Quayle, Edwards Seek Improved Spectrum Efficiency
A House panel urged more efficient use of spectrum to prevent a “crunch” caused by accelerating consumer demand. In a hearing Wednesday afternoon by the House Science Subcommittee on Technology Chairman Ben Quayle, R-Ariz., urged continued research and development, as well as a critical review of regulations. But witnesses for CTIA and Cisco said improving efficiency is no substitute for reallocating government spectrum.
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"As spectrum has become more crowded, it’s necessary to ensure it’s being used as efficiently as possible, and that we have the policies in place to encourage industry’s continued investment and growth,” Quayle said. It’s “imperative” that R&D efforts continue to identify more effective ways to use spectrum, he said. Congress should also ensure that government policies don’t impede those efforts, he said.
Voluntary incentive auctions will free up some new spectrum but the U.S. must promote R&D to find ways to make more efficient uses of spectrum, said Ranking Member Donna Edwards, D-Md. The U.S. “can’t rest on past accomplishments” if it wants to continue to lead the world in wireless, she said. Critical new spectrum-sharing technologies are only possible through investment in R&D, she said.
Incentive auctions provide only a “down payment” of new spectrum, CTIA and Cisco officials said in separate testimony. Both urged Congress to reallocate the 1755-1780 MHz spectrum operated by the Defense Department and identified for possible reallocation in NTIA’s recent spectrum report. Reallocating government-owned spectrum will be “challenging,” but spectrum sharing should not be viewed as an alternative, said CTIA Vice President Christopher Guttman-McCabe. Cisco Technology and Spectrum Policy Director Mary Brown agreed: “We cannot expect technology alone to stop the spectrum crunch.” Clearing as much of the 1755-1780 MHz spectrum as possible is key to meeting consumer demand and keeping the U.S. ahead of other countries, she said.
If Congress reallocates government spectrum to commercial wireless, Edwards asked what the incentive would be for industry to make investments in existing technology. The U.S. needs to focus on getting something in the pipeline now to address the crisis in the short term, Guttman-McCabe said. Reallocating is a way to “bridge” the timeframe between now and when spectrum can be used more efficiently, he said.
The spectrum crunch “is both real and an illusion,” said Richard Bennett, senior research fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. In 30 years, spectrum use will be so efficient that there won’t be a crunch, he said. The long term-way to solve the crunch is to develop technology allowing multiple data streams to run in same frequency simultaneously, he said. But sharing technologies aren’t there yet, he said. Even if more spectrum can be reallocated now, there’s no downside to simultaneously working to improve efficiency, he said.
The Obama administration understands that more spectrum is needed to sustain commercial wireless, said James Olthoff, deputy director of the Physical Measurement Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. That’s why the president committed to finding 500 MHz of new spectrum, he said. NIST is working on improving spectrum measurement methods, as well as ways to enhance electromagnetic compatibility and avoid interference, he said. Asked by Edwards if the U.S. is investing enough in R&D, Olthoff said NIST currently has sufficient resources and implementing Obama’s FY 2013 budget plan will help.