Mr. Mineta's Support for GPS and Location Technology as
Secretary of Commerce/Transportation
Jerry Werner
March 17, 2008
If it is found that Mr. Mineta received significantly more stock options in Trimble Navigation than he should have received according to the company's own policy for compensating directors, then the question is: “what did he then do to benefit the company?” Simple searches on the Internet provides substantial evidence of his support for federal policies and initiatives that would do just that.
1. Mr. Mineta’s Support for Trimble Navigation While Commerce Secretary
A related question is: why would Trimble Navigation have wanted one of their strong supporters as Secretary of Commerce in the Clinton Administration? One reason is that Trimble was concerned with the federal government’s support of ultra-wideband (UWB) technologies, and the Commerce Secretary Commerce ultimately has control over the Department's National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), which directly impacts the government’s use of both UWB as well as GPS technologies.
According to a contact of mine in the ITS field who used to work for Trimble Navigation, UWB has the potential to render GPS systems impossible to detect, and Trimble Navigation may have asked then Commerce Secretary Mineta to help secure GPS against bandwidth incursions from UWB. My contact told me that UWB threatened the very existence of the Trimble Navigation, which is dependent on the GPS market, and that this was and is a particularly important issue to Charles Trimble, who was the company's founder and CEO up until shortly before Mr. Mineta became a Board member.
Background on the Relationship Between UWB and GPS
An article entitled “Firms bet Future on FCC Call” in Mass High Tech on February 1, 2002, does a good job of summarizing the concern of the GPS industry and others about the impact of UWB on their markets. That article is located here:
But the cellular telephone, global positioning system (GPS) and airlines industries have waged a fierce lobbying effort to limit the parameters of any UWB approval. They argue that interference from UWB transmissions could knock out their services or jeopardize public safety. A pitched lobbying effort is under way among competing industries and government agencies.
Ann Ciganer, director of policy for the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based GPS Industry Council, has been burning up the phone lines between her office and Washington, D.C., to keep abreast of subtle shifts amid last minute jockeying.
“Positions seem to be moving and people need to come back and clarify,” Ciganer said, adding that officials at San Diego-based Qualcomm, which markets GPS products, have told her certain proposed rules under the FCC's review would put them out of business.
Ms. Ciganer has had a long career at Trimble Navigation (bio: She is currently Vice President of Strategic Policy and Executive Director of Policy for the U.S. GPS Industry Council, which is chaired by Charles Trimble.
The Commerce Department's Activities Related to the UWB-GPS Relationship
The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), which serves as “the President's principal adviser on telecommunications and information policy,” had an effort underway to evaluate the impact on UWB on other federal government telecommunications systems and policies (including GPS) when Mr. Mineta was appointed Commerce Secretary. Therefore, it makes sense that Trimble would want somebody “on their side” who would have ultimate authority over the NTIA to ensure that effort would continue and, hopefully, even increase the priority of the NTIA's efforts to raise red flags about the potential for UWB to interfere with federal GPS systems, and thus to retard the federal government's approval and adoption of UWB.
Mr. Mineta clearly fulfilled that role well. Toward the end of Mr. Mineta's short tenure (July 2000 to January 2001) as Commerce Secretary, the NTIA released the following two reports related to the impact of UWB on federal systems (including GPS):
Assessment of Compatibility between Ultrawideband Devices and Selected Federal Systems
(“Special Publication” dated January 2001)
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/reports/uwb/uwb.pdf
Footnote 3 in the Executive Summary of this report, says:
3 In addition, because of widespread concern, both the Interagency Government Executive Board, which oversees the development of the Global Positioning System (GPS), and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), have funded NTIA to conduct a related series of studies assessing UWB impact on GPS receivers. The measurements involving GPS receivers will be reported separately in a later document. See National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Notice, Request for Comments on Global Positioning System/Ultrawideband Measurement Plan, 65 Fed. Reg. 49544 (Aug. 14, 2000).
The Temporal and Spectral Characteristics of Ultrawideband Signals (January 2001)
http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/pub/ntia-rpt/01-383/01-383.pdf
Here's a passage from that report:
A follow-on research effort at ITS has made use of the knowledge of UWB signal characteristics from this work to develop a test facility to measure the effects of UWB signals on Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers. The results of this GPS interference investigation will be published by ITS in a report similar to this one and OSM will use the GPS receiver performance data to determine the federal government’s position regarding the potential for UWB to share the spectrum, in particular, the GPS band at 1.5 GHz.
During Mr. Mineta's Tenure as Secretary of Commerce, the NTIA also set up a website covering this investigation into the effects of UWB on existing systems (including GPS) here:
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/uwbtestplan/
2. The Transportation Department's Activities Related to the UWB-GPS Relationship
The U.S. Transportation Department also actively addressed the UWB-GPS relationship during Mr. Mineta's tenure there. Many transportation systems (particularly in the FAA) use GPS, and possible interference from UWB is indeed a significant issue. This issue was particularly hot in 2001-2002, shortly after Mr. Mineta became Transportation Secretary.
