Summary
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) within the Department of Commerce manages the federal government's use of the radio frequency spectrum with coordination and policy input from the Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC), comprised of 20 federal agencies that use spectrum. In recent years, the use of spectrum in wireless applications has expanded dramatically, leading occasionally to contentious disputes between government and commercial users over access to spectrum. Considering IRAC's key role in spectrum management, Congress asked us to (1) describe the evolution of IRAC and (2) obtain IRAC agency representatives' assessment of IRAC's spectrum coordination and policy advice, role as an advisor, and whether IRAC needs to be reformed.
The mission and placement of IRAC have evolved over time. IRAC began in 1922 by assisting in the assignment of frequencies to federal users and coordinating federal government spectrum use. In 1952, IRAC's mission was expanded to include responsibilities for formulating and recommending policies, plans, and actions for federal government spectrum use. Initially advising the Department of Commerce, IRAC has reported to or through various different entities, including at different times the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Office of the President. Since 1978, IRAC has directly advised the Department of Commerce's NTIA. Currently, IRAC is comprised of a full committee, six standing subcommittees, and various ad hoc committees and working groups. In interviews with GAO, IRAC agency representatives made two key points in assessing IRAC. First, IRAC is effective in accomplishing spectrum coordination tasks, but its effectiveness is at times limited by representatives' uneven level of technical knowledge. This problem could worsen, as one-half of the 20 current IRAC representatives are currently eligible to retire. Second, IRAC's ability to advise on national spectrum policy issues is limited because of representatives' lack of seniority within their agencies. The chair of IRAC (an NTIA senior executive) is in agreement with representatives on these points. He said that he has gone outside IRAC directly to senior agency executives when he needed advice on contentious spectrum disputes such as those related to the introduction of new commercial communications services that would use federally controlled spectrum. A federal task force recently released a report that identified similar issues regarding IRAC's effectiveness and areas in need of reform.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change
from "In process" to "Implemented" or "Not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
Mark L. Goldstein
Government Accountability Office: Physical Infrastructure
No phone on record
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: In order to improve the effectiveness of IRAC's contribution in spectrum management, the Secretary of Commerce should direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to seek IRAC's assistance in establishing a set of best practices in human capital for agencies that participate in IRAC that include information on the appropriate knowledge and training levels for IRAC representatives, goals for continuing education in emerging technologies, and agency succession planning.
Agency Affected: Department of Commerce
Status: In process
Comments: A request for information has been made concerning the status of this recommendation. Commerce is working to determine what actions have been taken and will provide the status and supporting documentation as soon as possible.
Recommendation: In order to improve the effectiveness of IRAC's contribution in spectrum management, the Secretary of Commerce should establish a special committee within IRAC comprised of senior-level agency officials to be convened by the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information as needed to provide policy advice on contentious spectrum policy issues, such as those requiring either commercial or government entities to share or relinquish spectrum.
Agency Affected: Department of Commerce
Status: Implemented
Comments: A special committee was established as the Policy and Plans Steering Group in January 2005, as mandated by the President's Spectrum Initiative. The Committee provides assistant secretary-level advice from each represented agency, reporting directly to the Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). It has met three times to consider NTIA draft spectrum policy development. Meetings will be called by NTIA to review and comment upon strategic spectrum planning documents and other plans, and by NTIA or one of the members to review and develop advice for the NTIA Assistant Secretary on complex telecommunications issues.
