Superhubs how the financial elite and their Networks Rule our world. I think many of the superhubs see whats wrong with the system but its also one of the key questions i ask in the book, is do they hold the system prisoner or are they prisoners of the system . Is it their fault or is it the systems fault . And i come to the conclusion its the interaction of both. Sunday night at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspans q a. Next a look at Wireless Technology and spectrum policy as representatives from the Communications Industry testify at the Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing. Its two hours. Good morning. On behalf of my friend senator shotts and i, im glad to convene the first hearing of subcommittee on communications technology, innovation and the internet, with the 115th congress. So welcome to you all. As we all know, in todays connected world, the demand for spectrum increases with every new technology. Spectrum is the life blood of this connectivity, improving lives of people around the globe. Our discussion of spectrum policy today comes on the heels of this committees approval of the mobile now app. Under chairman thunes leadership, we have taken a significant bipartisan step toward freeing up spectrum with the next generation. And people should silence their devices, by the way. Right on key, thank you, senator. For the next generation wireless services, with the approval of this legislation. I hope to see Senate Passage of the bill in the near future. Our discussion of spectrum policy should continue with rapid growth in the use of mobile devices. And the internet of things demand for spectrum will only increase. Spectrum is giving Rural America the tools and resources it needs. Applications that utilize mobile broadband provide the means to deliver Quality Health care in the most remote corners of our states and transmit Real Time Data for improved Crop Production on our farms. Satellite services are providing television, broadband and earth observation for a variety of applications. Next gen tv has the potential to deliver Better Emergency Services and ultimately save lives. This is particularly important to states like mississippi, that can be situated in the paths of hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters. Unlicensed spectrum offers opportunity for businesses of all sizes to innovate, and continue to fuel the vast expansion of the internet of things. Although innovation demands more efficient spect rum use, innovation will also be what solves the problem of limited spectrum. Were here today to talk about the value of spectrum to the economy. Were here to talk about what we have learned from the fccs recent spectrum options and how unlicensed spectrum is a vital piece to the puzzle. I also hope our discussion will encourage a focus on the future of spectrum policy and set the stage for this committee to look at ways to address spectrum demand. I would like to welcome all of our witnesses, and i will introduce them in a moment. And after we have turned for an Opening Statement to our colleague mr. Shotts. Thank you, mr. Chairman, for convening this hearing and to the witnesses for being here today. Spectrum is the invisible infrastructure that has become the on ramp to access the internet. Thanks to mobile and wireless technologies, people can read the news, transfer money, watch shows, video chat with a doctor, all from their mobile device. In a short time, these technologies have transformed our lives. With new 5g Wireless Networks and the internet of things, demand for spectrum will continue to grow. The value of that spectrum delivers to the economy is hard to overstate. As we will hear from the witnesses today, spectrum generates new investment, facilitates invasion, supports job growth across a number of industries. Advancements in mobile and wireless clearly benefit consumers in most Industry Sectors but have also revolutionized Citizen Engagement in politics, transformed news and enhanced public safety. Though the focus is on the economic benefits of commercial spectrum, it is vital to point out that the federal government also has critical spectrum needs for national security, transportation, weather forecasting and a wide range of other government services. We must continue to work with the agencies to ensure they have the spectrum resources they need now and in the future. We should also build open the successes of the spectrum relocation fund, to make it more attractive for agencies to vacate or share bans with more commercial users where that is possible. Since we cant create more spectrum, we need to be more creative in how we manage competing spectrum needs. Im confident that industry will find innovative ways to make better use of the bans they have, but we also need to find a balance between the competing public and private sector needs for more terrestrial and satellite capacity and the need for adequate spectrum available for licensed and unlicensed uses. Spectrum policy has been a focus for this economy which passed the