Commerce Secretary Evans Announces New Bush Administration Initiative to Modernize and Improve Management of Nation’s Airwaves

Commerce Secretary Don Evans today announced a major new Bush Administration initiative to develop a radio spectrum policy for the 21st Century that will better manage the nation’s airwaves, enhance homeland and economic security, increase benefits to consumers and ensure U.S. leadership in high-tech innovations.

Evans will form a high-level interagency Task Force under an Executive Memorandum issued by President Bush today that will recommend ways to stimulate more efficient use of the radio frequency spectrum by government users. This effort will be the first comprehensive study of federal government radio spectrum policy in the modern era and will build on previous administration efforts to improve the spectrum management process.

Evans said the Administration has succeeded in identifying additional spectrum for advanced new wireless services known as 3G, paved the way for ultrawideband technologies, and helped broker an agreement that could double the amount of spectrum for WiFi technologies.

“Spectrum is a vital and limited national resource,” Evans said. “It is crucial to job creation, our economic growth and our national defense.”

The Task Force, which will issue its recommendations in one year, will include federal government agencies that use the radio spectrum such as the Departments of Defense, Transportation and Homeland Security as well as the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and others.

The initiative also calls for a series of public meetings with the private sector and state and local governments to provide input to improve policies and procedures for overall management of the radio spectrum. More information about the Initiative may be found on the White House Web site at: www.whitehouse.gov.