Subject: [NEXTEL-1] FCC's Spectrum Policy Task Force releases recommendations

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 07 Nov 2002 21:37:12 -0500

Better Late Than Never

Federal Communications Commission

Washington, DC

November 7, 2002

SPECTRUM POLICY TASK FORCE PRESENTS
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SPECTRUM POLICY REFORM

Washington, DC. -- The Federal Communications Commission's
Spectrum Policy Task Force today presented recommendations to
modernize the rules that guide how the nation's spectrum is
managed and utilized and to evolve from a traditional government
"command and control" model to a more flexible, consumer-oriented
approach.  The Task Force delivered its recommendations in a
report presented to the full Commission.   The Task Force's Report
will provide a starting point for a long term review of spectrum
policy approaches that could be implemented by the Commission.

The Task Force, created by FCC Chairman Michael Powell in June
2002, has conducted a comprehensive review of spectrum policy at
the FCC.  Based upon its research and extensive public input, the
Task Force concluded:  "[T]he time is ripe for spectrum policy
reform.  Increasing demand for spectrum-based services and devices
are straining longstanding, and outmoded, spectrum policies.
While the Commission has recently made some major strides in how
spectrum is allocated and assigned in some bands . . . spectrum
policy is not keeping pace with the relentless spectrum demands of
the market."

Task Force key findings:

  a.. Access.  Based on preliminary research and review conducted
by the FCC Staff and the Task Force, some spectrum bands are
heavily used, but many are not in use in all geographic areas or
are used only part of the time.  Thus, there may be opportunities
for spectrum-based services or devices to operate in the resulting
"white spaces" - including both those that result from variability
in the operations of existing spectrum users over time and those
that result from the geographic separation of existing spectrum
users.

  a.. Technology.  While technological advances are contributing
to the increased diversity of spectrum-based consumer applications
and greater consumer demand for spectrum-based services,
technological advances such as the increased use of digital
technologies and the development of software-defined radios are
providing some potential answers to current spectrum policy
challenges.  These technological advances enable spectrum rights
to be parceled as a function of time, in addition to the
currently-used parameters of frequency and geographic area.  Also,
they allow systems to be much more tolerant of interference than
in the past.

  a.. Rights and Responsibilities.  Spectrum rights and
responsibilities are not always clearly defined - users need more
certainty.  In addition, the rights and responsibilities that are
defined need to better reflect more market-based models and
policies.

Task Force key recommendations:

1.      Migrate toward more flexible, consumer-oriented policies.
The Task Force recommends that the Commission evolve its spectrum
policy toward more flexible and market-oriented spectrum policies
that will provide incentives for users to migrate to more
technologically innovative and economically efficient uses of
spectrum.  Specific recommendations include:

§         Provide incentives for efficient spectrum use by both
licensed and unlicensed users through flexible rules and
facilitating secondary markets.  This would enable spectrum users
to make fundamental choices about how they use spectrum, taking
into account market factors such as consumer demand, availability
of technology and competition.

§         Clearly and exhaustively define spectrum users' rights
and responsibilities.

§         Investigate rule changes that promote more flexible
power limits in rural or less congested areas.

2.     Adopt quantitative standards to provide interference
protection:  interference temperature.  The Task Force recommends
the creation of a quantitative standard for acceptable
interference that provides both greater certainty for licensees
and greater access to unused spectrum for unlicensed operators.

Specifically, the Task Force recommends that, on a going forward
basis, the Commission adopt a new metric - the "interference
temperature" - to quantify and manage interference.  The
Commission could use the interference temperature metric to
establish maximum permissible levels of interference on a
band-by-band basis, thus placing a limit on the noise environment
in which receivers would be required to operate.  To the extent,
however, that the interference temperature in a particular band is
not reached, users who emit energy below that temperature could
operate more flexibly - with the interference temperature serving
as the maximum cap on the potential RF energy they could introduce
into the band.

3.      Improve access through the time dimension.  The Task Force
found that new technological developments now permit the
Commission to increasingly consider the use of time, in addition
to frequency, power and space, as an added dimension permitting
more dynamic allocation and assignment of spectrum usage rights.
This would provide access to unused or underused spectrum through
time-sharing of spectrum between multiple users and lead to more
efficient use of the spectrum resource.

4.      Shift from "command and control" model to exclusive and
commons models.  The Task Force recommends that the Commission
base its spectrum policy on a balance of three spectrum rights
models:  an exclusive use approach, a commons approach and, to a
more limited degree, a command-and-control approach.  While the
command-and-control model currently dominates today's policy, the
Task Force recommends altering the balance to provide greater use
of both the exclusive use and commons models throughout the radio
spectrum and limiting the use of the command-and-control model to
those instances where there are compelling public policy reasons,
such as some public safety applications.  To the extent feasible,
more spectrum should be identified for both licensed and
unlicensed uses under flexible rules and existing spectrum that is
subject to more restrictive command-and-control regulation should
over time be transitioned to these models.

ET Docket 02-135

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-228242A1.doc