sites. it is washington your way. the c-span networks. it is available in more than 1 million homes. >> this week on "the communicators," the guest is the head of the committed patients and telecommunications agency -- national telecommunications information administration. >> in a broad sense, what is your wall when it comes to advising the president in implementing -- role in implementing telecommunications policy? >> right now, our focus is in three major areas.

the first is spectrum. we handle all of the spectrum assignments for the department of defense, the department of justice. we spend a lot of time focusing on spectrum. by the recovery act, we are assigned the task of putting out $4 billion of prance -- grants. we are spending a lot of time on internet policy issues. this is an area that has not had an agency in the federal government to coordinate policy across the federal agencies. we are developing administration policy in that area. >> how you work with the ftc and the fcc? >> they have their own agendas and they are independent of the administration. we coordinate with them closely. in the area of spectrum, the fcc

handles the assignment of spectrum to commercial providers. we had the government assignments. the same applies with that with trade commission in those areas that we work together. privacy is the most current areas. >> this week, the ntia put out a report on spectrum availability. where is additional spectrum coming from? where are you recommending that it come from? >> the president directed the ntia to identify 500 megahertz of new spectrum that could be allocated for commercial broadband use. this is double what is currently being used today. it will double what is currently being used today in the

industry. we conducted what we called a fast track evaluation. in addition, the president asked us to come up with a plan over the next five years to find that 500 mhz and make it available. yesterday, we released two reports. what was a plan to identify and reallocate 500 mhz. we will do that with the fcc. some of that will come from federal users. some will come from commercial users. the white house asked us to see if there are some band issues to look at right now to make some. -- some preliminary decisions. we look to see if there were bands where no federal relocation would be required. in some places, we can senator specter with commercial --

spectrum with commercial services. we took a look at bands where we could continue to operate the federal uses and share that space with commercial uses. we identified 115 mhz that we are recommending for the allocation. that can be done within the next five years. it is a down payment on the thigh and under that archibald. >> here to help us buy into some of the issues is lynn stanton. >> the report identified mhz to be considered. it is a less -- it is less than 1/3 of the federal spectrum. does that indicate what you will

end up with in terms of finding the 500? do you think 1/3 will come from federal? >> i think it is too soon to predict that. there are industries in the 755 to 780 range. that is what we have tried to identify in our fast track. there is equipment to operate at band. there is commercial mobile use. that is a band we will be focusing on as one of our first priorities as we go forward with the 10-year plan. each band will be look at and we will determine its characteristics and its suitability for commercial use. the current federal uses will be look at it if we want to relocate those uses and if there

is an opportunity to share. each band will undergo a diligent examination and scrutiny. i cannot predict where the spectrum will come from. >> some pending legislation in congress will address some of the issues you brought up in your report, one of which is the ability to have options with respect to broadcast television. what happened to the ability to actually make that i pointed mhz available across broadband use? what if that legislation is passed? >> the legislation looking at commercial uses identifies broadcasting bands at good candidates for reallocation. they believe they need an incentive option to carry out

that reallocation. the administration supports the idea of incentive options. next year, the administration will be putting forth legislation to deal with that issue, as well as issues that we think will speed up the process of federal agencies making their spectrum available more quickly. with federal agencies, they would be greatly aided if they had resources to do up front plans from research and development, if necessary, to be able to plant more forcefully for a possible reallocation -- plan more fruitfully for a possible reallocation. >> i think i have this right. 100 megahertz of the 115 that you have look at comes from the department of defense.

