Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Wired News - "Wireless Bill: Too Much Too Soon? "

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2002 13:04:49 -0500

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,56565,00.html

Wireless Bill: Too Much Too Soon? 

By Michael Grebb

Story location: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,56565,00.html
02:00 AM Nov. 26, 2002 PT
WASHINGTON -- A proposal floated last week by two prominent senators to 
free up a huge swath of broadband wireless spectrum is already creating 
a stir.
The bill -- the Jumpstart Broadband Act -- won't be introduced by 
sponsors Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and George Allen (R-Va.) until 
next year. It would free up at least 255 MHz of unlicensed spectrum 
below 6 GHz within 180 days of passage.
But experts noted that such a huge allocation in such a short period 
would be an extreme long shot.
"I think it's outlandish," said Bennett Kobb, a Washington, D.C., 
independent wireless consultant and author of Wireless Spectrum Finder. 
"I happen to think it's a great idea to allocate spectrum to the public 
rather than a middleman, but this is an extremely tall order. It will 
not be easy to find that amount of spectrum below 6 GHz."
A legislative staffer in Boxer's office said the final bill will target 
the 5 GHz band, which is in sync with allocations in Europe. The idea 
is to create economies of scale for vendors that want to develop 
wireless products for North America and Europe.
The bill's primary goal is to bolster the growing number of companies 
offering fast wireless Internet access based on the 802.11 standard, 
known as Wi-Fi. Such Wi-Fi hot spots have already popped up in 
airports, coffee shops and other public places.
The 255 MHz of spectrum requested in the bill is in line with the 
amount of spectrum Wi-Fi providers are looking for. "They didn't just 
pick the number out of the air," said Kevin Werbach, an independent 
technology analyst. Werbach said freeing up unlicensed spectrum can 
help cable and DSL providers roll out services faster.
"There's been an increasing amount of desire in Washington to find new 
ways to promote broadband technology," Werbach said. "Meanwhile, Wi-Fi 
has been growing like crazy."
But much of the spectrum at 5 GHz is used by the Department of Defense, 
raising concern that new allocations could interfere with military 
communications.
"The DOD likes to have that spectrum available, especially when it's 
going to war," said Robert Rini, a lawyer who focuses on wireless 
issues at the Washington firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.
In addition, the bill was floated only two weeks after the FCC launched 
a broad mandate to make new spectrum available for broadband uses -- 
much of it won from the Defense Department during years of negotiations 
under both the Clinton and Bush administrations.
"So now let's open another can of worms?" Rini said.
Sources close to the bill pointed to provisions that would carve out 
special spectrum for Defense, with the FCC handling the logistics.
"We gave this an immense amount of thought," said the Boxer staffer, 
noting that the Defense Department has yet to say whether it would 
support or oppose the bill. (A Defense Department representative was 
not immediately available for comment.)
In addition, the commercial wireless industry, which has spent billions 
on licensed spectrum in recent years, isn't thrilled about huge amounts 
of free spectrum hitting the market so soon.
"It took us 10 years to get 90 MHz of spectrum," noted Kimberly Kuo, a 
spokeswoman at the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association. 
"Now a new technology comes along, and you want to snap your fingers 
and give it away? It just brings up a lot of questions."
Kuo said the industry is also concerned about interference with 
licensed bands, noting however that the CTIA would need to review the 
bill's specifics next year before deciding whether to lobby against it.
But Werbach said many interference concerns are based on old 
assumptions from the 1920s -- when the FCC first licensed radio bands 
-- and don't recognize new technologies that allow for more efficient 
use of spectrum.

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