Pulling Out All the Guns with Shared Spectrum

The Pentagon has offered to clear out the spectrum they use in the U.S. for training drone pilots and relinquish spectrum in the 1755-1780 megahertz bands, a move that would enable the first major spectrum auction. And that, combined with the Jobs Bill mandate that requires the FCC to auction the 2155- 2180 megahertz bands (also a DoD allocation), makes for a great up and down pairing for services. The Brattle group suggests in a recent Wall Street Journal Article, in fact, that as a paired offering, the spectrum could be valued at over $12 billion.

In the DoD letter to the NTIA and the FCC, the details are somewhat fuzzy as to how and when the spectrum will be cleared out. Sharing some of the spectrum is one particular model, while another aspect is that the Pentagon estimates the cost to vacate the spectrum at $3.5 billion give or take, and thus the first use of the TVWS auction model will be by the DoD. So far the TVWS auction has been greeted by the NAB as an unwelcome suggestion, but it may well be that by using the system, the FCC can deliver another proof of concept that will help quell some of the trepidation. 

All of this is fairly sketchy but the bottom line is the precedent that started with former chairman’s Genachowski embracing of “Super Wi-Fi”, which is now being applied in other spectrum allocations as well.

In the original concept, spectrum databases like the one iConectiv, Google, and others run, and the use of cognitive radios, could all be applied. The DoD, though, already has a black eye from their efforts to use cognitive radios - most of the problem there is  the vastness of the project and its effort to use the technology in every aspect of communication, from the field to the reporting to HQ. Advocates of Cognitive radio and Software defined radio are still working to progress the technology, so the DoD is most likely to shy away from the cognitive radio side for this migration. 

In the world of LTE Advanced, any new spectrum is welcome, however these two bands in particular represent a new chance for a number of carriers. For instance, while AT&T and VZW both won on the 700 blocks, the newly reformed T-Mobile might be active in looking to gain this allocation.

So this all serves to underline the fact that spectrum sharing is coming of age, and the Pentagon precedent makes it quite likely that other non-military allocations will free up in the years ahead, though mind you, the Letter of Intent we have now is one that is chock-full of reservations.

For our part, I want to extend an open invitation to the DoD to attend Super Wi-Fi in Las Vegas August 27-29, on whatever the standard per diem is these days.