Commerce Dept. Spectrum Advisory Committee to Study Testbed Launch
The Commerce Dept. Spectrum Advisory Committee is making its first priority a recommendation on the long-awaited spectrum testbed, part of the band to be put aside for testing spectrum sharing. The committee also is slated to study the Wireless Accelerated Responder Network (WARN) in D.C. and similar systems with a view toward a national system.
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The 17-member committee first met Wed. at the Dept. of Commerce. NTIA Dir. John Kneuer asked Dale Hatfield, former chief of the FCC’s Office of Engineering & Technology, to chair the group, he said. The group will be divided into 2 subcommittees, focusing on technical and operational issues. The committee was created to fulfill a June 2004 Presidential report’s recommendation on spectrum reform.
The committee could help jump-start efforts to launch a promised spectrum testbed, a key part of the report, Kneuer told reporters after the meeting. “I think it helps,” he said: “The challenge on the testbed is going to finding the best opportunities to make use of it. We have a host of different recommendations. I want to be as thoughtful in making a selection as we possibly can, and getting the input of a group like this would be very helpful.”
The FCC and NTIA, each slated to set up a 10 MHz testbed, were expected to make recommendations by June, but efforts stalled. In June, NTIA and FCC sought comments on how to proceed. The testbed is expected to see use to study dynamic spectrum sharing, cognitive radio and other technologies for making more efficient use of the spectrum. The agencies haven’t said which bands will be dedicated to the beds.
Kneuer urged the group to stay focused as it assembles a report on how govt. can better manage radio spectrum. “This is an advisory group to NTIA so that NTIA can continue the work that has already been cleared and delineated and articulated,” he said: “Use that as your guidepost… We don’t want to be spinning out 15 separate spectrum reform initiatives. We've got a spectrum reform initiative.” He told us that “staying focused, making measurable incremental progress” are crucial to the report’s being seen as relevant.
Hatfield agreed on the need for practicable proposals. “It can’t be wishy-washy,” he told us: “It’s easy to say we ought to use marketplace forces in the management of the spectrum. That doesn’t help John. We all understand that. The question is to come up with some ideas that can be picked up and moved on.”
Former NTIA Dir. Janice Obuchowski, a group member, wants the panel to lay out its ideas in a preliminary report in Q1 2007, she said. “I am a big fan of short deadlines,” she said: “In Washington, work always expands to fill the available time.”