Radio Spectrum Management for a Converging World

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Radio Spectrum Management for aConverging World
Eric LieTelecommunication Development
BureauITU ITU-WTO Workshop on Telecom and ICT
RegulationGeneva, Switzerland1 - 7 December
2004
The views expressed in this paper are those of
the author and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of the ITU or its Membership.
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Presentation Overview

• Introduction to spectrum management
• Role of spectrum management
• Intl and national regulatory frameworks
• Market-based approaches to spectrum planning
• Auctions, secondary trading, administrative
  incentive pricing and license-exempt use
• Policy and regulatory aspects of advanced
  wireless technologies
• Spread spectrum, Ultra Wide Band (UWB), software
  defined radio, agile radios, etc.

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Role of Spectrum Management

• Technical efficiency
• Minimizing interference
• Economic efficiency
• Allocating and assigning spectrum to its most
  economically valuable use
• Harmonization
• Public policy
• Public services (e.g. Public broadcasting,
  safety, defense, etc.), Technological diversity

Introduction to Spectrum Management
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International Framework

• ITU
• World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC)
• Table of Frequency Allocations
• ITU Radio Regulations

• Regional Organizations
• Regional co-ordination
• Harmonization
• e.g. European Commission
• Bilateral Agreements
• Cross-border co-ordination

Introduction to Spectrum Management
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National Framework

• Spectrum planning
• Allocation (Band Plan)
• Table of Frequency Allocations
• Assignment (Spectrum licensing)
• First come, first served, beauty contest,
  lotteries, auctions
• Spectrum engineering
• Modeling of propagation patterns
• Spectrum monitoring and enforcement
• Type approval of equipment
• Detection of illegal or wrongful use of
  frequencies or equipment
• Enforcement of regulations licence conditions

Introduction to Spectrum Management
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Introduction to Spectrum Management
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Changing Paradigms

• Increasing demand for spectrum
• New technologies and services
• Need for mobility
• Advantages of wireless infrastructure
• Rapid technological change
• Greater capabilities of market players
• Convergence
• Blurring of regulatory boundaries between
  different services technologies

Introduction to Spectrum Management
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Market-based approaches

• Exclusive rights regime
• Where spectrum is licensed or awarded to a single
  user for his exclusive use
• Market based spectrum planning approaches
  include
• Auctions
• Administrative incentive pricing
• Secondary trading of spectrum rights
• Non-exclusive rights regime
• Where the use of spectrum is licence-exempt or
  shared with other users

Market-based approaches to Spectrum Planning
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Auctions

• Types of auctions
• English auction, first price sealed-bid auction,
  second price sealed bid auction, Dutch auction,
  simultaneous multiple round auction
• Advantages
• Transparent and economically efficient
• Windfalls or economic rents accrue to the govt.
• Disadvantages
• May lead to higher prices and concentration in
  the wireless sector
• Auction design can be complex
• Temptation to use auctions to generate revenue

Market-based approaches to Spectrum Planning
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Secondary Trading (1)

• Promotes economically efficient use of spectrum
  after initial assignment
• Modes and variations
• Change of ownership
• Reconfiguration
• Partitioning and aggregation
• Change of use
• Constraints e.g. interference, international
  obligations
• Leasing / Sharing
• Partial transfer of rights to use spectrum for a
  limited time or for a limited portion of the
  spectrum owned

Market-based approaches to Spectrum Planning
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Secondary Trading (2)

• Making the transition to secondary trading
• Refarming, conversion (e.g.UK), creation of
  management rights (e.g. NZ), overlay licensing
• Dividing and packaging spectrum
• e.g. Standard Trading Units (Aust.)
• Non-commercial uses
• Institutional arrangements
• Competition safeguards
• Trading mechanisms
• Windfall gains

Market-based approaches to Spectrum Planning
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Secondary Trading (3)

• The case of New Zealand
• Intro. of secondary trading despite presence of
  incumbents in the band
• 3 tier system of rights
• Management rights
• Manage nationwide band of frequencies
• Right to issue licences for frequencies in the
  band
• No restrictions as to usage
• Licence rights
• Issued by band management rights holders
• Apparatus licences
• Legacy regime where management rights have not
  been created 

Market-based approaches to Spectrum Planning
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Administrative Incentive Pricing

• Use of fees as an incentive for spectrum to be
  used efficiently
• Fees levied by government act as the opportunity
  cost of using spectrum to the user
• Users would return spectrum if the opportunity
  cost is higher than the economic value derived
• Factors in calculating fees
• Coverage area, bandwidth, population density
• Simulated auctions, financial studies,
  extrapolations from secondary markets
• Imperfect substitute for market-forces
• Information deficiencies and methodological
  problems in determining fees.

