FCC TEES UP SPECTRUM RULEMAKINGS AND UWB FOLLOW-UP

Task force released extensive recommendations last fall on how to overhaul agency’s spectrum management regime, generally concluding spectrum access was bigger problem than scarcity. Among issues raised in report, Thomas acknowledged as particularly contentious potential use of broadcast bands for new services and interference temperature. In Dec., FCC opened inquiry into making additional spectrum available for unlicensed devices, including TV broadcast spectrum. It asked whether unlicensed devices should be allowed in bands beyond those allowed under Part 15 rules, including TV broadcast spectrum. Hope is to “continue the public debate” on this issue and come up with rulemaking this year, he said. Point would be to find way to more effectively use TV band while “creating no harm to the broadcasters that are using that band,” he said.

Timing of when item might be released on interference temperature wasn’t clear, but Thomas said it could come later this year depending on what Commission decides. “We're still debating how to do that effectively,” he said, calling issue “extremely contentious.” It would put ceiling on noise environment in which receivers would be required to operate. To extent that temperature in band wasn’t reached, user that emitted below that threshold could operate with more flexibility. Thomas said that among possible scenarios being debated on how that would work was initial focus on one part of band, which then would be tested. “You learn, then you expand it appropriately,” he said. “There’s another school of thought that says you can do the entire spectrum,” Thomas said, which he said would entail using different numbers for different bands but at same time. He said others had pointed to interference protection thresholds worked out for UWB and suggested they could be starting point for more broadly applied interference temperature. NTIA reportedly has been among those interested in using UWB emissions thresholds as model for other bands.

Interference protection levels in UWB rules are example of when FCC has turned to idea akin to what it’s examining in interference temperature concept, Thomas said. “The question is, is there a way to do that in a more systematic fashion and then by doing that, signaling to the incumbents and anybody else there’s some stability for a significant period of time and a particular part of the band,” he said. “Obviously that will be quite contentious. There are questions of how you do it in an effective way. How do you define it. How do you continually refine it. How do you make the measurements necessary to do it.” Interference temperature received attention in initial comments on task force’s recommendations. Wireless carriers raised concerns that it wasn’t yet backed up real-world information, such as noise floor data.

In agenda for next week’s meeting released late Thurs., FCC said it would take up order and further notice addressing 14 pending petitions for reconsideration on UWB rules.

UWB agenda item is “mainly cleanup,” Thomas said. Commission has 14 petitions for reconsideration pending on UWB order it approved year ago, with issues on interference concerns raised by PCS carriers, satellite providers, others. He noted FCC last fall issued report on ambient noise levels and emissions of common devices such as hair dryers and lawn mowers because mass market UWB devices weren’t available for testing. FCC staff report said ambient noise levels in certain environments were well above emissions limits for UWB, including in GPS spectrum, where they were up to 3,000 times greater at certain sites than interference threshold used as basis for UWB limits. Results led agency to conclude that there was no current need to alter UWB rules. “That doesn’t mean there may not be in the future,” he said. So Commission will spend this year “measuring real [UWB] devices and their interactions with incumbent services,” he said. Depending on those findings, FCC may revisit rules in 2004 to assess whether they need to be changed, he said.

Thomas said UWB industry as whole had signaled to Commission that companies don’t want immediate changes in rules because they were seeking stability in regulatory environment for now. Investor funding for chipsets for commercial devices now in production are based on existing rules. Message from industry has been: “Don’t change the rules so we can’t recover our investment,” he said. Industry and govt. have accepted existing rules so “it doesn’t make sense to change the rules because we want to make sure we create no harm here,” Thomas said. Changes don’t make sense until real-world devices can be tested, he said. That means short-term changes in rules are likely to be “very anticlimactic,” he said. Loral, PanAmSat, Satellite Industry Assn. and SES Americom raised concerns this week about impact of existing rules on C-band (CD Feb 6 p10).

Agreement reached last week by govt. and industry on international harmonization of wireless local area networks (LAN) at 5 GHz should put to rest future concerns about congestion that unlicensed devices faced at 2.4 GHz, Thomas said in news briefing. FCC will begin work this year on domestic allocation for additional 300 MHz of spectrum in this band, he said. Govt. agencies and companies reached agreement last week on how to protect military radars at 5 GHz while making way for harmonized spectrum for Wi-Fi to also operate in band (CD Feb 3 p1). Agreement also comports with finding of task force report that additional 255 MHz of spectrum be made available for unlicensed uses, he said. “We are going to be moving to implement this,” he said. There now are 300 MHz available for commercial use at 5.8 GHz, and agreement would increase total to 555 MHz. That would be on top of 83.5 MHz available at 2.4 GHz for unlicensed uses and 26 MHz at 915 MHz, he said. Agreement “almost doubles what you have.” Large amount of spectrum that agreement makes available at 5 GHz creates “an opportunity here, if industry thinks they can market it, for much, much broader bandwidth for Wi-Fi capability because you have a continuous 555 MHz,” Thomas said.

On inquiry on receiver performance requirements, Thomas said task force had concluded that “there is a lot of obsolete technology out there. Today’s technologies allow receivers to be a lot more tolerant to interference.” Older technology still in use obviously is more susceptible to interference, he said. Point of inquiry would be to examine how FCC should implement such requirements if it chose to pursue that, and what class of receivers should be covered, he said. Task force report had left open question of which receivers would be covered by such requirements. It said FCC should consider applying receiver performance requirements for “some bands and services, either through incentives, regulatory mandates or some combination.”

Thomas said inquiry on software defined radios, another policy area covered in task force report, could be released in 3rd quarter. Order to tie up loose ends on 3rd-generation wireless spectrum also is expected this year in line with agreement reached last year by industry and govt. to make additional 90 MHz available for advanced wireless services. FCC last year proposed service rules for 1710-1755 MHz that had been reallocated from govt. to nongovt. users and for 2110-2155 MHz, which includes some Multipoint Distribution Service licensees. Commission also plans to move ahead on powerline communications. Thomas said earlier that agency’s lab would examine spurious emissions from power line communications this year to assess interference potential to other services, such as TV. Point of that technology is that it has potential to turn every AC outlet in a home into broadband connection of about 2 Mbps, Thomas said. “We are going to be moving as rapidly as possible to make proposals to the Commission,” he said.