Public discussion of the ’spectrum crisis’ in America has been a hot topic lately, with spokespeople from every side of the argument voicing their opinions. Issues regarding government funding, scare network resources, allocation of spectrum space, and the price of wireless data have all come to the forefront of debate between wireless providers, Congress, the television industry, and major telecommunications players as the public awaits the FCC’s official National Broadband Plan announcement.
As Craig Moffett, analyst of Sanford C. Bernstein & Company put it, “each bullet will trigger its own tortuous battle.”
As a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed in February 2009, Congress asked the FCC to create a concrete plan that will help in expanding affordable broadband access throughout the country. The end goal of this plan is to address major issues of debate right now regarding jobs, improved health care, energy efficiency and independence, public safety, and homeland security for all Americans. Ideally, by generating more competition, the plan will create jobs and investment in the broadband economy.
Some information has been leaked involving a $8 billion Universal Service Fund for subsidized phone service throughout the country as well as plans to call on the FCC to make 500MHz of new wireless spectrum to be available within the next 10 years for licensed and unlicensed use.
The plan also demonstrates a governmental shift regarding the use of Internet in the U.S. “The blueprint reflects the government’s view that broadband Internet is becoming the common medium of the United States, gradually displacing the telephone and broadcast television industries. It also signals a shift at the FCC, which under the administration of president George W. Bush gained more attention for policing indecency on the television airwaves than for promoting Internet access,” said Brian Stelter and Jenna Worthham, New York Times.
Of all the issues involved with the National Broadband Plan and the broadband stimulus, the most controversial topic remains the reallocation of wireless spectrum space. The report recommends that the FCC reallocate roughly 20MHz of underutilized government spectrum and that the agency gain about 120MHz of spectrum from TV broadcasters. This has led to a backlash by the television industry who argues that they still play a major role in communications and news broadcasting.
Those in the wireless industry have responded differently to the plan and understandably so. Sprint, the country’s only national wireless carrier offering 4G broadband service, commends the FCC and is committed to providing the best broadband solutions to customers, businesses, the government, and public safety users. The company believes that the adoption of new pro-competitive recommendations will aid in increasing broadband competition and thus, create jobs, push forward capital investment in new broadband networks, and lower broadband prices and increase capacity for customers.
“With the release of the National Broadband Plan, the FCC gave America a roadmap to better broadband future. Sprint applauds Chairman Genachowski, his fellow Commissioners, and staff at the FCC for producing a comprehensive set of recommendations designed to expand the availability of high speed affordable broadband across the U.S.,” said Vonya B. McCann, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs at Sprint.
The National Broadband Plan’s recommendations to improve the FCC’s spectrum management processes and procedures are critical in assuring that wireless providers have enough spectrum to be able to meet the nation’s demand for mobile broadband services now and in the future. The finite nature of spectrum space must be addressed in regards to proper allocation that will greatly affect the future of the country’s economy and medium of communication, but as a represent of Spectrum Bridge pointed out, the situation may not be as dire as some are making it out to be.
One solution to the problem of spectrum scarcity is to help everyone more efficiently use existing spectrum, otherwise known as creating “universal spectrum access”. By creating a single point for anyone to locate and access available spectrum, both licensed and unlicensed, it will provide wireless users with a variety of spectrum allocation solutions, such as buying, selling, leasing, time-sharing, partitioning, or disaggregating spectrum, or even utilizing white spaces for various applications. The result, better utilization of bandwidth and enhanced optimization of network performance, while increasing the amount of spectrum available.
No matter what the FCC plans to do and regardless of what policies are implemented, there is going to be discontent from one party or another, either from major providers and engineers in the telecom industry, broadcast television producers, or the public. This being said, the important thing to keep in mind is that there are adequate solutions to address the issue both effectively and fairly.
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