Strategic Objective 2.3

Advance the development of global e-commerce and enhanced telecommunications and information services

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2.3 TOTAL RESOURCES
(Dollars in Millions)

	FY 1999	FY 2000	FY 2001	FY 2002	FY 2003	FY 2004	FY 2005	FY 2006
Fiscal Dollars	$70.0	$70.4	$117.5	$96.2	$97.6	$84.4	$69.9	$70.8
FTE – Full-Time Equivalent	225	220	219	244	251	269	259	240

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2.3 PERFORMANCE RESULTS

Rating	Number of Reported Results
	FY 1999	FY 2000	FY 2001	FY 2002	FY 2003	FY 2004	FY 2005	FY 2006
Exceeded Target	0	0	0	0	1	2	1	2
Met Target	1	2	1	1	8	7	4	5
Slightly Below Target	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Did Not Meet Target	1	1	1	1	2	0	0	0
See Appendix A: Performance and Resource Tables for individual reported results.

This objective is important not only to the nation, but to the international community as it has a role in radio frequency (RF) spectrum management and communications on a national level, to the President as an advisor on communications policy matters, on Internet domain names, and for wireless technology and high-speed Internet services.

Achievement of this objective will continue to further the technological advances for wireless communication, Internet services, domain name issues, and other advances in technology. A discussion of each performance goal supporting this objective will further describe the outcomes of this objective.

The Department through NTIA:

• Serves as the principal adviser to the President on domestic and international communications and information policy-making.
• Promotes access to telecommunications services for all Americans and competition in domestic and international markets.
• Manages all federal use of the electromagnetic spectrum and generally promotes efficient use of spectrum.
• Conducts telecommunications technology research, including standards-setting in partnership with business and other federal agencies.
• Awards grants through the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP).

The Agency’s expertise encompasses every aspect of telecommunications, including domestic policy, international policy, spectrum management, and technical telecommunications research and engineering.

• In a “Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies” dated November 30, 2004, the President directed that an implementation plan be developed in FY 2005 for the recommendations contained in a two-part series of reports released by the Secretary of Commerce in June 2004, under the title Spectrum Policy for the 21st Century—The President’s Spectrum Policy Initiative Reports. The purpose of the initiative is to promote the development and implementation of a U.S. spectrum policy that will foster economic growth; ensure U.S. national and homeland security; maintain U.S. global leadership in communications technology development and services; and satisfy other vital U.S. needs in areas such as public safety, scientific research, federal transportation infrastructure, and law enforcement.
• Among its broadband-related activities, NTIA provided technical guidance to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the responsible deployment of broadband over power line (BPL) systems, contributing significantly toward fulfillment of the President’s vision for universal affordable broadband Internet access for all Americans by 2007.
• NTIA also is leading Department activities in the areas of next-generation Internet Protocols, ultrawideband (UWB) technology, wireless broadband applications, wireless sensor technologies, and Internet technical functions.

SUMMARY OF STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2.3 PERFORMANCE GOALS

PERFORMANCE GOAL	STATUS*
Ensure that the allocation of radio spectrum provides the greatest benefit to all people (NTIA)
Promote the availability, and support new sources, of advanced telecommunications (NTIA)
* = MET (100%) = SIGNIFICANTLY MET (75% - 99%) = NOT MET (<75%) = NOT APPLICABLE (back)

Performance Goal: Ensure that the allocation of radio spectrum provides the greatest benefit to all people (NTIA)

Advancing broadband and third generation (3G) wireless services.

PERFORMANCE GOAL REPORTED RESULTS

Rating	Results
Exceeded Target	0
On Target	5
Slightly Below Target	0
Below Target	0
See Appendix A: Performance and Resource Tables for individual reported results.

NTIA examined an array of spectrum management policy issues in FY 2006 dealing with innovative approaches to spectrum management and the effectiveness of current processes. The availability of the RF spectrum is key to the develop-ment and implementation of innovative telecommunications technologies.

NTIA coordinated with federal agencies the Spectrum Reform Initiative implementation plan with 54 milestones to be completed over the next five years. This initiative will fundamentally change the business of spectrum management over the next five years. The purpose of the initiative is to promote the development and implementation of a U.S. spectrum policy that will foster economic growth; ensure U.S. national and homeland security; maintain U.S. global leadership in communications technology development and services; and satisfy other vital U.S. needs in areas, such as public safety, scientific research, federal transportation infrastructure, and law enforcement. One result is the first National Strategic Spectrum plan. NTIA also took steps to establish the Department of Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee, consistent with the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the NTIA Organization Act. This committee will be comprised of a broad range of stakeholders, including representatives from state, regional, and local sectors; industry; academia; and consumer groups.

