FCC Continues to Review Spectrum Use

The FCC is a key player in deciding how to use any available spectrum in the United States. Some of it may be shared or reassigned, if it can be done efficiently and safely.

“The FCC obviously understands they’re not making any more spectrum… There are huge demands for mobile connectivity, mobile broadband,” Steven Bayless, who is senior director, Telecommunications and Telematics, at the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America), told TMC’s Rachel Ramsey during ITEXPO Miami.

“And so they’ve been looking at the 5 gigahertz band, which is … currently used for Wi-Fi, but they’d like to expand the use of Wi-Fi in that band,” he added. “Current occupants include a lot of government users, which have been there for a long time.”

He explained, too, that the band is used for vehicle, dedicated short-range communications, and is “safety-critical.”

“It’s really part of a long-term effort on the part of the auto industry to create some crash-avoidance features in vehicles,” Bayless said. Cars now have air bags and other safety features – so the next phase in safety is to prevent car crashes in the first place. “This spectrum is critical for that and there are some concerns that if you begin sharing that spectrum, that the efficiency and efficacy of the system might be compromised,” Bayless said.

The FCC is working with industry representatives and a solution may be found in the next year or two, according to Bayless.

Among the other open matters before the FCC are the following bands:

5.9 gigahertz

3.5 gigahertz

2.4 gigahertz

“There’s a sort of perception out there that more spectrum needs to be licensed or used and we get the most efficient use out of it,” Attorney Barlow Keener, who specializes in telecom law, added.

In August, TMC will present a Super Wi-Fi Summit Conference Program. Among the topics to be discussed are those of interest to the entire shared spectrum community. The Super Wi-Fi Summit, The Global Spectrum Sharing and TV White Space Event, will take place Aug. 12 through Aug. 14, 2014, at The Rio in Las Vegas. For more information, please click here.