Market-based approaches to Spectrum Planning
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Licence-exempt Spectrum

• 2 forms Low power transmissions or allocated
  bands
• ISM bands at 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz
• 5 150-5 250, 5 250-5 350 MHz and 5 470-5 725 MHz
• Benefits
• Hostile environment and power limitations
  create a fertile test bed for new wireless
  technologies and services (e.g. WiFi, WiMax,
  etc.)
• Lower costs for manufacturers and consumers
• Drawbacks
• Spectrum bands can become congested
• Difficulty clearing new bands
• Loss of direct revenues to governments if
  spectrum is not auctioned

Market-based approaches to Spectrum Planning
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A Flexible Framework

• Exclusive vs. Non-exclusive approaches
• Interference (and spectrum scarcity)
• Underutilization vs. overuse
• Technology and innovation
• Towards a more flexible framework?
• e.g. different regimes in different bands, open
  access to spectrum underlay, etc.

Market-based approaches to Spectrum Planning
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Cross-cutting concerns

• Non-commercial users
• E.g Public broadcasting, aviation, defense, etc.
• Market-based incentives include
• Imposing administrative incentive pricing
• Allowing spectrum leasing / sharing
• International aspects
• Harmonization
• Interference management

Market-based approaches to Spectrum Planning
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Policy and Technology

• Technology (2004)
• Fast processing power and intelligent radios
• New technologies that are more tolerant towards
  interference and that make better use of
  available spectrum
• Spread spectrum
• Agile radios
• Software defined radios

• Regulation (circa 1930)
• Built on the assumption of dumb radios
• Tightly regulated use to prevent interference
• Very limited provisions for reclaiming
  inefficiently used spectrum

Policy and Regulatory Aspects of Advanced
Wireless Technologies
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Spread Spectrum

• Information is sent over a much wider band than
  the actual bandwidth of the information by using
  a code to either modify the carrier wave (direct
  sequence) or to define a hopping pattern for
  frequencies (frequency hopping).

Policy and Regulatory Aspects of Advanced
Wireless Technologies
Image source http//www.futaba.com/IRC/irctechlib
.htm
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Ultra-wide band (UWB)

• Ultra-wide band is a spread spectrum technology
  that transmits data at very high speeds by
  sending the transmission over a wide range of
  frequencies but at very low power levels.

Policy and Regulatory Aspects of Advanced
Wireless Technologies
Image source ITU adapted fromIntel
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Agile radios

• Agile radios act as frequency scavengers. They
  can broadcast on an unused frequency until the
  agile radio senses another radio trying to use
  the same frequency. At that moment, the radio
  hops frequency to another temporarily unused
  portion of the radio spectrum.

Policy and Regulatory Aspects of Advanced
Wireless Technologies
Frequency
Time
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Software-defined radio

• A wireless communication device where a computer
  controls the transmitter modulation.
• Can be re-programmed to transmit on different
  frequencies.
• Promising applications
• Multiple uses from generic radio terminal
• Mobile phone, cordless phone, pager, WLAN, etc.
• Quick software upgrades to adapt to regulatory
  changes or to different regulatory environments

Policy and Regulatory Aspects of Advanced
Wireless Technologies
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Key policy decisions

• Introducing underlays/noise floor rights
• Allows use of the noise floor by technologies
  such as UWB
• Developing noise temperature measures
• Requires devices to measure the level of
  interference and to transmit accordingly
• Developing co-existence models
• Allows agile devices to operate in bands
  alongside licensed users
• Allowing multi-use or software defined radios

Policy and Regulatory Aspects of Advanced
Wireless Technologies
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Summary

• Introduction to spectrum management
• Increasing demand for spectrum and convergence
  are placing a strain on the traditional Command
  and Control model
• Market-based approaches to spectrum planning
• Greater use of auctions, secondary trading,
  administrative incentive pricing and
  license-exempt use to reflect market forces
• Need to resolve issues of non-commercial use and
  intl constraints
• Policy and regulatory aspects of advanced
  wireless technologies
• Policy has to keep up with technology

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Thank you
http//www.itu.int/itu-r http//www.itu.int/itu-d
/treg http//www.itu.int/spectrum Eric
Lie eric.lie_at_itu.int