The White House on Thursday announced an initiative to develop a radio spectrum policy for government users.
Commerce Secretary Don Evans will form an interagency task force that will recommend ways for government agencies to use spectrum more efficiently, officials said Thursday.
The task force will issue its recommendations in one year to the Department of Defense, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space and other agencies that use significant amounts of radio spectrum, Evans said.
The initiative also will include a series of meetings to give the private sector a chance to weigh in on the issue.
“We welcome the Presidents continued leadership in this important area,” said Tom Wheeler, President and CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, a Washington-based organization that focuses on the interests of commercial wireless service providers. “The tools we have for formulating spectrum policy are broken, and we look forward to working with the task force under Secretary Evans leadership to ensure this national resource is fully utilized as a national safety and economic growth asset.”