Rep. Markey (D-Mass.), ranking minority member of House Telecom S...

creating “Spectrum Commons.” WiFi wireless Internet protocol is one of leading technologies to use unlicensed spectrum. “If additional unlicensed frequencies can be put out into the marketplace sooner, entrepreneurs and high-tech companies will be freed up to experiment, innovate, invest, and challenge marketplace incumbents in meeting the wireless needs of consumers,” letter said: “By making such additional frequencies available quickly and without the administrative delay of auctions, it is possible for these new, ‘disruptive’ wireless technologies to assist in rejuvenating a key sector of our economy and to create jobs.” Markey cited FCC’s agreement with NTIA to open 90 MHz of spectrum for advanced wireless services, but said that spectrum was not likely to be available for several years. Clearance of that spectrum will require additional govt. funds, he wrote, and some areas may not be cleared until Dec. 2008. “The real world economic impact of the additional 90 MHz, therefore, will be many years off,” Markey said. Consumers will be forced to continue relying on current wireless licensees to meet the “burgeoning” marketplace demand for wireless networks, including wireless links for broadband access, he said. Unlicensed wireless protocols such as 802.11 have been “bright spot in a telecommunications sector otherwise stuck in the doldrums,” Markey said. He also cited proposed Wireless Technology Investment and Digital Dividends Act (HR- 4641) that includes provisions to make additional unlicensed spectrum available. “Spectrum commons” portion of bill “challenges” FCC and NTIA to develop plan that would establish a 20-MHz band of contiguous frequencies below 2 GHz, as well as between 3 and 500 MHz between 2 GHz and 6 GHz, letter said. Markey described continuous frequency as “a significant swath of the airwaves that would remain open to the public and unlicensed and thus open for entrepreneurial investment and experimentation.” He asked that Powell by Nov. 13 present his plans to make available any additional frequencies for “spectrum commons.”