AWS Shows Reallocation Still Too Slow, Thomas Says

“The commercial guys always want more spectrum,” Thomas said: “The federal guys always want more spectrum and it takes an act of God to move spectrum back and forth.” Thomas said of the AWS item: “We started the process in 1993. It took well over 10 years to do it and it’s not over yet… That’s not a way to run a railroad.” Thomas told the DoD spectrum managers that “sharing” of spectrum will become a way of life for them, and the question becomes: “How can we share in a way that the national interest is protected and the commercial interest can be fostered as well?”

A proposal to eventually establish a 20 MHz “test bed” for new technologies could become “the poster boy” for sharing, Thomas said. He confirmed the FCC is examining 2155-2165 for its 10 MHz contribution, and the govt. is looking at a band in the lower 1700 MHz range. “Both of these spectrums are adjacent to cellular,” he said. “It’s kind of nice because there’s a high probability equipment can be made available from current technologies, but the devil’s in the details.”

Thomas described unlicensed use of the spectrum as a “good news, bad news” story. The good news, he said, is that Wi-Fi alone is expected to emerge as a $5.2 billion business by the end of 2005. He cited a recent spectrum conflict involving garage door openers as a prime example of the negative side of the story. The govt. opted to deploy a new land-based mobile system at 380-400 MHz. Garage door openers on the same frequencies stopped working for 10-15 miles around. Thomas observed that kids would come home from school and couldn’t get in the house because they suddenly couldn’t open their garage doors: “You can imagine what that will do in terms of PR. Here we are, we have a situation, and this is the ugly thing about unlicensed sharing.”

“This is a very serious issue,” Thomas added. “Here’s an issue where the federal side is 110% in the right. However, politically this could be a problem and we're working very hard with the DoD and NTIA and industry to resolve it… It’s a horror story -- but don’t make any mistake about we're going to fix this.”

Thomas told the DoD officials that broadband over powerline (BPL) would be important to them. BPL offers more than just a “3rd channel” for broadband into the home, he said. “You guys may think that doesn’t concern you. I think it does,” he said: “This stuff has another capability that I think you guys ought to consider. Anything that consumes electricity can be given an IP address and either be monitored or controlled without building a network. I just think there are a million things to do with that, from running machinery to security to keeping track of burglar alarms… I think it has use in military bases and the military.”

Thomas said the FCC remains committed to attempting to use white spaces between TV channels for unlicensed uses -- a controversial proposal. Thomas explained that in the Baltimore-Washington area channels 3, 6, 8 and 12 are vacant. “Each one of those is 6 MHz,” he said: “The question is, can you use them for something else like lower-powered unlicensed? We think the answer is yes.” Thomas said the FCC would protect the rights of broadcasters “the same way we were very careful of the rights of incumbents when we did broadband over powerline.”

Thomas also stressed the good working relationship among the FCC, the NTIA and DoD. “The press loves to highlight disagreements between both sides of the govt., the DoD, the NTIA, the FCC,” he said. “We really work very well together. We coordinate about 10,000 items per year together and some tough ones we have to negotiate.”

That relationship was the topic of a concluding panel discussion by DoD, NTIA and FCC officials at the spectrum conference.

Robert Pepper, FCC chief of policy development, said dealing had “improved dramatically” in recent years. “Our debates and discussions here have been very constructive,” he said. “It’s about science. It’s about engineering. There are differences of opinion. There are judgments to be made about what levels of interference are acceptable, what can we work with, but everybody understands there is no such thing as zero interference… It’s a much more empirically based discussion we can have.”

Pepper said FCC engineering and the labs have also improved dramatically under Chmn. Powell, which adds to the science available for making decisions. “Three years ago a very high percentage of all of our engineers were within 4 years of retirement. We hadn’t hired a new engineer in years,” he said. Pepper said the FCC has significantly beefed up its engineering staff since.

“National security is not just our responsibility in the Dept. of Defense, it’s the responsibility of us all,” said Badri Younes, dir.-spectrum management at DoD. “Everyday when I turn on the news I am reminded that we need to transform the way we manage spectrum. The need is very critical. We have men and women in harm’s way.” Younes said he was “encouraged that we are all coming together and covering.” But he expressed hope that the relationships would survive the major players at his department, NTIA and the FCC: “The train has left the station. DoD is on board.”

FCC Chief of Staff Bryan Tramont told us the parties are committed to continuing their progress in working together on tough spectrum issues. “I do think the NTIA, the Commission and govt. users have had an unprecedented level of trust and cooperation the last few years, be it from institutionalizing the biennial meetings between the Chairman and the NTIA or the cooperation on ultra- wideband, moving forward on BPL,” he said Tramont noted that the FCC and NTIA also recently reworked the memorandum of understanding on the agencies’ relationship. “You see a string of successes,” he said. “I fully expect that to continue and I think the infrastructure is in place for it to happen… We're optimistic that it’s a lasting improvement.”