For Immediate Release November 12, 2003	Contact: Clyde Ensslin or Ranjit de Silva, 202-482-7002

NTIA URGES FCC TO ADOPT RADIO RECEIVER STANDARDS The Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in comments filed today urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt performance standards for non-government radio receivers to facilitate more efficient use of the radio frequency spectrum. “Receiver standards mean less interference and more available spectrum,” said Michael D. Gallagher, Acting Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information. “NTIA has been focused on receiver standards for federal users for some time, and we will continue working with the FCC to maximize the value of this vital national resource,” Gallagher said. NTIA said standards it had adopted for federal receivers have “done much to prevent interference to federal users” and have “permitted NTIA to utilize the spectrum more efficiently.” NTIA supports FCC consideration of a “flexible approach” for non-government receiver standards that could be voluntary or mandatory. In today’s filing, NTIA included a recently completed report, entitled “Summary of Research into Existing Standards,” which provides a compendium of available voluntary and mandatory receiver spectrum standards. The Bush Administration’s initiative to improve radio spectrum management was launched in June 2003 and requires the Commerce Department to prepare recommendations for more “efficient and beneficial use of spectrum.” NTIA’s comments are available on its Web site at www.ntia.doc.gov. ###