mobile now act which includes a mobile now includes a bill that senator moran and i introduced that would require the government to develop a National Plan for unlicensed spectrum. A lot of attention focuses on how to make new frequencies available for the license side, we also near a clear plan to support continued innovation in the shared license bans. They have become an affordable way for people to get online. I trust the committee will continue to work with the agencies and stake holders to make more bans available to commercial users over the coming weeks and months. While we do that, though, we also have a responsibility tone sure that people from all walks of life, especially in rural, isolated or hard to reach areas across the country have access to wireless broadband services. I know that the chairman and many of our colleagues on the committee share this point of view. To pursue new spectrum opportunities, every stakeholder must be an effective partner in this conversation, a fully staffed fcc led by a chairman and four commissioners is therefore critical to accomplishing these goals. Im appalled the white house withdrew all pending nominations for federal commissions. That is an unnecessarily provocative act. The administration should defer to congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle on nominees for these commissions, as has been the norm. Of sfevg relevance to this committee is commissioner rosenwu rosenwursels nomination. Shes been i leader on spectrum policy and a strong advocate for consumers. I hope the white house will renominate her and the senate will keep its commitment to confirm her as we should have done a year ago. Thank you, chairman wicker, for initiating this important discussi discussion, and i look forward to the witnesses testimony. Thank you very much, senator scha schatz. We have a distinguished panel that we are looking forward to hearing from at this point. Our witnesses include from left to right mr. Scott bergman, Vice President of regulatory affairs, cti the wireless association. Mr. Roger entner, founder and lead analyst recon analytics. Mr. Dave hyner, Vice President and deputy general counsel, microsoft corporation. Mr. Pat laplateney, president and ceo of raycon media and mr. Tom stroop, president satellite industry association. Now, we have a lot of people are prepared, come long distances and put a lot of thought into this hearing. We have votes at the top of the hour. But we want to be respectful of the time and preparation of our witnesses. It is the chairs intention to proceed on with the testimony and members will simply proceed in and out during the two votes which i think will begin at the top of the hour, and i think well be able to proceed in that fashion without having to recess and take the valuable time of these participants. So well begin to my left. And mr. Bergman, you are recognized for five minutes for an Opening Statement. Good morning, chairman wicker, Ranking Member schatz and members of the subcommittee. On behalf of ctia thank you for the opportunity to speak about the significant economic contributions of the u. S. Wireless industry. The power of wireless is transforming how we live and work in every Community Across the country and in every sector of the economy. And were about to have a breakthrough with 5g, the next generation of wireless. 5g will add trillions of dollars to our economy and 3 million new jobs. From 333 in tupelo to nearly 3,500 in honolulu. To deliver on this promise the Wireless Industry needs this committees continued leadership to deliver more spectrum and mod urbanize infrastructure siting policies. The Wireless Industry today is a powerful contributor to the u. S. Economy. Our members have invested over 300 billion over the last ten years and are responsible for more than 4 ps 6 million jobs. Consumers and advises continue to adopt mobile broadband with data traffic increasing more than 25 times since 2010 and expected to increase another five times by 2021. Americas Wireless Industry stands ready to invest another 275 billion to deliver 5g networks that will be faster, more responsive, and connect more devices. 5g will enable a new generation of smart communities and unlock the internet of things. It will unleash innovation and growth in industries across our economy, from energy, health care, public safety, and transportation. With m health, smart grids and selfdriving cars, 5g will unlock trillions of dollars of economic benefits and help save thousands of lives. The u. S. Has been the Global Leader in 4g lte deployment and were poised to lead in 5g. But the global competition is fierce. China, japan, south korea, the eu are all in the chase, making spectrum available, streamlining siting, and investing. The keys to u. S. Leadership are sound spectrum and infrastructure policies. Licensed spectrum in particular is a key input in mobile networks and a powerful creator of Economic Growth and jobs. Fortunately, congress and the fcc have taken bipartisan steps to make spectrum available for wireless. Now more work remains to enable 5g leadership. Let me highlight a few steps that the committee can take. First, we must ensure timely access to new spectrum made available through the 600 megahertz incentive auction. The auction will deliver 70 megahertz of spectrum for mobile broadband and 14 for unlicensed use. It raised 19. 