The achievements of this performance goal are described below:

• NTIA has improved the timeliness of processing frequency assignment requests from a target of 12 business days to less than nine days. This has been accomplished through business process re-engineering and IT improvements. These frequency assignments satisfy the near-term and future spectrum requirements of the 63 federal agencies to operate radio communications that provide the public with national and homeland security, law enforcement, transportation control, natural resource management, and other public safety services during peacetime and emergencies. NTIA’s long-term goal is to improve spectrum management processes throughout the federal government so that time for spectrum assignments can be reduced from more than 15 days to three days or fewer by 2008, and ultimately to near instantaneously, supporting long-term goals for efficiency and effectiveness of spectrum use. NTIA’s research efforts directly support this goal. The Spectrum Initiative for the 21st Century Implementation plan, developed in coordination with other federal agencies, provides targets for specific NTIA spectrum management and spectrum policy activities, which serve to advance both of the Agency goals. NTIA adopted a new measure of the percent of milestones completed annually to measure progress in achieving these goals.
• NTIA conducted a two-day spectrum policy reform workshop on the use of economic or other incentives to increase the efficiency of spectrum use. The workshop addressed incentives that apply both to federal government as well as non-government spectrum users. Session topics included spectrum valuation, rights and secondary markets, sharing, and fees. This is the second workshop on spectrum policy that NTIA has sponsored through the National Academy of Sciences.
• The FCC and NTIA provided information to assist coordination in the 1710-1755 MHz band, to facilitate the transition of this band from federal government use to non-federal use. Specifically, guidance was provided to assist Advanced Wireless Service (AWS) licensees in this band to begin implementing service during the transition of federal operations from the band while providing interference protection to incumbent federal government operations until they have been relocated to other frequency bands or technologies.
• NTIA called for public comment on a proposed spectrum sharing test bed to explore innovative ways to make more intensive use of the nation’s airwaves and promote continued economic growth and national security. The test bed proposal, a key recommendation of the President’s Spectrum Policy Initiative, would enable federal and non-federal users of spectrum to test ideas on new ways to share the finite radio spectrum.
• NTIA selected a Washington, D.C. public safety wireless network to evaluate its effectiveness in sharing the radio spectrum with federal, state, and local governments during emergencies. Selection of the Washington, D.C. Wireless Accelerated Responder Network (WARN), an interoperable, city-wide, broadband public safety network fulfills one of the 24 recommendations of the President’s 21st Century Spectrum Policy Initiative for improving management of the nation’s airwaves.

Performance Goal: Promote the availability, and support new sources, of advanced telecommunications (NTIA)

Performing research to improve both the performance of telecommunications networks and the availability of digital content on the Internet.

PERFORMANCE GOAL REPORTED RESULTS

Rating	Results
Exceeded Target	2
On Target	0
Slightly Below Target	0
Below Target	0
See Appendix A: Performance and Resource Tables for individual reported results.

NTIA participated on behalf of the Administration in FCC and congressional proceedings on telecommunications policies, including the development of appropriate regulatory treatment for broadband services deployment. A number of Internet related policy issues required NTIA action, including ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) reform and continuing Internet privatization, domain name management both domestically and internationally, next generation Internet Protocols, and the combination of Internet and telecommunications addressing (ENUM). All of these activities required substantial coordination among NTIA’s program offices, as well as interagency coordination to develop the Administration’s positions.

The achievements of this performance goal are described below:

• NTIA released the final report on the technical and economic issues related to Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) adoption in the United States, including the appropriate role of government, international interoperability, security in transition, and costs and benefits of IPv6 deployment. The report was developed by the IPv6 Task Force, led by NTIA and NIST.
• NTIA published a Notice of Inquiry and convened a public meeting to seek views on the continued transition of the technical coordination and management of the Internet Domain Name and Addressing System to the private sector.
• NTIA testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on wireless telecommunications issues and spectrum management reform. NTIA also testified before the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit of the House Committee on Financial Services regarding recent developments related to WHOIS databases. NTIA submitted testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Science and Technology regarding “The State of Interoperability: Perspectives on Federal Coordination of Grants, Standards and Technology.”
• NTIA began extensive preparations for the administration of programs established by the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Fund, created by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. This Fund receives offsetting receipts from the auction of electromagnetic spectrum recovered from discontinued analog television signals, and provides funding for several programs from these receipts. Programs authorized by the Act include the Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Voucher Program, Public Safety Interoperable Communications Grants, New York City 9/11 Digital Transition, Assistance to Low-Power Television Stations, National Alert and Tsunami Warning Program, and Enhanced 9-1-1 Service Support.
• NTIA awarded a sole source contract to ICANN to perform technical functions supporting the Internet Domain Name System (DNS). ICANN has been performing the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) services since 2000. They involve three interdependent technical coordinating functions for the Internet domain name and addressing system. These functions include coordination of the assignment of technical protocol parameters, administration of certain responsibilities associated with Internet DNS root zone management, and allocation of IPv4 and IPv6 address space.
• In FY2006, NTIA awarded $19.7 million for 95 grants from PTFP to assist public radio, public television and nonbroadcast (distance learning) projects across the country.
  
