Wireless

Companies lobbying the Federal Communications Commission to access unused spectrum known as "white spaces" won a big victory on Wednesday when Chairman Kevin Martin threw his weight behind the proposal citing findings in an FCC report that was also issued Wednesday.

Martin held a press conference with reporters early in the day in which he pledged his support for the use of the white space spectrum and announced that the issue would be up for vote at the FCC's next open meeting on November 4. Martin has long been in favor of opening up additional spectrum that can be used to offer wireless broadband services.

The FCC finished testing several proof of concept devices in real world tests this summer to see if companies can develop products that use buffer spectrum between licensed broadcast channels. This spectrum known has "white space" sits between broadcast TV channels in the 150 MHz to 700 MHs spectrum bands.

The commission's Office of Engineering Technology (OET) newly released report states that devices with geo-location and sensing technologies could be used with some conditions. But the report said devices with sensing-only technology would have to undergo another round of testing within the FCC labs.

Several technology companies, including Motorola, Microsoft, and Google have been lobbying the FCC for more than a year to open up these channels, which would provide between 300 MHz to 400 MHz of unlicensed spectral capacity throughout the country that could be used by anyone.

These technology companies believe this spectrum, which is ideal for sending data wirelessly over long distances and penetrating through walls, can be used to enhance or create new wireless broadband services. And they say they can develop products and services that use this spectrum without interfering with services running on licensed spectrum in adjacent bands.

But incumbent spectrum license holders such as TV broadcasters and cell phone operators, including Verizon Wireless, say wireless devices that access this unlicensed spectrum will cause interference in the neighboring spectrum bands.

The National Association of Broadcasters and groups that use wireless microphones to broadcast during live performances or sporting events, have also opposed the use of white spaces claiming that devices using this spectrum will interfere with their services.

Chairman Martin also addressed the wireless microphone issue during the press conference. He said the FCC will reserve several channels for wireless microphones to operate.

The OET will now submit its report to the rest of the FCC commissioners for review before the November 4 vote.

A Web site for matching buyers and sellers of wireless spectrum went live on Friday.

The site SpecEx.com, which is run by a start-up called Spectrum Bridge, is aiming to make sense of an existing secondary market for wireless licenses, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The Federal Communications Commission periodically auctions off wireless spectrum licenses. Most of the spectrum licenses are used to provide cell phone service or to provide two-way radio communication or for emergency personnel. But there is some spectrum that is not used and lays fallow.

Big wireless operators, such as Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and Sprint Nextel, regularly trade these small slivers of spectrum licenses as do smaller license holders like universities or religious broadcasters. But now Spectrum Bridge's Web site will help make this process more efficient allowing sellers to know the clear value of their spectrum and allowing buyers to know who is selling spectrum, the Journal article

A spokesman for the FCC told the Journal that Chairman Kevin Martin has always supported the idea of secondary markets, which should prove to be a big help since buyers and sellers will need to get FCC approval for the transfer of licenses.

While the idea sounds like a good one, the article also points out that other wireless marketplaces haven't done so well in the past. The financial-services firm Cantor Fitzgerald launched a wireless spectrum market place that has failed to gain traction.

But as less spectrum is available for auction and licenses become more scarce, it might help spur adoption of the Spectrum Bridge marketplace. This is especially true after the FCC recently completed two major spectrum auctions in the last couple of years. What's more, as cable operators and other companies, such as Google, become interested in wireless and mobile services it creates more demand for wireless spectrum. And the SpecEx.com could end up being the place to go. Verizon Wireless told the Journal that it could be both a buyer and a seller of these licenses. But AT&T declined to comment and Sprint was unavailable for comment.

Field tests to determine whether the Federal Communications Commission should open up unused TV spectrum for wireless broadband services are getting mixed reviews as different methods for avoiding spectrum interference are being tested in the real world.

In the most recently concluded tests, Motorola claims its geolocation-based technology got high marks for avoiding interference with existing spectrum holders, while a field test of spectrum sensing technology at a major sporting venue proved that that technology is not up to snuff in avoiding interference with broadcast-based microphones.

The FCC has been conducting these real world tests of different prototype devices to see if companies can develop products that use buffer spectrum between licensed broadcast channels. This spectrum known has "white space" sits between broadcast TV channels in the 150 MHz to 700 MHs spectrum bands.

Several technology companies, including Motorola, Microsoft, and Google have been lobbying the FCC for more than a year to open up these channels,which would provide between 300 MHz to 400 MHz of unlicensed spectral capacity throughout the country that could be used by anyone. These tech companies believe this spectrum, which is ideal for sending data wirelessly over long distances and penetrating through walls, can be used to enhance or create new wireless broadband services. And they say they can develop products and services that use this spectrum without interfering with services running on licensed spectrum in adjacent bands.

Some of the 700MHz spectrum was already auctioned off by the FCC earlier this year. And companies such as Verizon Wireless, which won a big chunk of the spectrum, plan to use it to build a next generation wireless broadband network.

But incumbent spectrum license holders such as TV broadcasters and cell phone operators, including Verizon Wireless, say wireless devices that access this unlicensed spectrum will cause interference in the neighboring spectrum bands.

