Organization proposes new approach to efficient use of spectrum
We might need more than the 500MHz of additional spectrum that President Obama and the Federal Communications Commission envision to make wireless broadband everywhere a reality, if AT&T’s 2009 reports of nearly 5,000% wireless data growth are any indication of what the future holds.
The president has signed a memorandum that gives a big boost to the FCC’s plan, announced in March, to make 500MHz of additional spectrum available for auction over the next 10 years for both mobile and fixed wireless broadband use. The likes of Verizon Wireless, CTIA-The Wireless Association and others came out in favor of the president’s memorandum, portions of which will still require support from Congress.
FCC Broadband Plan: FAQ
President Obama has asked that the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, working through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, collaborate with the FCC to identify a plan and timetable for freeing up the spectrum by Oct. 1.
One source of the spectrum will be unused broadcast TV airwaves. But where else can we find spectrum?
The New America Foundation, an organization that works on creating policies and proposals on a number of modern issues, advocates something it calls Opportunistic Spectrum Access (OSA), a process by which smart, software-defined radios would allow unlicensed devices to share the same bandwidth as licensed users based on what unused frequencies are available at the time.
“We favor using any underutilized spectrum as long as you’re not interfering with the incumbent,” says Benjamin Lennett, policy analyst for the organization’s Open Technology Initiative, which works to spur universal and affordable wireless broadband access.
Lennett explains that the FCC has started building a geolocation database that a wireless broadband device could ping to find TV white space that it could use. “We’d like to see that expanded anywhere where large swaths of [wireless] bands are not being used,” Lennett says.
How would services be billed if users’ wireless devices were to hop from network to network behind the scenes?
“That throws the business model on its head a little bit,” Lennett acknowledges.
