The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance has today submitted its first filing to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in support of its efforts to increase dynamic access to unused radio frequencies in the 600 MHz, 3.5 GHz, and 5 GHz bands, which will lead to more wireless bandwidth and reduced costs for consumers. This comes as consumer demand for wireless voice, video, and data applications continues to grow unabated.
With nearly 40 members, the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance is a global organization that promotes regulatory policies which will pave the way for innovative new wireless technologies, addressing growing wireless data challenges. The cross-industry Alliance works to engage with regulators and government officials to promote the adoption of legal and regulatory frameworks that facilitate dynamic access to radio spectrum.
Paul Garnett, Dynamic Spectrum Alliance Chairman of the Board and Director of Technology Policy at Microsoft, said: “A key function of the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance is to engage with governments and regulators around the world on how to use new dynamic spectrum sharing technologies to address key policy challenges. We hope that the FCC will move quickly over the next few months, adopt and implement new regulations allowing for dynamic access to spectrum in the 600 MHz, 3.5 GHz, and 5 GHz bands.”
The Alliance’s filing details its suggestions to support the FCC’s leadership on spectrum policy and its work in facilitating more efficient spectrum use. The recommendations outlined in the filing are:
- The Commission should enable robust access to licensed and unlicensed spectrum above and below 1 GHz. Licensed and unlicensed uses provide distinct opportunities and benefits that complement each other. Therefore, a spectrum policy that balances these approaches will maximize innovation and investment.
- Sufficient usable unlicensed spectrum must remain available in 600 MHz bands. When allocating the spectrum made available as a result of the digital television transition and repacking the 600 MHz broadcast bands, the Commission should strike the right balance between exclusive-use licensed access and non-exclusive, open, unlicensed access.
- The Commission must ensure meaningful unlicensed access to the 3.5 GHz spectrum. To ensure the most effective deployment of new opportunistic technologies in the 3.5 GHz band, the Commission should reserve sufficient nationwide spectrum for robust, unlicensed General Authorized Access.
- The Commission should expand unlicensed access in the 5 GHz bands. The Commission should consider sharing techniques, including geolocation database technologies, whether standalone or integrated with sensing, beacons, and other technology, as an option for unlicensed devices in the 5 GHz bands, to accommodate more users, allow more efficient use of the band, and facilitate enforcement of sharing rules.
- The Commission should immediately endorse the ‘use it or share it’ principles for licensed spectrum. This allows a database to continue to protect incumbent licensees in these new bands while at the same time enabling vast amounts of underutilized spectrum for unlicensed access.
“We applaud the FCC’s groundbreaking efforts and are eager to work with the Commission to ensure the most efficient and effective use of spectrum across a range of complementary frequencies and regulatory models. We ultimately believe that dynamic spectrum access technologies will bring major, lasting benefits to consumers,” added Mr. Garnett.
The Alliance is investing in a future in which more spectrum is dynamically shared globally across a variety of complimentary bands and under an increasing array of licensed, unlicensed and other regulatory regimes. For example, Alliance members are already involved in deployments of TV white spaces technologies – currently spanning four continents – encompassing devices, databases, and networks.