PCAST Spectrum Report Has General Administration Support, Officials Say
The White House is not expected to issue any policy documents endorsing the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) spectrum sharing report, which was finalized more than three months ago and released in late July (CD July 23 p1). But after offering notably visible support for PCAST’s spectrum sharing report -- in part by lending a White House venue and a number of high-level administration officials for its release in late July (CD July 23 p1) -- the White House is moving ahead on a number of fronts to study and in some cases implement a number of the report’s recommendations.
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One administration official noted that sharing was already an administration focus before the report was released, mentioned prominently in a presidential memorandum on spectrum in June 2010. “You can look at a number of these recommendations and see that we are … doing them,” the official said. “Not putting out a press release or a presidential memorandum, but actually doing them.”
"In my view, the way I look at things, you can have memos saying, ‘people, do this,’ or you can just try to do it. You can start small and if it works get big and expand it because things that are successful tend to grow,” said a second government official. “It’s easier to say to do something than [it is] to do something in this world.”
The report already has gotten a lot of attention and met with instant questions from FCC commissioners Robert McDowell and Ajit Pai. It is expected to be the subject of a proposed Sept. 13 hearing by the House Communications Subcommittee. But despite questions, officials say, the move to more sharing is already under way.
In May, for example, the FCC approved an allocation of 40 MHz of spectrum, to be used on a secondary basis, for a new Medical Body Area Network (MBAN), within spectrum set aside for aeronautical mobile telemetry (CD May 25 p1). Last month, the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology gave T-Mobile USA “special temporary authority” to conduct tests of spectrum sharing with federal government users in the 1755-1780 MHz and 2155-2180 MHz bands (CD Aug 16 p2). In August, the Office of Management and Budget updated the spectrum parts of Circular A-11, to put more focus on spectrum sharing, among other changes (CD Aug 30 p9).
The Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee has taken on some of the toughest sharing issues, with working groups looking at how to facilitate sharing between commercial and federal users in the 1695-1710 MHz and 1755-1850 MHz bands. In May, NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling asked the CSMAC to devote most of its attention to sharing (CD May 31 p1). There has already been “a lot of creative thinking,” a government official said.
The FCC has also been working behind the scenes on a notice of proposed rulemaking, to be released by year-end, on using the 3550-3650 MHz band as a testbed for sharing. “We're preparing an NPRM that would directly raise some of the ideas” in the PCAST report in the 3.5 GHz band, said a senior FCC official. “The report came from a single group of people but it has recommendations that go to all different parts of government. … We've made it clear that we're moving forward on pursuing it. We're going to put it on the table and see what kind of comments we get.”
CTIA and the wireless carriers, AT&T in particular, have raised questions about whether dynamic sharing, as envisioned by PCAST, is anywhere close to technologically feasible (CD June 25 p1). AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told us following a speech in June (CD June 13 p1) that there are still too many unknowns about how sharing would work to make it official administration policy. “If we make policy decisions before the industry, the technology or anything is prepared to take advantage of it, then you create a bigger problem than you have today,” he said.
"I haven’t gotten the impression that the White House has gotten ready to jump on the PCAST’s recommendations,” said a wireless carrier executive. “I think at least the people I've talked to understand the importance of making spectrum available for us and clearing spectrum."
There are signs that the PCAST report could face tough questions, especially from Republicans, at next week’s hearing. David Redl, majority counsel to the House Commerce Committee, raised questions during a recent Information Technology and Innovation Foundation event (CD Aug 1 p1). From a technical perspective, the PCAST report “lacks a proper foundation,” Redl said at the event. “There seem to be number of things in the report that assume that there is commercial viability … technology that we have not seen come to fruition in the commercial space."
Preston Marshall, a professor at the University of Southern California who worked on the PCAST report, told us he is not sure to what extent the administration will make sharing federal policy. “There is a lot of dialog going on among all of the interested parties in various public forums,” Marshall said. “I suspect this dialog may improve the product, create consensus in some areas, and overall be positive. I would hope this is the result, but I have no inside knowledge."
"Despite some unfounded protests about the report’s conclusions, everyone, including the wireless industry, has acknowledged that sharing has to be part of the long-term solution,” said Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood. “We look forward to continued implementation of policies that promote efficient and dynamic technologies.”