Here are some references (emphasis added):
DoD Attempts to Thwart UWB Plans (January 7, 2002)
Last July, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and former NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin wrote Evans to voice concerns about UWB interference to government GPS communications. In a roundabout way, the identical letters spoke to the divisiveness the issue has created in the Bush administration. 'Given the unprecedented nature of what the FCC is considering and the critical importance of GPS and other services that would be affected, I believe it's critical that the administration speak with a clear single voice on this matter,/ the two Bush officials stated.
Telecommunications Reports: Wireless (January 11, 2002)
Subhead: FCC Plans February Ruling On Ultrawideband Devices
Charles Trimble, chair of the U.S. GPS Industry Council, credited the DoT and FAA with persuading the FCC to delay the proceeding. “This was a positive move,” he said, adding that there wasn’t a consensus on which bands should be off limits to UWB devices."
The FCC’s UWB Proceeding: An Examination of the Government’s Spectrum Management Process (June 5, 2002 hearing)
http://energycommerce.house.gov/reparchives/107/hearings/06052002Hearing569/print.htm
Jeffrey Shane, Associate Deputy Secretary of USDOT, spoke at this hearing. Many of his comments relate to the USDOT's concerns that UWB will cause problems with existing systems (doesn't mention GPS specifically).
His closing comments:
In summary, Mr. Chairman, the Department of Transportation will continue to approach with caution the deployment of any new technology that has the potential to interfere with transportation-related safety-of-life systems. We do not think the FCC has taken too conservative an approach with the current UWB R&O. As we work with NTIA and the FCC to examine potential changes to this rule, we will continue to demand the highest levels of protection for our transportation systems and the safety of the traveling public.
Did Mr. Mineta Push Trimble's Agenda Related to UWB As a Favor to the Company?
A key question is: did Mr. Mineta, while he was both Commerce and Transportation Secretary, support investigations into the potential for UWB to interfere with GPS as a way to retard the federal government's adoption of UWB and thus to protect federal support GPS, as payback for his likely big financial windfall from Trimble, or because it was the right thing to do?
Likely both, as the citations above indicate. I have no doubt that he believed he was doing the right thing in raising flags about UWB's interference of GPS, as well as in supporting E-911 and GPS in general while Secretary of Transportation. However, I also believe that he significantly raised the priority in both agencies of these GPS-related issues that he knew were important to Trimble Navigation as payback for the financial windfall that Trimble very likely gave him “under the table” back in 2000.
3. Mr. Mineta’s Other Support for Location Technologies/GPS (and Trimble) While He Was Secretary of Transportation
Trimble Navigation itself, in its 1998 Annual Report, identified the crucial role that federal policies play in supporting the overall sustenance and growth of the GPS market:
Navstar satellites and their ground support systems are complex electronic systems subject to electronic and mechanical failures and possible sabotage. The satellites have design lives of 7.5 years and are subject to damage by the hostile space environment in which they operate. To repair damaged or malfunctioning satellites is not economically feasible. If a significant number of satellites were to become inoperable, there could be a substantial delay before they are replaced with new satellites. A reduction in the number of operating satellites would impair the current utility of the GPS system and the growth of current and additional market opportunities. In addition, there can be no assurance that the U.S. government will remain committed to the operation and maintenance of GPS satellites over a long period of time, or that the policies of the U.S. Government for the use of GPS without charge will remain unchanged. However, the 1996 Presidential Decision Directive marks the first time in the evolution of GPS that access and use for the consumer, civilian and commercial use has a solid foundation in law. Because of ever-increasing commercial applications of GPS, other U.S. Government agencies may become involved in the administration or the regulation of the use of GPS signals. Any of the foregoing factors could affect the willingness of buyers of the Company's products to select GPS-based systems instead of products based on competing technologies. Any resulting change in market demand for GPS products would have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial results.
This report was written while Charles R. Trimble was still President and CEO of the company. Clearly, as this passage indicates, he believed that the “policies of the U.S. Government” had a direct impact on the company's financial fortunes. That is why, I believe, that Trimble Navigation wanted to have an ally in the Cabinet who could lead efforts to promote the government's efforts in not only maintaining but growing its emphasis on GPS and related location technologies. Mr. Mineta clearly kept his part of the bargain.
USDOT Secretary Mineta's General Support for GPS and Location Technologies
Clearly, location technologies and GPS play a role in select “intelligent transportation system” products and technologies for our nation's surface transportation system (the area in which I consulted for 14 years), as well as in systems designed for aviation and other transportation modes. However, it is also clear that Mr. Mineta immediately and aggressively promoted GPS and location technologies out of proportion to this niche technology's importance soon after he became Secretary of Transportation in January 2001, very likely to repay Trimble Navigation for their earlier generosity.
