health care bill on line. this week on "the communicators," our guest is gary shapiro. >> we have invited gary shapiro, ceo of the consumer electronics association to be on "the communicators" with us to discuss the consumer electronics show held in las vegas. we also wanted to discuss the policy issues facing this industry and discuss his new book, "the comeback." if we could start with the consumer electronics show, what were some of the innovative or new technology, telecommunications products that were on display in las vegas? >> first of all, thank you for having me. it is nice to be beginning the

innovation and technology here for the world. at the show, we had 27 different companies introducing 20,000 new products. what all those products out there, there is a huge array of great things. ford used the opportunity to give a speech about the first ever electric car that only requires a three-hour charge, which is a major breakthrough. that is not consumer electronics, but increasingly, cars are consumer electronics products. we saw a lot of big television screens with 3-d and connections to the internet. a lot of action was with the little screen. it started out as the ebook, then the ipad and now it is

called the tablet category. >> how many prague -- how many of the products they're make it to the marketplace? >> probably less than half of them make it to the marketplace. a lot of them are trying to see if they can be sold to retailers. we wanted to see if the press would write about them for television or radio. investors are being saw. 140,000 people were gathered in one area. a lot of the products will get to market. they can get into market from one month from now the to a year. >> one of the aspects of the consumer electronics show is the policy aspect. members of the fcc are out there. what is your message? what is the take away you want them to have?

>> we have great governments out there. we are thrilled about the people spoke is on technology. the first message that i want them to have is that i want government to help us host the 30,000 international guess we have. we are the only country that is arrogant and toward our international visitors. they are helping us meet our goal for exporting. if they want to export, they use our shows. otherwise, they would have to travel to shows abroad. we are the biggest show of any type in the americas. our own ethics prohibit most of the hosting, which is -- we are the future. we are the engine that is pulling along american jobs in the economy. there is so much going on in

technology that is optimistic and positive that we want policymakers to field -- there are two types of policymakers. those who have been to our shows and those who have not. there is trade and innovation. those who have not been to the shell think of us as in other industry. we are part -- who have not been to the show think of us as another industry. >> paul kirby is joining our conversation. we will turn it over to him. you say industry has been hurt by the well-meaning efforts of the federal government to help the economy. >> absolutely. verizon's head gave a similar. he said the government is not helping business.

when you use the phrase greed in conjunction with business, it is because of a few bad apples and sends a wrong message to the public. we had two unwinnable wars, corporate bailout, cash for clunkers, medicaid and medicare. we have spent so much money and every business person knows that is totally unsustainable. all we are doing is paying interest on that debt. leadership is demonizing business. spending is crippling our future. we have a major problem ahead. business people are concerned about that. >> why is the president of the consumer electronics association taking on these issues? >> our board has decided that the only thing that matters to our future and our future health

as an innovation the economy is the health of the united states economy in the next five or 10 years. there is deep concern about the u.s. economy in the next five or 10 years because of the governments's policies. we are concerned about the actions our government is taking. that is why i am out there and i am visible on these issues. i am speaking on behalf of an industry. i am sure they are out there with 2000 members. >> to look at a couple of policy issues, the obama administration and the fcc wants to free up 500 megahertz of spectrum over the next decade. some of that spectrum is being used by business and the department of defense. how hard will it be to meet their goal? >> in this area, they are doing

the right. we need this spectrum to have wireless broadband competition. the challenge we are facing today and a lot of people are experiencing is you are having dropped calls and you cannot get access to the internet in cities like new york in san francisco. that is the future that is coming to the rest of the country. the fcc, the administration have made a decision looking at the future and said, we have a major spectrum challenge. we have all of this video being used by netflix and youtube. just a few projections down the road, we have a big problem. they are taking spectrum from the government and using spectrum from other places like broadcasters and saying, we need to make the spectrum available to competitions is not just broadband. it is competition between cable

and satellite, fiber, even power line companies cannot provide broadband. a lot of it is wired. but there is wireless competition as well. there is a tremendous amount out there in terms of spectrum. >> there is expected to be a big fight in the reallocation of broadband spectrum. the fcc says it can be a voluntary. how difficult will it be to get broadcast spectrum? >> they have terrified members of congress with their power to use their broadcast signal that demonizes members of congress. everybody recognizes this. when broadcasters were first loaned the spectrum -- it is a loan. they do not own the spectra. it is borrowing. when i was a kid we had three or four channels. now broadcasters are going in

less than 10% of american homes. americans are using cable and satellite. they are increasingly using the internet as a primary or exclusive source of broadband. you have to say, is it worth it to take up all of the waterfront or a beach front property for one type of ship? the signal on cable and satellite is more important than the local signal. they will still have that in some way. they will invest in the future by investing with us. broadcasters see the writing on the wall. i think the fcc, in their broadband report, which was a unanimous bipartisan report, says they will give broadcasters money for the spectrum even though they do not all it. there are voluntary incentive spectrum auctions. they will be offered the opportunity to get money for

