NJ Assembly Telecoms Committee to hear Dr. Fallah

HOBOKEN , N.J. — Professor M. Hosein Fallah of Stevens Institute of Technology will present his findings on the decline of the New Jersey telecommunications industry in expert testimony to the NJ State Assembly Committee on Telecommunications and Utilities, this Thursday, Oct. 19, 10 a.m. , at the Trenton State House Annex, Committee Room 9, 3rd floor.

A PDF of slides accompanying Dr. Fallah’s presentation may be previewed by members of the press, who may request a copy via e-mail from the Stevens press contact listed above.

With jobs and patents declining, New Jersey ’s communications industry needs a dramatic turnaround strategy to capitalize on the next wireless revolution, according to the report released recently by Dr. Fallah, an Associate Professor in the Wesley J. Howe School of Technology Management at Stevens and formerly the director of Network Planning and Systems Engineering at Bell Labs.

Without a specific and focused strategy on telecom, Fallah’s report cautions, New Jersey may continue to lose out on its share of a wireless technology industry projected to reach $757 billion by 2017.

The report suggests that New Jersey adopts a cluster-based strategy focused on growing a strong and cohesive cluster of small and high-potential advanced communications companies “the toddlers” within the state; and by attracting new ones from outside the state. A combination of matching grants, tax incentives, and infrastructure support can be used to help create this vibrant environment for a sustained economic growth.

Telecommunications employment in New Jersey has dropped 35 percent since 2001. More jobs will be lost the merger of Lucent and Alcatel.

Meanwhile, states such as California and Texas are gaining communications jobs – largely by employing the same kind of public-private partnership that could work in New Jersey , as well, the report says.

In Texas , for instance, a coordinated, market-driven cluster-based strategy is in place, focusing on growing specific industries, including telecommunications. In 2004, Texas Legislature established the $295 million Texas Enterprise Fund to allow the state to respond quickly and aggressively to opportunities to bring jobs and employers to Texas . Texas has recently announced a $2.5 billion investment in its university system to make them a magnet for scientific and medical research.

Today, Texas is second only to California in the annual number of telecommunications patents per year overtaking New Jersey . Back in 1996, Texas ranked No. 5.

New Jersey would benefit from a strategy similar to Texas to reverse its current trend. Under the terms of the Stevens report, the state needs to devote at least $100 million annually to this initiative for the next five years. Funding could come, not from the existing state budget, but by updating the state telecom tax policy and making taxes and fees equal for all of the communications services.

The report further suggests that attracting research from outside the state and collaborative R&D projects between small New Jersey companies and New Jersey research universities and institutions are critical to the growth of this cluster and should be promoted through matching grants and other state sponsored incentives.

In return, the state would mandate that successful projects remain in New Jersey for at least a decade, and create new R&D jobs.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

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