Spectrum Policy in the Age of Broadband: Issues for Congress

A little light reading from the Congressional Research Service (CRC) for those at all interested in or even a bit concerned about the future of the RF spectrum from a policy standpoint.....

Spectrum Policy in the Age of Broadband: Issues for Congress

Summary

The convergence of wireless telecommunications technology and Internet protocols is fostering new generations of mobile technologies. This transformation has created new demands for advanced communications infrastructure and radio frequency spectrum capacity that can support high-speed, content-rich uses. Furthermore, a number of services, in addition to consumer and business communications, rely at least in part on wireless links to broadband backbones. Wireless technologies support public safety communications, sensors, medicine and public health, intelligent transportation systems, electrical utility smart grids, and many other vital communications.

Existing policies for allocating and assigning spectrum rights may not be sufficient to meet the future needs of wireless broadband and national broadband policy. A challenge for Congress is to provide decisive policies in an environment where there are many choices but little consensus. In formulating spectrum policy, mainstream viewpoints generally diverge on whether to give priority to market economics or social goals. Regarding access to spectrum, economic policy looks to harness market forces to allocate spectrum efficiently, with spectrum license auctions as the driver. Social policy favors ensuring wireless access to support a variety of social objectives where economic return is not easily quantified, such as improving education, health services, and public safety. Both approaches can stimulate economic growth and job creation. Choices about the direction of policy, however, can favor some industries over others.

Deciding what weight to give to specific goals and setting priorities to meet those goals pose difficult tasks for federal administrators and regulators and for Congress. Meaningful oversight or legislation may require making choices about what goals will best serve the public interest. Relying on market forces to make those decisions may be the most efficient and effective way to serve the public but, to achieve this, policy makers may need to broaden the concept of what constitutes competition in wireless markets.

This report considers the possibility of modifying spectrum policy: (1) to support national goals for broadband deployment by placing more emphasis on attracting new providers of wireless broadband services; and (2) to accommodate the wireless broadband needs of industries that are considered by many to be the economic drivers of the future, not only communications, but also areas such as energy, health care, transportation, and education.

Among the spectrum policy initiatives that have been proposed in Congress are: allocating more spectrum for unlicensed use; auctioning airwaves currently allocated for federal use; and devising new fees on spectrum use, notably those collected by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC’s statutory authority to implement these measures is limited. Substantive modifications in spectrum policy would almost surely require congressional action. The Radio Spectrum Inventory Act introduced in the Senate (S. 649, Senator Kerry) and the similar House introduced Radio Spectrum Inventory Act (H.R. 3125, Representative Waxman) would require an inventory of existing users on prime radio frequencies, a preliminary step in evaluating policy changes. The FCC also has the opportunity to establish a new course for spectrum policy in the preparation of a Congressionally mandated report on broadband policy, due in February 2010.


NR

Cell Phone "Jammers" = "Pandora's Box"

If you are one of those who are thinking of purchasing a so-called "signal blocker" or cell 'phone "jammer" -- an electronic device designed to curb the real or perceived inappropriate use of wireless phones in restaurants, theaters, commuter trains, hospitals, and other similar public gathering places -- and, which are being advertised and sold on numerous Internet web sites, you may not know or realize that such devices (with certain well-defined exceptions) are nonetheless illegal to use in the United States.


I won't bore you with a long dissertation on the supposed pros and cons of the devices or the consequences that could result from the unchecked and potentially dangerous use of them. Rather, I have chosen to share the following pertinent excerpts from the U.S. government and the FCC for your information instead.


FCC Public Notice DA # 05-1776 - June 27, 2005

Sale or Use of Transmitters Designed to Prevent, Jam or Interfere
with Cell Phone Communications is Prohibited in the United States

http://www.fcc.gov/eb/Public_Notices/DA-05-1776A1.html

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-05-1776A1.pdf


Additionally, below are what appear to be the applicable Rules regarding "signal" or "cellular jamming" or similar devices. Perhaps the Commission should be sharing this information with those who apparently are in violation both Section 302 [47 U.S.C. 302], Section 333 [U.S.C 47 333] and, possibly other sections of the Act?