something they do not own. i think that is quite a deal for them. >> the legislation introduced last year was bipartisan. how difficult will it be to get that legislation through? to be voluntary, this plan rests on those incentive options. >> it is bipartisan. it will be bipartisan. the question of making it a national priority of leadership or the administration -- there will be support behind it. broadcasters will try to get more and more of a spurt -- more of a percentage of that revenue. the broadcasters will come out swinging. ultimately, there will be a resolution in the neck -- the next 2 years. >> what about the technical issues? will it technically work to make

this plan happen? >> i am piled -- i am proud of how we transitioned this country to digital television. that required repackaging. that required industries getting together. that was more complex than taking a little bit of broadcast spectrum and repurchasing it for wireless. >> in your book, you write that it is time to require broadcasters to return at least half of their present spectrum by 2015. why 2015? >> i am a big believer that deadlines bring about action. our dtv transition was delayed a couple of times. but the deadline was something that was important.

you need a deadline. it has to be sometimes sooner rather than later. 2020 is too late. we cannot afford to be a nation without broadband internet service. we are already behind the rest of the world in broadband. it is important for our education and innovation future. all of these great devices are coming out and ready to be unleashed. we do not want the united states to be the country behind the rest of the world. >> the use of spectrum. is it the onus of your members to decide how they will use the products? >> increasingly common -- increasingly, companies are doing things. we are pressing up against how much you can cut that signal to subatomic level. when you have

intel and microsoft saying this is critical to our future, i believe them. >> at what point is they're going to be a spectrum crisis if a -- is there going to be a spectrum crisis if nothing is done? >> i think there will be a spectrum crisis any day now. the at&t/apple people were frustrated because at&t was perceived as difficult in certain parts of the country. the challenge is not just the service. the challenge is that we are moving to full motion video. if you want high-definition video for everyone over the internet, we need the spectrum. >> this is c-span's communicators " " program. our guess is gary shapiro.

joining us in the compensation in paul kirby. >> 10% of americans get their television signal over the air. do they have the right to do that? do people have a right or three over the air television? >> there is nothing in the constitution about that. people think they have also is of rights that they do not have, like a right to unemployment compensation and a right to health care. these things are nowhere in our founding documents. we have to prioritize and say, what are americans entitled to? are americans going to die because they do not have read over the air television? hardly. we did not support the $2 billion that the american government gave 43 television transition. we have bigger issues to communicate to the american

public, like the fact that they are signing mortgages that they do not understand. you have radio. you have newspapers. you have neighbors. definitely, they should -- definitely, there should be some type of service. when it came to the digital television transition, those billions of dollars spent were wasted. it was nothing. americans did not complain. it was not a big deal. research has shown that we can get every american free basic cable and satellite service and it would be cheaper than anything we are talking about with giving the broadcasters money. in other ways. >> one other issue you address is immigration reform. you called for these measures to be taken by the federal government -- visas for gifted students,

create a process of granting citizenship to qualified immigrants. how important is immigration reform to your industry? >> quite important. most ph.d.s are being granted for math and science. we educate these people and then we kick them out when they get their degree. these are basic. we have immigration problems. i am not getting involved in the great big problem and the fact that we have illegal immigrants here. of course english should be our official language. that makes sense. canada is anyone who is creating jobs a visa.

when i was traveling around the world, my counterparts were giving -- since 2001, that has totally changed. we have almost become hostile to the best and brightest. many of our great technology companies were founded by immigrants. it is the first employed -- the first amendment. we challenge the status quo. we have a first amendment that challenges innovative thinking. we have to preserve that as part of our national strategy. >> why english as the official language? >> because a culture should have a common language. i did the analysis in the business does. industry should do it.

we do it for our trade show and we should do it for our country. we have to be able to communicate. let's face it, the immigrants who came here, our forefathers who came here learned english. my in-laws learned english. my wife is insisting our children learn polish and chinese. i do not understand 2/30 of what is going on in my family. the rest of the world is learning a different language. we need a basic language and that is english. >> you said that the u.s. had not finalized a trade agreement in four years. why did you think this is the case and what needs to be done speier -- to spur u.s.

policymakers? >> i see the u.s. separating itself from other parts of the world. the president wants to double exports. you ask why we have been in the last four years? we had a speaker of the house of representatives that was far left and the unions will in sync with her. the unions were saying, you may not pass free trade agreement. it is killing our economy. >> another policy issue involves broadcasters. the question is, should congress passed legislation that would mandate fm? you association and some other technology groups say no. are you going to be able to fight back?