what is the department of defense's reaction to losing some of their dedicated spectrum? >> the 100 megahertz you are talking about, we have protected the department of defense. one of the large uses in that band is to enable radars. we are talking about radar installed on ships. what we have done to protect the naval mission is to craft what we call exclusion zones. as these ships come close to shore and turn those radars on, they will blow out any cellular systems are operating close to shore. in our report, we created exclusion zone so these radars can operate close to shore. there will be services in the exclusion zones that will be interfered with by the unable systems. this is an area where the band

will be shared in your rapidly. the department of defense will continue to operate as normal. we have found places where their operations and not have any impact and we can make the spectrum available commercially. but had there been any blow that our concern from commercial carriers? >> we are talking about that in 350 letter to range. -- 350 letters rage. it is an area that we think industry manufacturers are going to work within. we have identified it and put it in the bank. we give industry the assurance that that spectrum will be available. they can plan on the research

and development they want to do to make maximum use of that band down the road. i do not think that band will be auctioned in the next year or so. we are looking at 810-year plan. 10-year plan. >> the band that the wireless industry is fighting with congress, -- eye with hunger, they are saying this is the sweet spot. there are complaints about the proposition -- the propagation characteristics of that. how much prime real estate can you realistically manage to find worthy 500 mhz?

>> we are going to be looking at a lot of bands. we are going to look at many spectrum to 9500 necessary to meet the president's challenge to us. we know there is a tremendous amount of innovation and a tremendous amount of growth. we hope and expect that the industry and the manufacturers will be able to respond as spectrum is identified to find the kind of equipment and services that will make maximum use of the spectrum is that we make available. >> if i can go back to the incentive options, have you put an estimated price tag on these incentive options? how much will go to commercial carriers? how much will go to the tax payer? >> that is all to be worked out. the fcc has the primary

responsibility to carry out any options. it will be up to congress to make those policy judgments that you just asked about. as of now, we do not have administration position. it depends on how much is needed for an incentive and how much should go back to treasury. >> are broadcasters onboard with your current plan? >> this is that trump at a manitoba there. it would be in a better position -- spectrum that they manage over there. it would be in a better position to answer that. ies have better incentive. ? >> and the usually means

something beyond cut your costs. is there anything like that in mind? are you thinking about something more? >> we should clarify what federal agencies get. unlike the commercial world where people can bid or spectrum at auction and have a greater property interests, in the case of federal agencies, they receive an assignment. that assignment can be withdrawn at any point in time if they no longer need it. there is no profit at federal agencies have in it. federal agencies want to assist the administration in realizing this goal. our agencies are, by no means,

an exception to that. it us a chance to plan for this. it was a chance to use the most modern technology so that we can use the spectrum we moved to more efficiently. the problem has been that under the act that we have, the funding comes out of auction proceeds. until the option, we do not have the money to pay the agency. we want to find a way to provide money up front before an agency -- before an auction takes place. that is what we hear that they want. they are not looking for a payout. they are looking for a way that they can responsibly work with the rest of the administration in a way that suits them. >> one of the things we have heard about here on "the

communicators" is the he efficiency of carriers. is there efficiency -- can expect from be used more widely? >> clearly, we are going to find a way to use the spectrum we have better. you we are to it as efficiently. what we are talking about are things like having smaller and smaller cell sites so that more people can use the spectrum in a given area. that is something that can help. it is a lot of interest in sharing technology. there are different types of service providers in the same geographic area providing a service.

these services can recognize each other and get out of the way of each other. these are important ideas. they have not been proven in practice. the berries are there. these are things we need to be looking at over the next few years to the body weight the ability to bring peace into the commercial system and make better use of them. whacks this --\ >> this is "the communicators." quickly, what is your background to get you to this position? >> i have worked in a number of petitions and the government and in this sector. i worked at the fcc. i have also worked at a large

cell company. i have also worked at smaller companies in the space. some of those companies are no longer with us. it is good background in terms of seeing small companies build a business and working for a large company. >> you have your law degree from harvard. >> the first recommendation from your report identified 118 mhz or weather balloons. -- for weather balloons. is that what been battered allocation will be, that they will not have exclusive use of it? >> the assumption we made was

that there would not have to be a relocation. we look at band is typically because they could be shared between the commercial services and the federal users. all 115 better into that -- 115 mhz it into that category. there is nothing to be drawn from that as to what the rest of the 500 mhz will look like. >> do you have buy-ins from the other federal users? or are you going to point to the federal initiative? >> the abstract report is a product of the tell interagency

processes. in case -- in the case of the 115 mhz, we worked with other agencies before we may be the accommodation. the entire band that noah -- noa uses can be split without harm to their operations. they are using their operations undisturbed. we do not touch the weather balloons. we have some issues for new satellite. there are satellite working are satellite top area -- in that top area of megahertz.