Communications Act of 1934, as
Amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1996

TITLE III--PROVISIONS RELATING TO RADIO
PART I--GENERAL PROVISIONS

SEC. 302. [47 U.S.C. 302] DEVICES WHICH INTERFERE WITH
RADIO RECEPTION.

(b) No person shall manufacture, import, sell, offer for sale, or
ship devices or home electronic equipment and systems, or use
devices, which fail to comply with regulations promulgated
pursuant to this section.

SEC. 333. [47 U.C.S. 333] WILLFUL OR MALICIOUS INTERFERENCE.

No person shall willfully or maliciously interfere with or
cause interference to any radio communications of any station
licensed or authorized by or under this Act or operated by the
United States Government.

TITLE V -- PENAL PROVISIONS -- FORFEITURES

SEC. 501. [47 U.S.C. 501] GENERAL PENALTY.

Any person who willfully and knowingly does or causes or suffers
to be done any act, matter, or thing, in this Act prohibited or
declared to be unlawful, or who willfully and knowingly omits or
fails to do any act, matter, or thing in this Act required to be
done, or willfully and knowingly causes or suffers such omission
or failure, shall upon conviction thereof, be punished for such
offense, for which no penalty (other than a forfeiture) is provided
in this Act, by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment
for a term not exceeding one year, or both; except that any person,
having been once convicted of an offense punishable under this
section, who is subsequently convicted of violating any provision
of this Act punishable under this section, shall be punished by a
fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for a term not
exceeding two years, or both.

SEC. 502. [47 U.S.C. 502] VIOLATION OF RULES, REGULATIONS,
AND SO FORTH.

Any person who willfully and knowingly violates any rule,
regulation, restriction, or condition made or imposed by the
Commission under authority of this Act, or any rule, regulation,
restriction, or condition made or imposed by any international
radio or wire communications treaty or convention, or regulations
annexed thereto, to which the United States is or may hereafter
become a party, shall, in addition to any other penalties provided
by law, be punished, upon conviction thereof, by a fine of not
more than $500 for each and every day during which such offense
occurs.

SEC. 510. [47 U.S.C. 510] FORFEITURE OF COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES.

(a) Any electronic, electromagnetic, radio frequency, or similar
device, or component thereof, used, sent, carried, manufactured,
assembled, possessed, offered for sale, sold, or advertised with
willful and knowing intent to violate section 301 or 302, or
rules prescribed by the Commission under such sections,
may be seized and forfeited to the United States.

The text of the entire Act can be found here:

http://www.fcc.gov/Reports/1934new.pdf


In view of the above, consider yourselves forewarned about the use of "jammers" ......because spectum matters.


NR

Defining the "Harm" in "Harmful Interference"

Here's a post from CommLawBlog which readers might find both interesting and informative when it comes to radio and wireless communications system interference....

(Excerpt): "The concept of “harmful interference” is central to FCC spectrum policy. (It might surprise you however, that) the FCC has never said just what the term means. Oddly, though, that might be a good thing.

Nearly every band of the radio spectrum is shared among two or more categories of users. If we think of the spectrum as being spread out horizontally, the users of each band are stacked vertically. To see how this looks, click here.

Each band has a predetermined pecking order among its users: primary, secondary, and unlicensed. The relationships among all of these turn on harmful interference. Specifically:

• “Primary” users are protected against harmful interference from all other users.
  
  
• “Co-primary” users – services in the same band jointly designated as primary – may not cause harmful interference to each other.
  
  
• "Secondary” users may not cause harmful interference to primary users, and must accept harmful interference from primary users.
  
  
• Unlicensed users may not cause harmful interference to primary or secondary users, and must accept harmful interference from everybody.

The notion of harmful interference being key to the whole enterprise, we might expect to find a crisp and objective definition in the FCC rules. But when we look, we find something else. " (End excerpt)

Take a few minutes to learn more about the often mis-understood element of "harmful interference" - which is found in all radio and wireless communications systems - and the criteria that the FCC uses to help define it, here:

http://www.commlawblog.com/2009/01/articles/broadcast/finding-the-harm-in-harmful-interference/

It's actually a pretty tough job these days, especially when spectrum matters....

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrum_management for more insight.