Again, Internet searches clearly show Mr. Mineta's almost immediate promotion of GPS once he became Secretary of Transportation. It is very likely that he was advised on many of these initiatives by Mr. Trimble and/or other senior executives from Trimble Navigation (including Ann Ciganer, see below) with whom he enjoyed a long-time relationship, or by the DC-based U.S. Global Positioning System Industry Council that has close ties to, and whose founders come from Trimble Navigation.
Below are selected references to how aggressively Mr. Mineta pushed GPS once he became Transportation Secretary:
DOT Releases Report Assessing Vulnerability Of Transportation Infrastructure Relying on Global Positioning System (Press Release on Sept. 10, 2001 -- the day before 9/11):
http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/gps/geninfo/pressrelease.htm
"This report provides a roadmap for addressing possible vulnerabilities in GPS so that we can continue maintaining the highest standards of transportation safety," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta. "The Department of Transportation takes this report's findings very seriously, and we will be working to ensure that GPS will fulfill its potential as a key element of the nation's transportation infrastructure." (Emphasis added.)
DOT, Defense set plan to expand use of GPS (Government Computing News, April 15, 2002)
“Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said the department seeks “a sensible transition to satellite-based navigation services as our primary means of navigation, while recognizing the need to maintain backup navigation aids.”
DOT Announces Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure Relying on GPS (USDOT Press Release on March 7, 2002)
http://www.dot.gov/affairs/dot02202.htm
“Immediately following the report’s release, I directed DOT’s operating administrations to assess the adequacy of backup systems for each area of operation in which GPS is being used for vital transportation functions,” Secretary Mineta said. “The action plan we are announcing today will ensure that the vulnerabilities identified in the report do not affect the safety and security of our transportation system as we work to ensure that GPS fulfills its potential as a key element of the nation’s transportation infrastructure.”
U.S. DOT's "Public Roads" magazine, May/June, 2002
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/02may/alongroad.htm
"On March 26, 2002, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta and U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld announced the release of the 2001 Federal Radionavigation Plan, which continues to strengthen the U.S. commitment to and modernization of the Global Positioning System (GPS) as a primary navigation tool for supporting the Nation's transportation infrastructure."
GPS and Galileo Reach Signal Agreement (GPS World, March 1, 2004)
“A U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) task force charged with proposing an investment strategy for U.S. radionavigation systems has recommended expediting implementation of new civil GPS signals, while creating the right mix of GPS augmentation systems and Loran-C to back up GPS.”
...
“GPS modernization, to include the implementation of the second and third civil signals, should proceed as expeditiously as feasible in order to meet a multitude of civil applications and safety-of-life missions that are critical to our transportation infrastructure.”
5/16/05 Remarks for the Honorable Norman Y. Mineta Secretary of Transportation at the Rail Safety Action Plan Announcement, Columbia, SC
http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/1669
"And in an effort to bring next generation technologies to bear on improving rail safety, President Bush's budget proposal seeks funding to complete a nationwide GPS system that can be used to more accurately pinpoint trains throughout the system."
There are numerous additional references online to Mr. Mineta's and the USDOT's aggressive actions to specifically promote GPS during his tenure as Secretary of Transportation. Of course, as one of the largest and most successful GPS companies in the U.S., Trimble Navigation stood to significantly benefit from these efforts.
Enhanced 9-1-1
In addition to generally pushing to increase the visibility and importance of GPS during his tenure as Secretary of Transportation – in part, I believe, to repay his earlier financial windfall from Trimble Navigation -- Mr. Mineta instituted several new “major initiatives” specifically in the “intelligent transportation systems” (ITS) area in which I used to work that I believe were also intended to benefit the GPS/location technology field and, thus, Trimble Navigation.
Perhaps the most visible new such initiative was the Secretary's “Enhanced 9-1-1” or “E9-1-1” initiative that began in early 2002. The intent of the E9-1-1 initiative was to accelerate the ability of public safety agencies who receive 9-1-1 calls from cellphone callers to identify the location of those callers in much the same way that telecom providers can identify the street address of “landline 9-1-1” callers.
E9-1-1, of course, is not specifically a “transportation technology,” it is a communication technology/approach that has broad public safety implications, and not just for people who happen to be traveling. Typically, the Federal Communications Commission will take the lead in promoting and nurturing such new telecommunications services that have a broad public benefit, however in this case Transportation Secretary Mineta played the lead role and the FCC played a lesser supporting role. I believe that he was so active in large part because he was doing the bidding of his hidden financial benefactor Trimble Navigation, which would potentially stand to gain significant business from a major revitalized national/federal push for E9-1-1.
Location technology (including GPS) was and is a major technological component to adding “location awareness” to cellular phone calls, so a major new federal initiative to promote and accelerate the availability of E9-1-1 would greatly benefit those companies who serve the location technology/GPS market, and Trimble is likely the largest company that would benefit from such aggressive initiatives.
The following paragraph, from Trimble's 2000 financial report, shows that the telecom/wireless telecom market is a major market for the company: