WASHINGTON, DC -- For the 17th consecutive year, the U.S. Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the United States Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI) will provide extensive radio spectrum management training to leading regulators and communications professionals from diverse parts of the world. The course, being held April 12-23, 1999, involves 20 participants from 16 developing countries, including Laos, Cyprus, Ukraine, Ghana, Guyana, Papua New Guinea, Zambia, and the People's Republic of China.

The training will be provided by NTIA's Office of Spectrum Management, with assistance from officials of Comsearch and Motorola, a USTTI Corporate Board Member. Held at the Department of Commerce, the training course will address various elements of spectrum management principles, engineering analysis, and computer-aided spectrum management techniques. In the previous 16 years, NTIA has trained 370 individuals from 105 countries on radio spectrum management.

"Good spectrum management is critical to the development of telecommunications infrastructures which leads to greater economic development and prosperity, and we are pleased that our global training outreach program has made major contributions throughout the developing world. We are again pleased to host the spectrum management seminar and to share our technical and managerial knowledge with our colleagues," said Commerce Assistant Secretary Larry Irving, administrator of NTIA and a USTTI Federal Board Member.

The USTTI, a non-profit industry-government joint venture, was launched at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Plenipotentiary Conference in Nairobi, Kenya in 1982 by Ambassador Michael R. Gardner and the U.S. delegation. It was formed to address the compelling need of developing nations for technical and managerial training in telecommunications and broadcasting. Since 1982, the USTTI has provided 947 training courses, all tuition-free, and has graduated over 5,000 telecommunications officials from 158 developing countries. The USTTI is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation and relies entirely upon the corporate support of Board Members for its operating expenses. The U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development provide travel and per diem scholarship funds for participants from the neediest developing countries.

The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration serves as the principal adviser to the President, Vice President and Secretary of Commerce on domestic and international communications and information issues and represents the Executive Branch before the Congress, other Federal agencies, foreign governments and international organizations. NTIA also manages Federal use of the radio frequency spectrum.
 

USTTI Board of Directors:
 

Michael R. Gardner, Chairman USTTI, The Law Offices of Michael R. Gardner, P.C.
 

Roland Acra, Vice President and General Manager for Remote Access Business Unit, Cisco Systems

Seth D. Blumenfeld, President, International Services, MCI WolrdCom

Martina L. Bradford, Corporate Vice President, Public Affairs, Lucent Technologies

Francis D.R. Coleman, Director of Regulatory Affairs, North America, ICO Global Communications

Lew W. Cramer, Vice President, Government Relations, MediaOne Group

James W. Cuminale, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, PanAmSat

Joseph D. Duffey, Director, United States Information Agency (USIA)

Greg Farmer, Vice President, Government Relations and International Trade, NORTEL Networks

David C. Fine, Vice President Government, International Relations, SBC International Development

Dan Gerberding, General Manager, Industry Business Unit, Hewlett-Packard

Larry Irving, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and Administrator

of NTIA, U.S. Department of Commerce

William E. Kennard, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

David J. Markey, Vice President, Governmental Affairs, BellSouth Corporation

Cathy-Ann Martine, Vice President, International Traffic Management, AT&T

John H. Mattingly, President, COMSAT Satellite Services

Vonya B. McCann, Ambassador - U.S. Coordinator for Office of International

Communications and Information Policy, U.S. Department of State (DOS)

Gerald Mussara, Vice President, Government and Regulatory Affairs, Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications

Pamela J. Riley, Vice President, Federal Regulatory, Air Touch Communications

Harrison H. Schmitt, Consultant, Former United States Senator and Astronaut

Lawrence H. Williams, Vice President of International and Government Affairs, Teledesic LLC

Robert Stringer, General Manager, Telecom, Utilities, and Media Industry Sales Group, Hewlett-Packard Company

A. William Wiggenhorn, Senior Vice President of Training and Education, and President of Motorola University, Motorola Inc.

Bernard J. Wunder, Jr., Esq., Partner Wunder, Knight, Thelen, Forscey & DeVierno

Edward D. Young, III, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Bell Atlantic
 

For more information about the USTTI, please contact Brit Blakeney or Elizabeth Hogan at USTTI at 202-785-7373 or Fred Matos, NTIA's Office of Spectrum Management, at (202) 482-6493.

For press inquiries, please call Sallianne Fortunato, NTIA Public Affairs, at 202-482-7002, or visit NTIA's home page at http://www.ntia.doc.gov. NTIA serves as the principal adviser to the Executive Branch on domestic and international telecommunications and information issues.