NR

Radio, Wireless, & the Internet -- A Transformative Technology

Fellow blogger Susan Crawford has another excellent post to her blog which I would strongly encourage folks to read for a bit of historical yet very timely deja vu....

Here's an excerpt to get you headed over there:

Transformative Technology

"Another technology was said to overcome key barriers between the voter and the candidate: the barriers of distance, of time, of inertia, and of crowd psychology. It brought to the physically remote voter a type of first-hand information he had never had before.

There was great excitement. Would this new technology prick into quicker, more coherent action our unwieldy democratic giant? Or with its shining novelty would its seeming power too be gone? What were the inherent political potentialities of this new technology? Aside from the immense publicity value which its newness gave it, what could it actually effect in a presidential election?

The new technology was remarkable. It had found a way to dispense with political middlemen. In a fashion it had restored the demos upon which republican government is founded. No candidate would be able to stand up to it who was unprepared to enlighten the electorate. It potentially gave to every member of the electorate the possibility of a direct reaction to the candidates themselves. It reproduced to some degree, for the first time in the United States, the conditions of the Athenian democracy where every voter, for himself, could hear and judge the candidates.

The year was 1924: “…America finds herself this year in the act of virtually choosing her chief executive by an instrument that was up to a brief two years ago generally considered a freakish fad.”

You'll have to visit her site for the balance of her post, but, she's absolutely correct - radio or RF (now commonly labeled "wireless") and Internet technology has and will continue to transform virtually every aspect of our lives and the world in which we live.

Yet another of the many reasons why spectrum matters.....


NR

GAO Report: FCC Violates Rulemaking Info Flow

A new report from the GAO (Government Accounting Office) titled “FCC Should Take Steps to Ensure Equal Access to Rulemaking Information,” says:

"As a regulatory agency, FCC is routinely lobbied by stakeholders with a vested interest in the issues FCC regulates. It is critical that FCC maintain an environment in which all stakeholders have an equal opportunity to participate in the rulemaking process AND that the process is perceived as fair and transparent.

Situations where some, but not all, stakeholders know what FCC is considering for an upcoming vote undermine the fairness and transparency of the process and constitute a violation of FCC's rules.

Since the success of lobbying for a particular issue can be highly dependent on whether an issue is being actively considered, FCC staff who disclose nonpublic information about when an issue will be considered could be providing an advantage to some stakeholders, allowing them to time their lobbying efforts to maximize their impact. As a result, FCC may not hear from all sides of the issue during an important part of the rulemaking process. This imbalance of information is not the intended result of the Communications Act, and it runs contrary to the principles of transparency and equal opportunity for participation established by law and to FCC's own rules that govern rulemaking."


The GAO report really isn't much of a surprise, at least to those of us who have been involved in the communications industry for any length of time; it's been quite evident for many years that the lobbying process itself has been more-than-a-little slanted in favor of large corporate entities (wireless and wireline telecommunication incumbents, media, and the broadcast folks come to mind here)......this report seems to "officially" validate that evidence albeit the facts are based on just a very small sample of the FCC's many proceedings.

Perhaps the GAO auditors should return and dig a bit deeper; so far, they've only managed to scratch the surface of what many believe may be a larger problem within this agency. Oh, by the way, the FCC declined to comment or refute the GAO's report.


NR

RF (Wireless) Spectrum Information & Resource Links

Those concerned or interested in learning more about spectrum regulation and frequency allocation policies and their impact on radio and wireless communication devices and users in the U.S. may want to begin paying very close attention to the Notices, actions and decisions made by the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB), their new Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHS), and, their Office of Engineering and Technology (OET). More background information on spectrum policy, including the latest on the 700 MHz proceeding, can be found on the FCC's Spectrum Policy Task Force site. And, there's always the FCC's Daily Digest which provides a brief synopsis of Commission orders, news releases, speeches, public notices and all other FCC documents (with links to the full text of each) that are released each business day.

Finally, this 2006 paper Regulating Spectrum Management: Overview and Trends is intended to provide readers with a broad overview of wireless communications spectrum management concepts and issues, including a review of differences between traditional spectrum management methods and policy and recent innovations and practices due to technology advances. The approach taken is more descriptive than prescriptive, allowing readers to make up their own mind on various perspectives. It's interesting to note that the authors have found that there are no standard solutions that fit every situation.

