“The UK regulator, Ofcom, has decided that managing spectrum is a drag, and there are other people around that might do a better job. It is going to open up 73 percent of the radio spectrum to market forces, and make it technology-neutral and tradeable. So if one technology gets superseded, another one can get rolled out instead (subject to broadcast power limits) without Ofcom having to define what spectrum it should use.Radio was first regulated here 100 years ago this year, and a new regime is needed to fit new radio technology. Ofcom is quite proud to be ahead of the US on this one, because we have a recent Communications Act, and the FCC is ‘hamstrung’ by old laws - at least that’s what the head of research at Ofcom said.”
Mike Masnick says it’s more like “open market” spectrum. The spectrum is still licensed, but once licensed, the owner has much more flexibility in doing what they want with it. The Spectrum Framework Review sets out four key recommendations:
- Allow the market to decide the best use for new spectrum allocations.
- Allow licence holders to trade spectrum in an open market and change the use they make of spectrum rights to develop new technologies and offer different services to customers (also known as liberalisation).
- Clearly define the rights of spectrum users, giving them the confidence to plan for the future.
- Increase the amount of licence-exempt spectrum which allows businesses to develop and bring to market new technologies and services without the need for a licence.
In the United States, Nextel, Sprint and Clearwire own most of the 2.5-2.7 GHz band (MMDS). Nextel expects to make a decision on next generation technology in January and is reportedly looking for an alliance with a cable operator.
| Nextel Broadband Wireless vs. Cable | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downstream | Upstream | Latency | |||
| TCP | UDP | TCP | UDP | ||
| Flarion Wireless Modem | 1021 Kbps | 616 Kbps | 553 Kbps | 265 Kbps | 58 ms |
| Roadrunner Cable Modem | 2698 Kbps | 1094 Kbps | 362 Kbps | 296 Kbps | 41 ms |
The FCC plans to extend the amount of spectrum available for wireless in 2005-6, with the aim of bringing a third broadband pipe into the home “alongside DSL and cable”. The Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act, part of the massive Omnibus finance bill, was approved by the House and Senate, last week, allowing the auctioning of government-owned frequencies for broadband wireless.
Following passage of the bill, new frequencies within the 1.9GHz band will open up. Rethink Research believes the new cellular H, J and 3G blocks, plus the NextWave holdings recently sold to Verizon, will, on their own, add 100MHz of spectrum to the available supply. That’s not counting the 200 MHz of MMDS, mostly owned by Nextel, Sprint and Clearwire.
But handsets using (a typical) output power of 300-400 milliwatts (for long life) will never reach a centralized, 10 watt tower 5-10 miles away, even using a pristine licensed frequency band (like 2.6 GHz MMDS). They could “hear”, but they couldn’t “talk”. Not enough power.
Licensed (or unlicensed) APs, on the other hand, feeding VoIP over 802.16e, might deliver 1-3 mile range, cheaply, say backers of mobilized WiMax. The requirement of (practical) low power handsets will contain interference to a smaller area. The 700 Mhz band could be a killer, they reason — even if it uses an unlicensed band. That’s because it requires only one third the number of “cells” of 1.9 GHz cellular — that’s a huge advantage right out of the gate. And each WiMax node is just a glorified WiFi access point - far cheaper and faster than cellular.
Comcast, T/W or phone RBOCs can (and probably will) team with Sprint, Nextel or Clearwire for licensed broadband “zones”.
But cities might also provide “clouds” at 700 Mhz. By integrating an interoperable broadband radio system for police and fire agencies, cities may cut costs by virtually eliminating cellular bills, duplication and incompatibility. Broadband wireless clouds may save money. The “free” public cloud is gravy.
Citizens will want amoritized savings of the broadband wireless network passed on to them. They’re not stupid — and they’re paying for it. Uncle Sugar is broke. Supporters of Protectionist Legislation will be exposed. Just like they were in Pennsylvania.
The birth of Internet TV began this year as Disney launched Moviebeam, Microsoft and SBC announced a $400 million deal to deliver TV via broadband and Akimbo launched its Internet TV video player. Bang. Zoom.
About 10 million households will have an HDTV by the end of 2004, growing to 45 million by the end of 2008. All analog TV broadcasts will end on Jan. 1, 2009. Then broadcasters will return their 2nd (analog) channel to the FCC. Adjacent DTV channels can be used without interference. Media will converge. 
Power will flip.
Unlicensed tv-band radios will listen before they “talk” to avoid interference on the remaining (active) television band and change frequencies as necessary. IEEE 802.22 is trying to make it work. It might boil down to Craig vrs KT.
You want a gutsy revolutionary with brains? I give you Michael Powell.
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