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Chairman Powell
Commissioners Furchgott-Roth, Ness, and Tristani
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th St. SW
Washington, DC 20554
Dear FCC Commissioners,
I write to you about an issue of tremendous importance to our community,
the ITFS (Instructional Television Fixed Service) spectrum. ITFS is both
an important part of our educational program at INSERT NAME OF LICENSEE
and critical if wireless broadband is to become a reality for our
students and our entire community
ITFS is a
distance learning technology that has provided teacher training and
classroom instruction to millions of students across the United States
for more than 35 years. Nationally, nearly 1300 ITFS licensees serve
thousands of public and parochial schools, colleges, and universities,
providing greater access to professional development, more efficient
delivery of curriculum, and various other educational opportunities.
This valuable
service has recently come under assault from the wireless telephone
industry. Third generation (3G) cell phone service providers are seeking
more digital spectrum and have specifically targeted the 2.5hz band,
presently occupied by ITFS. Indeed, 3G providers have formally
petitioned the FCC to take ITFS away from educators in order to
accommodate the wireless industry’s needs. In our community [INSERT
INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING WITH YOUR ITFS LICENSE HERE]…
The FCC’s Final Report on Instructional Fixed Television Services,
issued March 30, 2001, supports what licensees have been saying all
along – relocating all or part
of ITFS would be a grave mistake. Doing so would disrupt existing
ITFS services, be extremely difficult if not impossible from a technical
perspective, and carry heavy financial costs. Moreover, relocation would
hamper existing efforts to extend digital opportunity. The ITFS
community—in conjunction with their MMDS partners—is on the brink of
expanding its capabilities to provide broadband wireless Internet access
and high-speed data transmissions in addition to traditional video
programming. This new frontier not only promises inexpensive high-speed
broadband access for educational institutions, but also high-speed
access for thousands of underserved communities, including those
bypassed by DSL and cable modem service, across the United States.
Given the
considerable benefits of ITFS and the your agency’s findings, we urge
you to stand up for the students and teachers and not relocate any part
of the ITFS spectrum. We at the INSERT NAME OF LICENSEE hope that you
will continue to support us in our ongoing educational mission by
maintaining the integrity of our spectrum.
Sincerely,
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