Additional reading:

Spectrum Management Overview

Spectrum Policy and Planning

An introduction to spectrum management including best practices and considerations involved in the use and regulation of radio frequency spectrum. An outline of policy and planning considerations including technical standards and the allocation of spectrum.

Authorization

An overview of the processes by which users gain access to the spectrum resource.

Spectrum Pricing

A review of the role of spectrum pricing and economics as it relates to the method of spectrum authorization being employed.

Spectrum Monitoring and Compliance

An overview of how spectrum monitoring and compliance can help users by avoiding incompatible frequency usage through identification of sources of harmful interference.

International Affairs

An overview of international harmonization of spectrum utilization.

Developing Spectrum Management Capacity

An overview of the strategies for organization, function, process development, staffing, staff retention and training for spectrum regulators.

Oh yes.....I almost forgot; here's how you can "express yourself" should some of the Commission's activities or policies stir you to speak up about spectrum matters.


NR

OMG! - FCC labeled Washington's Worst Communicator

There were a few provocative(?) insightful (?) revealing (?) stories in the media today regarding the FCC's public communications skills....

This AP story by John Dunbar "FCC's Methods Leaves Public in the Dark" suggests "It's odd for an agency that has the word "communications" as its middle name" to "routinely leave the public in the dark about how it makes critical policy decisions".

Cynthia Brumfield at The IP and Democracy site follows up with a claim that "the FCC is the worst communicator in Washington". "Clear answers are rare and, indeed, FCC rules dictate that agenda items (those issues to be voted upon by the Commissioners) are “non-public” information. Employees can get fired if they disclose anything the FCC is planning". She also provides links to a couple of additional pieces written by Ted Hearn at MultiChannel News who labeled the agency the “Federal Incommunicado Commission”.

She adds even more fuel to the fire by ranking the Commissions web site as a "nightmare"--- a real nightmare.

Frankly, I don't understand what all the hullabaloo is about. The FCC long ago abdicated its responsibility to openly communicate with the general public (along with certain other spectrum management related duties) and is now the best corporate and special interest facilitating entity that money and lobbying can buy. I guess some folks just can't get used to the way business is done at the Portals these days, but I can assure you that there's good reason for it. Just continue on as usual (spectrum matters are out of your league, anyway, right?) and everything will turn out just fine....


NR

700 MHz, TV "White Space" Spectrum, the FCC and the Future of Wireless Communications

She's done it again! Susan P. Crawford, that is. In her latest working paper, The Radio and The Internet, she presents a broad overview and historical background (with many footnotes to more in-depth details for those with inquiring minds) of how the natural resource known as the RF spectrum has been allocated and managed (or, as many believe, mis-managed) by the FCC over the last several decades.

But, she also has done an excellent job (the best I've seen, at least) of putting into a pretty balanced context most of the unbalanced rhetoric, hype, and political posturing from all sides of the hotly debated 700 MHz auction rules proceeding that we've all just experienced.

She also reminds the regulators of the pressing need for them to be much more decisive than they have been regarding the definition of the "public interest" aspect of 21st century spectrum and technology matters during the on-going TV "White Spaces" debate which, by the way, will most certainly be the subject of the next big spectrum battle. Stay tuned - it's likely to be just as contentious if not more so than the 700 MHz debate was since it involves unlicensed use of the spectrum.

Here's the abstract of the paper, but the actual paper is a much better read and really deserves a few minutes of your time:

Abstract:

The airwaves offer the potential for contributing to enormous
economic growth if they are used more efficiently for facilitating
high-speed internet access, but recent industry and government
actions have failed to follow this path.

This article evaluates the multi-billion-dollar 700 MHz auction
regime established by the Federal Communications Commission
in August 2007 as a case study in our national approach to this
valuable resource, and argues that the public interest would
best be served by having ubiquitous access to the internet be
the top priority of communications policy.

The article criticizes the nearly exclusive focus of the FCC on the
interests of incumbents and law enforcement, and suggests that
spectrum policy be focused on enabling unlicensed uses of the
airwaves that can assist the nation with online access.

Download a copy and decide for yourself.

NR