6 billion, making it the second largest fcc auction ever. We support a seamless repacking process and are committed to working collaboratively to achieve the fccs 39month schedule so that 5g is not delayed. Second, the fccs decision to dedicate high band spectrum to mobile services was also critical. The fcc can advance those rules by making targeted reforms and by acting on the additional 18 gigaherz of spectrum identified in the mobile now act. Third we appreciate this committees continued attention to the spectrum pipeline. It takes on average 13 years to reallocate spectrum for wireless use. This underscores the need to start today. Policy makers should continue to review federal use of spect rum and consider ways to incentivize agencies to use spectrum more efficiently. Finally, we must modernize our nations infrastructure siting policies so that Wireless Networks can be deployed rapidly and efficiently. Current federal, state, local and tribal siting practices were designed to review large cell towers, not the small cells that will be for 5g. Small cells are far less intrusive. The size you have a pizza box or lunch box. And will be deployed by the hundreds of thousands. We can remove barriers to the deployment by addressing burdensome local permitting, ensuring access to rights of way and poles. With costs and fees that are reasonable and costbased. Modernizing our Historic Preservation and Environmental Review processes and directing agencies to speed deployment on federal lands and properties. With continued focus on spectrum and infrastructure well be able to ensure that wireless providers can continue to invest, create jobs, and lead the world in 5g. Thank you. And i look forward to your questions. Thank you very much. At this point our Ranking Member of the full committee has unanimous consent request. To insert my comments into the record on this extremely important subject. And thank you, mr. Chairman and Ranking Member of the subcommittee for holding this hearing. Without objection the remarks will be inserted at the appropriate place in the record. Thank you, senator. And our next witness is mr. Roger entner. Sir, you are recognized. Good morning. Chairman wicker, Ranking Member schatz, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify this morning. My name is roger entner. Im the founder of recon analytics, a Telecom Research and Consulting Firm with a focus on wireless. Today im here to discuss my research into the effect that the u. S. Mobile industry has on the u. S. Economy and to highlight the importance of federal government continuing to free up additional spectrum to support 5g and future network evolutions. First a quick overview of the u. S. Mobile industry. In 2015 americans spent 2. 9 trillion minutes talking on their mobile phones, sent 1. 9 trillion text messages. 218 billion pictures. And used 9. 6 trillion megabytes of data. U. S. Wireless Network Operators have constructed over 307,000 cell sites. From 2000 to 2015 u. S. Network operators have spent 77. 8 billion to buy spectrum and have invested 423 billion to build out and expanned the capacity and speed of the networks. Competition in the u. S. Mobile industry is intense. Two weeks ago verizon reintroduced its unlimited plan with hd video. In less than four days competitors matched and tried to beat the offer. Just today at t launched another new pricing plan. 97. 9 of americans can choose from three networkbased operators and 93. 4 can choose from four operators plus more than a dozen virtual operators. The mobile industrys equivalent of overthetop competitors. How does this relate into jobs . The mobile industry directly and indirectly supports 7 million jobs in the united states. These jobs are a function of the amount of investment the companies spend to build their networks, operate their networks, advertise their networks and services, and otherwise work with a wide variety of vendors and others to create and sustain what we know as the American MobileConsumer Experience and the u. S. Wireless industry. As a result the mobile industry contributed 194. 8 billion in gdp in 2014. The app and mobile content market is a 36 billion industry whose very existence is dependent on the ubiquitous fast mobile Broadband NetworkAmerican Companies have built. Companies like uber, lyft, and air bnb would be unthinkable without the direct and immediate connections and data flows mobile network give them and their customers. Together these three companies alone are valued at 98 billion. To say that the u. S. Mobile industry is one of the driving factors to create new jobs and businesses in a Digital Economy businesses in a Digital Economy is an understatement. 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