  Just over $12.3 million went to 31 grantees to assist in the digital conversion of public television facilities. Radio projects were awarded $5 million for 49 grants. Nine of the 49 radio grants awarded a total of $604,237 for digital conversion of public radio stations. One radio grant, totaling $104,553, was issued on an emergency basis so a public radio station in Austin, TX could replace studio equipment destroyed by fire.
  
  Other PTFP grants include $1.1 million for eight television equipment replacement grants, which included two grants made on an emergency basis. These emergency awards, totaling $429,370, replaced a television transmitter in New Orleans destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and a failed transmission line in South Dakota. Five nonbroadcast (distance learning) grants were made for $740,169, and one grant was awarded to the University of Hawaii for $499,440 for the PEACESAT (Pan-Pacific Educational and Cultural Experiments by Satellite) project.
  
  Included in the above radio and television awards are grants so 11 public radio stations and 16 public television stations can purchase standby generators to enable the stations to continue public service programming during times of emergency.

The data used to evaluate the effectiveness of performance goal achievements are reviewed quarterly and the Department attests to the accuracy and reliability of the data. Data on the timeliness of processing frequency assignment requests are maintained by the Office of Spectrum Management. All other data are published on the NTIA Web site.

STRATEGIES AND FUTURE PLANS

The bulk of NTIA’s resources will be directed toward achieving the President’s goal of spectrum management reform. NTIA will facilitate a modernized and improved spectrum management system and facilitate economic incentives for more efficient and beneficial use of spectrum. NTIA’s other spectrum management activities include (1) identifying and supporting new wireless technologies that promise innovative applications for customers of the federal and private sectors; (2) providing the 63 federal agencies with the spectrum needed to support their missions for national defense, law enforcement and security, air traffic control, national resource management, and other public safety services; (3) developing plans and policies to use the spectrum effectively; (4) satisfying U.S. future spectrum needs globally through participation with the 190 other countries of the International Telecommunication Union in establishing binding treaty agreements through world radio-communication conferences; and (5) improving, through telecommunications research and engineering, the understanding of radio-wave transmission thereby improving spectrum utilization and the performance of radio-communications systems.

NTIA will also work with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on the development of standards for the interoperability of public safety systems and on the implementation of Spectrum Relocation Fund legislation. NTIA will work with the Department of Transportation (DOT) on implementation of the Enhanced 911 Act. NTIA will continue work with ICANN on the management of the Internet domain names system. NTIA anticipates that it will participate on behalf of the Administration in a congressional examination of the Telecommunications Act focusing on telephony subsidy reform and the classification of advanced broadband services. NTIA will also participate on behalf of the Administration in Digital TV transition policy-making and implementation of IPv6.

CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE

In today’s era of modern communications, RF spectrum is critical. Current spectrum management policies are under increasing strain as the demand for existing spectrum-based services grows and new spectrum-related technologies and applications emerge. Working with all affected parties in the federal government and the private sector, NTIA and the Department must find ways to implement the recommendations developed through the President’s Spectrum Policy Initiative to foster economic growth; ensure U.S. national and homeland security; maintain U.S. global leadership in communications technology development and services; and satisfy other vital U.S. needs in areas such as public safety, scientific research, federal transportation infrastructure, and law enforcement. Also, NTIA and the FCC must coordinate the development of a National Strategic Spectrum plan.

NTIA and the Department must also respond to the President’s call to clear the regulatory hurdles that stand in the way of broadband deployment and create the regulatory certainty necessary to meet the President’s goal of universal and affordable broadband access. Some of the most promising new broadband technologies are wireless. By expanding the amount of spectrum available for commercial uses, the Department will increase high speed Internet access. In an era of rapidly changing new technologies, like mobile wireless, high-speed fiber optics, and expanded broadband deployment, government policies should favor customer choice. Regulatory stability in the telecommunications sector will promote both competition and investment. Developing these policy frameworks to support these goals is the challenge facing NTIA and the Department.