>> just so the viewers know, it is the national at the spirit -- atmospheric association. >> what we have is the world radio, but that is held every few years. a lot of these international allocation are discussed and may. when we deal with international aviation, we have another set up international regulations to deal with. it is important in the overall plan of things. it is something we have to pay attention. one of the contracts we looked

at and bald radars. that involves -- involved radars. we have to understand the international implications of that. we are constantly having aircraft from foreign nations cut into the united states. we cannot make a reallocation that might affect the systems used in those foreign aircrafts. >> you mentioned that the agency is also responsible for allocating stimulus grants. what is the status of that money? >> i am pleased to say we met our deadline of allocating and awarding all of the money. it was over $4 billion. that was a deadline created by

the recovery act. we did it by staffing a program that did not exist, reviewing applications, doing the due diligence. it is a testament to the testament a -- at ntia that we were able to complete all the awards before our deadline. >> it has given you a bit of a problem. you are supposed to oversee some more grant, but you do not have any money. what do you do under those circumstances? how difficult is it to address that issue? >> we have been able to operate normally during this period of

time. you are correct. we do not actually have the dollars. we are going to need those dollars to avoid delay or destruction of programs. we have been working closely with congress and with the white house since october to educate people on what our needs are and what the impacts our of our situation and to make the case that congress needs to fix this in the session they are currently in. hopefully, we will get a resolution of this before the end of the session on december 3. as you point out, getting the money out was difficult and complicated. it was only the beginning. what we need to do now is make sure it is pride decks built -- projects get built on time.

this is a job-creation program. these are things where we have to work closely with these grantees to help them realize the benefits. many of them do not have federal grant experience. we brought in 300 people to sit there and listen to all the rules and rulations that are required to be called by our grant recipients -- be followed by our grant recipients. it is a daunting task. we are going to be providing them with technical assistance. providing oversight is not just a matter of preventing waste, fraud, and abuse. it is also helping the grantees

do what they need to do to get the projects built. >> the utility service was also administering some broadband services. it is administering and isgrants -- and overseeing grants the same way your program does. >> we had a larger staff during the past year when we were reviewing the applications. we awarded a round one set of applications, and then we went through round two. we were overseeing the round one grass -- grants while we

were taking applications for round two. we were waiting to get the budget approved by congress. >> was that conference directly related to the overseeing of the broadband grants? >> when were going to do the conference because we needed to bring the grantees in. the principal finding of the report you mentioned was that we needed funding to carry out our mission. there were findings may in the report that i did not want to minimize. the team has been helpful to us. they forced us to bring our a game to everything. when you go through the types of

recommendations they were making -- one was do people signed in when they come to receive training? we need to document those things. we need to show we are on top of our game. the program is operating well. the team acknowledges that in several places in the report. fundamentally, it is a sound program. it is working well. >> last question. >> you cochaired the broadband committee on technology. i am wondering how that entity as birdsyour agency's to employment be non-agency part of the tasks that overlap.

>> we look at pertinent agency missions. we look at where there was interagency work that could be done. we set up working groups. one to focus on online take it. the other thing focus on digital literacy. at energy with smart grids. we are also trying to find places where agencies can work together. the two we have look at our digital literacy. online take the. >> will the ntia have a role in

finding staff. ? >> nothing has been adopted by the administration. it has not been adopted by the department of commerce. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> there is an interagency group on privacy that is working. there is a lot going on. i think all it is