 to 10,000 radio frequency assignments monthly to enable these Federal agencies to fulfill their public missions. o NTIA continuously promotes efficient use of the radio spectrum using advanced technologies and has encouraged the Federal government to transfer spectrum to the private sector for new and emerging telecommunications technologies. In fact, NTIA has recently identified 235 MHz of spectrum to be transferred to the private sector. NTIA is also meeting the increasing demands for spectrum to support public safety, federal law enforcement, and interoperability needs among Federal, state, and local law enforcement. o GSA procurement functions and NTIA spectrum management functions are based on quite different disciplines -- administrative versus engineering and technology. NTIA also has a significant domestic and international role relative to spectrum and telecommunications policy, while GSA has no significant role in those areas. o Placing the control of federal spectrum within GSA would de-emphasize spectrum policy and management at a critical point in time. This de-emphasis is contrary to the national and international focus on the importance of spectrum to new, emerging wireless technologies and could put the U.S. telecommunications industry at a severe disadvantage in the marketplace.