>> this is a battle we stayed out of and we were brought into. this is a battle between radio stations who wants to play music without paying and the broadcasters. the music industry says you must pay us. the broadcasters were clever. they wanted to block legislation and said, we will pay provided you require a chip in every cell phone. we said that was absurd. that is like requiring a wars be put in front of every car. that is a double-like require in a horse -- a horse be put in front of every car. we think all new music after a certain date should require broadcasters have permission to play it.

radio broadcasters can make more revenue and its musicians do not want to their workplace, they have the right to say -- and if these issues do not want their music play, they can say no. >> doesn't telecommunications technology race geographical borders? >> that is a great point. my son in his 20's says the book is irrelevant because i am focused on the united states. i disagree. i think countries and geography still have a purpose. america is the best country in the world. we have great things. we have a history of democracy and creativity and entrepreneur ships -- entrepreneurship. in europe, they have different

concepts of privacy that we have. why does america have the best internet companies in the world? why are we the most created in our motion picture industry? we have experimentation and a system of laws and great innovations and a culture that succeeds. i want to preserve that. we are sending kids to iraq and afghanistan. we have to honor them. we have to fight to preserve our country and the future. >> is there a consumer electronics association for the european union, china, brazil? >> i have technology contacts in 26 different associations around the world. we talk about the importance of free-trade and other issues that are coming. we are competitive in the ways we want -- our organization only has u.s. companies.

we each have our way of competing. everyone believes in their own country. >> this is what you write about broadband. why is it that way in your view? >> we do not have enough competition. we made it difficult for the telephone companies and others to compete. the cable industry is strategic at an industry. they said they would go after broadband as a revenue source. i think we have to foster that competition between different providers of broadband and wireless. i want to look forward. i do not want to look backwards. in measures of broadband, we are not doing as well as we could.

>> should be companies that were for thinking be rewarded for that brilliance and forward thinkingness? >> i think they are being rewarded. they are getting more revenue from broadband than they do from other services. it is definitely growing. i have broadband through our cable service. i am paying for that. it is the good pipe to the home. >> on the importance of new technologies, broadcasters are saying, we are going to do mobile television. what is your argument for them saying, we are pointing use our spectrum or not just over the air television. we will use it for other stuff? >> we are waiting to see what happens. qualcomm tried it and it did not work. there are different ways to watch television on the gulf. what has become popular is

internet on the go. if broadcasters get behind it, it could make a difference. i do not think you need all of the spectrum for that. it is a matter of slicing and dicing be spectrum. >> there seems to be a brewing issue over network management between the house republicans and the fcc. what is your view on that? >> there is no question from an entrepreneurial point of view that anyone can start an internet service and make a fortune. we have every major internet company that was started in the united states. there is no history of discrimination against these things. nothing bad has happened yet. that is part of the disagreement between the republicans and the democrats. if we have competition and if we get the spectrum and we have all

sorts of different -- if american consumers by all different kinds of broadband, it fades away as an issue. if you can get out of your contract in you know the terms -- i should not take it out of your contract. if you can switch if the terms changed and you know the contract, it should not matter. there are lobbyists working on both sides. people who get advertising love it. a lot of money was spent on it paid it is not the issue that it should be. the republicans are looking for a reason to call the fcc on it. i want to look to the future and the future of spectrum. >> speaking of spectrum, another nice spectrum plot is called the -- spectrum block is called the

d block. >> there is a balance between three types of spectrum. the public safety committee. what is more important than that? they deserve to be listened to and they deserve spectrum. we want them to be able to communicate and have the basic community -- the basic emergency needs. there is an unlicensed spectrum. a lot of innovation occurs there. it started with the garage door openers. there are all sorts of technology out there. there are licenses that no one pays for. you have to abide by certain rules. it allows great and tremendous innovations that i cannot think of. other entrepreneurs do. all spectrum is essentially the same. but in terms of how you allocate that beachfront property, this

would be something for each of those three groups. >> do you have an opinion on which should occur with the d- block? >> no. >> a lot of your members have pushed for another spectrum to be opened up. >> that was a tricky thing for the fcc to do, to deal with the white spaces between television signals. some people were already using it for wireless microphones and other things. they are just waiting for the final decision. we expect the fcc to do that shortly. >> gary shapiro, back to the consumer electronics show and policy makers.

what would you like policymakers to know about your industry and how would you like them to react in washington? >> i think policy makers understand. this is democrats and republicans. innovation is pulling the u.s. economy along. there is a phenomenal amount of innovation out there. it is tough to not to be optimistic about our future as a country and as an industry. government is not the thing that creates the jobs. the government has to make sure entrepreneurs can start. we keep it cheap for the guy in is the rise creating something. the-the guy in his garage -- the guy in his garage to create something. something.