Personal communications services: the next technological revolution

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) to consider whether to allocate frequencies for personal communications services (PCS), the particular PCS offerings to authorize, the technical standards that licensees should follow, and the regulatory policies tha should govern PCS operations, including who may be eligible for PCS licenses. An overview is given of the reaction that the NOI has generated and the critical threshold decisions that the FCC will be making. These are discussed in the context of the need for PCS spectrum allocation and industry structure issues.<>