Over the weekend, spectrum sensing prototypes were tested by the FCC at the FedEx field in Maryland prior to Saturday's game between the Washington Redskins and the Buffalo Bills. Shure, a microphone manufacturer said in a press release issued Sunday that the spectrum-sensing white-space devices caused "harmful interference to wireless microphones" during the live event.

"Simply stated, the prototype devices were unable to consistently identify operating wireless microphones or distinguish occupied from unoccupied TV channels," said Mark Brunner, Shure's senior director of public and industry relations. "More troubling, the devices failed to detect the presence of wireless microphones when switched on--an occurrence that takes place multiple times during any NFL game."

Motorola, which uses a totally different method for avoiding interference, agrees that sensing technologies don't always work appropriately. That's why the company uses GPS-based geolocation technology and an FCC data base of known spectrum license holders to pick and choose when white spectrum is available.

"There's no question that the geolocation technology that was tested is reliable," said Steven Sharkey, Motorola's senior director for regulatory and spectrum policy. "But on the sensing side, it didn't always detect usable and unusable channels in different areas. These results reflected what we saw in the lab under certain conditions."

Google said in a policy blog last week before the microphone test at FedEx field that the sensing technology may not work as well as some had hoped. Google emphasized that other technologies exist that can ensure that there is no interference with others. And the company outlined an alternative technical approach in a proposal filed with the FCC in March, which uses geolocation technology along with beacons and/or safe harbors.

"Taken together, these protection mechanisms remain technically unimpeachable, whether or not the Commission's current testing process produces adequate data to validate a spectrum sensing-only approach," Richard Whitt, Google's top policy wonk said in his blog. "Moreover, no WSD (white space device) will--or should--come to market unless the FCC can verify that the device does not interfere with TV or wireless microphone signals."

Shure's spokesman Brunner is not completely sold on geolocation technology as the only answer to the white space debate. While the solution may work well for avoiding known TV broadcasters, it might now solve the problem of microphone users who often have broad spectrum licenses to use the same spectrum that Google, Motorola, and others also want to use. Instead, he said he would like to see the industry continue to work on sensing technologies and combine it with beacon technology to provide even further protection.

The FCC is currently compiling results from its testing, and it's expected to release a full report of the results within the next few weeks after it concludes all field tests of the current technology.

Sen. John McCain said at a campaign stop Tuesday that he will push for a national broadband wireless network for public safety.

Speaking at the National Sheriff's Association Annual Conference, McCain, who is the presumptive Republican nominee for president, said a national, interoperable public safety broadband network was long overdue.

"You and all your colleagues in law enforcement need seamless communication across every agency and jurisdiction for emergency response," he said, according to a transcript of the event. "For more than a decade now, I have tried to persuade the Congress to provide dedicated radio spectrum and funding for communications equipment to local, state, and federal law enforcement officers."

McCain, who spent six years as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which is responsible for telecommunications policy, said during his speech Tuesday that the Federal Communications Commission needs to make more radio spectrum available for law enforcement. He also said he would try to limit the amount of spectrum the FCC could auction off to the private sector.

"Just last year, I introduced a bill that provided for more than twice the capacity that the FCC has currently set aside for public safety," he said. "Special interests in Washington want the FCC to auction off more of that spectrum than I do. But no matter what price it might fetch at auction, it should be available for fighting crime and saving lives."

Ever since the September 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, politicians have lamented the lack of interoperability among various emergency communications networks as a key obstacle in responding effectively to disasters that arise.

Last year, the FCC auctioned off licenses in the 700MHz band of spectrum that is being vacated as part of the transition from analog to digital TV broadcast in early 2009. As part of this auction, the FCC set aside a 10MHz sliver of spectrum called the D-Block that was to be used in a public-private partnership to build a national public safety network.

When the bidding ended in March, the auction was deemed a huge success, generating about $19.6 billion in revenue for the U.S. government. But it was a failure in terms of helping establish a nationwide public safety network, since no bidder had reached the reserve price for the spectrum licenses. The FCC is currently trying to figure out how to re-auction the spectrum while still encouraging a public-private partnership for public safety.

But critics say the public-private plan is flawed. Recently, the New York Police Department filed comments with the FCC throwing cold water on the whole concept.

"The failure of the D-Block auction illustrates the problems inherent in the nationwide Public Private Partnership concept," the NYPD said in its filing. "Although public safety and commercial networks may share technology, they do not serve the same mission. Conflicts of interest arise that cannot be ignored. Public safety agencies require a robust network that will remain operational during virtually any circumstance. However, commercial network operators are motivated by commercial priorities to build networks that meet commercial requirements."

The FCC is also considering auctioning off other spectrum including "white space" spectrum, which falls between broadcast TV channels. Companies such as Google and Microsoft say that this spectrum can be used to build a wireless broadband network. And they say that devices can be developed to ensure that they don't interfere with signals broadcasting in the neighboring spectrum bands.

The FCC has also been considering a proposal to auction off spectrum in the 2.1GHz band to provide a free broadband wireless network.

McCain hasn't publicly taken a stance on these individual spectrum plans, but it's clear from his recent comments that he believes public safety organizations should get priority over any private sector companies looking to buy the spectrum licenses at auction.