Wireless Technology Prospects and Policy Options (2011) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction: Trends and Forces Reshaping the Wireless World
1 Introduction: Trends and Forces Reshaping the Wireless World
Pages 14-32
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From page 14... ...
The more recent developments come on the heels of many decades of technological progress, notably marked by widespread deployment of existing wireless capabilities such as sev eral successive generations of cellular telephone technology now used by billions of people worldwide and a proliferation of actual and proposed uses of wireless communications. Significant policy changes in recent decades reflect efforts to adjust to new technologies and to decrease reliance on centralized manage ment.
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From page 15... ...
It aims to provide a cogent discussion of the overall rationale for changing policy, the opportunities afforded by new technologies for spectrum management, and some longterm directions for improvement in policy. The Committee on Wireless Technology Trends and Policy Options was not in a position to examine the details of the numerous specific areas of contention that are the subject of frequent debate today regarding use of the spectrum, or to evaluate the merits of opposing claims.
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From page 16... ...
. For example, many cell phones share a particular block of spectrum at any given time, with the sharing enabled by separation by code (code division multiple access)
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From page 17... ...
The number of people actively using wireless communications has grown dramatically: only a couple of decades ago, there were thousands of radio and television broadcasters, a half million amateur radio opera tors, and a few million mobile radio users worldwide; today there are billions of mobile telephone users, hundreds of millions of wireless local area network (WLAN) users, and similarly large numbers of lowpower inhome and personal devices.
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From page 18... ...
A digital video recorder might connect to a home wireless network to allow sharing photographs and music from other computers on the network while also receiving broadcast signals over the air and commercial satellite television signals. Both wireless LAN and cellular capabilities are being built into new types of consumer electronics such as electronic book readers.
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From page 19... ...
Applica tions of wireless technology are moving from any time and any place to include any thing.11 In short, wireless technology is spread broadly across all activities of daily life and is becoming an ever more integral and indispensable part of those activities. Reports of how the wireless revolution is changing everyday life abound in the news, and they include news of the pervasive and ubiquitous computing enabled by wireless communications, mak ing all sorts of previously impossible things possible.
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From page 20... ...
As personal wireless communications and related data services are improved, demand for spectrum to be used by individuals and devices continues to increase. As previously discussed, a growing number of devices (including laptops, tablets, cell phones, electronic book readers, cameras using WiFi, headsets and other devices using Bluetooth, and sensors and controls using such protocols as ZigBee)
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From page 21... ...
The question of what to do with the "white space" created by freeing spectrum previously allocated for televi sion channels 2 to 51 has highlighted many of the arguments about the merits of licenses, the possibilities for using markets to shift spectrum to new uses, and the role of openband approaches.14 Still another aspect of shifting market dynamics is related to the globalization of markets. Global markets for wireless communications devices have been driven not so much by global travelers, which are relatively few, as by the global economies of scale associated with com mon components, common products, and consistent standards that make it possible to develop products and services for large markets.
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From page 22... ...
in licensing wireless systems, and the FCC in various reports (such as the Spectrum Policy Task Force report described below in this report) reflect this perspective.
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From page 23... ...
It then follows the battle over the following decade that resulted in direct control (through the Independent Radio Advisory Committee and the NTIA) over much of wireless communications capacity, and indirect control through the privatepublic arrangement embodied in the FCC over the remainder.
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From page 24... ...
It also saw the shift from spectrum allocation by the secretary of commerce to allocation by an independent agency, the FCC. However, the basic structure was set in place even before -- and independent of -- formal legislation.23 The primary significance of perspective as a guide to contemporary policy making is in regard to the need to pay particular attention to the business structure of the markets in wireless communications equipment and wire less services and their implications for proposed institutional designs.
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From page 25... ...
The vast majority of licenses to operate wireless devices and systems in the United States are assigned in an administrative process either by the FCC, which has jurisdiction over use by private and state, local, and tribal users, or by the NTIA, which has jurisdiction over use by federal agencies. The fundamental principal for regulation of transmitters is that it is impermissible to operate a wireless communications transmitter in the United States except by license, unless the device has very well defined technical characteristics that allow it to be operated under one of the FCC's permissive frameworks for unlicensed operation.
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From page 26... ...
government initiatives aimed at stimulating broad reform were launched -- the FCC 2002 Spectrum Policy Task Force report and associated ongoing activities, and the President's Spectrum Policy Initiative of 2004.29 Recent specific policy changes have included approval of ultrawide band operation, which represents a new, fundamentally different way of thinking about wireless transmission and is also the first instance 26 47 U.S.C. 157, "New Technologies and Services." 27 FCC, "Report of the Spectrum Policy Task Force," ET Docket No.
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From page 27... ...
Seeking to exploit the opportunity opened by new technological capa bilities, the Spectrum Policy Task Force (SPTF) approached not only the problem of the need for changes to spectrum management and allocation but also the longterm need to allow further change to happen readily in anticipation of such technological advance.
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From page 28... ...
The 2002 SPTF report summarizes the regulatory history of spectrum policy in the United States from its beginnings more than 90 years ago, covering both statutory and administrative aspects. It also notes that public interest use, such as for public safety communications and national defense, is an ongoing consideration of the regulatory process and is factored into policy decisions along with economic considerations driven by privatesector demand for services and applications.
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From page 29... ...
Control of interference could be improved by several methods other than measurement, including approaches that account for and promote receiver robustness, increased use of automated transmitter power and frequency, advanced antenna technology, tighten ing of outofband emission limits, harmonizing references to interference, developing technical bulletins explaining FCC rules regarding interfer ence, and developing a bestpractices handbook. Second, the SPTF report examines alternative spectrum usage models.
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From page 30... ...
It also discusses how secondary markets involving the leasing of licensed spectrum rights might further promote access. In each of the three areas discussed -- avoidance of interference, alter native spectrum usage models, and promoting access to spectrum -- the SPTF report addresses transition issues that might arise.
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From page 31... ...
It notes that meeting the needs identified in the plan will require coordina tion among all stakeholders, including federal agencies, state and local public safety entities, and privatesector users as well as vendors and researchers developing and commercializing technology advances. The plan identifies several specific future federal requirements for spectrum likely to drive spectrum policy and the methods needed to meet those requirements.
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From page 32... ...
The Department of Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee, convened as part of the department's spectrum policy initia tive, issued a series of reports in late 2008 that examine definitions of effi cient spectrum use, mechanisms for improving operational efficiency, the transition of federal services to more efficient technologies, a spectrum sharing test bed, and federalnonfederal spectrum sharing.39 39 See http://www.ntia.doc.gov/advisory/spectrum/csmac_reports.html.
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