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The Honorable William J. Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20550

Dear Mr. President:

As you are aware, in March 1999 the International Telecommunication Union will make its determination regarding which technological standards will be accepted globally for the next generation (so-called "3G") of wireless telecommunications. We are now at a critical juncture at which the United States can and should exercise its leadership and promote all of its business interests in this increasingly competitive and critical international sector.

The members of the President's Export Council want to take this opportunity to emphasize the importance of maintaining and expanding international markets for U.S. telecommunications and related businesses. The only effective means of accomplishing this critical objective in the context of the forthcoming ITU determination is for this Administration to promote aggressively, in all available domestic and international fora, a multiple standards regime. That is, given the fact that U.S. telecommunications companies have invested billions of dollars in multiple, market-accepted 3G technologies, it would be sharply counter to the interests of U.S. industry as a whole either to advance any particular U.S. technology over another, or to fail to promote a multiple standards regime and thus allow our global competitors to assume that multiple standards are not a U.S. Government priority. In this sense, moreover, we urge you to oppose government-mandated "convergence" of any particular U.S. 3G standard with the standard of any other region, since doing so would, again, relegate other U.S.-adopted, market-accepted technologies to a lesser status and risk stranding billions of dollars in U.S. investments around the world.

This Administration has advocated strongly that the global marketplace should determine which technologies succeed and which fail. The same should be true in this instance. The ITU's March 1999 determination will mark a critical moment for U.S. technological investments, and we urge you to lead this Administration in taking an active and aggressive position to promote the interests of U.S. industry broadly and no single U.S. interest specifically. We would be pleased to assist you further in an advisory capacity on this or related issues and appreciate the opportunity to share with you our views on this important and timely matter.

Respectfully submitted,

Susan Corrales-Diaz
Chair, Subcommittee on
Technology and Competitiveness

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