NTIA serves as the principal adviser to the President on telecommunications policies as they pertain to the Nation's technological and economic advancement. NTIA is the primary Executive Branch agency responsible for developing and articulating domestic and international telecommunications policies. NTIA also manages use of the radio frequency spectrum by all federal agencies.

Radio spectrum is a key component for many government and private sector telecommunications and commercial services. Over the years, the demand for spectrum to be used for both governmental and commercial purposes has increased significantly. Key government organizations rely on radio spectrum to conduct national security, air traffic control, law enforcement, and other public safety efforts, among many other services. Spectrum use also supports the operations of the most competitive and technologically sophisticated industries in the United States. Thus, effective spectrum policy and management are of great importance to the national economy. The increasing spectrum needs of the government and private sector have made the current spectrum management process more difficult, especially as the amount of available, unencumbered spectrum, becomes limited.

The Spectrum Summit will focus on policies affecting the management of the Nation's airwaves, on new ideas and approaches to make more efficient use of spectrum, and on making the national and international spectrum processes more effective. NTIA will have the opportunity during the Spectrum Summit to initiate a dialogue with key industries and organizations that use spectrum, economists and analysts, technologists and futurists, and other interested parties. The four major areas of discussion throughout the two-day Spectrum Summit are: (1) spectrum allocation and planning; (2) spectrum efficiency; (3) spectrum for new technologies; and (4) spectrum management policy and regulatory processes. These areas are detailed on the spectrum issues page.
 

II. DATES OF SUMMIT: April 4-5, 2002

III. LOCATION: The April 4^th meeting will be held in the auditorium of the U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. On Friday, April 5, 2002, meetings will take place at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC, on the Concourse Level.

IV. SPONSOR: National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)

V. PARTICIPANTS: Spectrum users, regulators, investors, futurists, technologists, and economists - see tentative list of participants (additional invitations are pending).

VI. SUMMIT SCHEDULE