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ExpectMore.govExpectMore.gov home pageEXPECT FEDERAL PROGRAMS TO PERFORM WELL, AND BETTER EVERY YEAR.
 
Program Assessment

Program

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National Telecommunications and Information Adminstration

The purpose of this program is to develop domestic and international telecommunications policy for the Executive Branch, to ensure the efficient and effective use of the Federal radio spectrum through management and planning responsibilities, and to perform telecommunications research and engineering.

Rating

What This Rating Means

PERFORMING
Adequate

This rating describes a program that needs to set more ambitious goals, achieve better results, improve accountability or strengthen its management practices.
  • The National Telecommunications and Information Administration fulfills a unique role through management of the Federal spectrum and in coordinating Executive Branch telecommunications policy. NTIA manages all spectrum use by Federal government departments and agencies and examines how the radio spectrum is used and managed in the United States.
  • The program lacks outcome measures and data to ensure that radio spectrum allocation serves the greatest public benefit. As a proxy, the program uses output-based measures such as frequency assignment processing speed. NTIA should continue efforts to develop measures of economic efficiency of spectrum use, particularly for the Federal spectrum.
  • The program plays an important role in advancing the President's Spectrum Policy Initiative. NTIA engages relevant parties in pursuit of the President's goals for spectrum use, including fostering economic growth, promoting national and homeland security, and ensuring U.S. leadership in communications technology.

Improvement Plan

About Improvement Plans

We are taking the following actions to improve the performance of the program:

  • Analyzing the costs and benefits of the process by which spectrum is allocated in order to improve efficiency of operations.
  • Improving technical, procedural, and policy coordination with the Federal Communications Commission in order to improve management of the radio spectrum.
  • Developing methods to measure the economic efficiency of spectrum use, considering opportunity costs and benefits.

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