Solving the Spectrum Crisis:

Paths to Bandwidth Abundance

Open Spectrum and White Spaces Technologies
ICTP University of Trieste, Italy
March 12, 2014
Michael Calabrese
Director, Wireless Future Program
Open Technology Institute
New America Foundation
calabrese@newamerica.net
Public Interest Spectrum Coalition
Unlicensed Access to Vacant TV Channels was first
advocated in the U.S. by NGOs to facilitate:
Wireless broadband for rural and unserved areas: Economic
development is increasingly linked to broadband access
More robust Wi-Fi networks as both a complement (offload)
and alternative (competition) to licensed carrier networks

The U.S. NGO White Space Coalition included:

Consumer Federation of America
Consumers Union
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
EDUCAUSE (University CTOs)
National Hispanic Media Coalition
Free Press
Public Knowledge
New America Foundation
Native Public Media . . . (and other groups)
The Untethered User:
Internet Everywhere
Ericsson: Mobile data traffic will grow 12X over
next 5 years (2018)

Cisco VNI: Projects continued mobile data
compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 66%
for 2012 - 2017

FCC: The broadband spectrum deficit is likely
to approach 300 MHz by 2014

Mobile broadband take-up could double:
50% smartphone adoption (US/UK)
20% households own a tablet (US/UK)
Conventional Wisdom:
Spectrum is Scarce
Reality: Government Licenses are Scarce
Reality: Spectrum Bandwidth is
Abundant (80% not in use < 3 GHz)

Two Parallel Paths to Bandwidth Abundance:

1. Short Run: Wi-Fi Offload on Unlicensed
Bands

2. Longer Run: Use it or Share it Dynamic
Spectrum Access to underutilized bands
(both licensed and Government spectrum)

The Great Disconnect:
Scarcity Amidst Abundance
Spectrum Crisis?
Why Mobile Carriers Cant Meet Demand
Running out of spectrum for exclusive licensing
All prime spectrum is assigned
Takes too long and too expensive to clear for auction

Cell site bottleneck limits spectrum re-use
Cell sites increasing < 15% / year
Mobile data demand increasing > 60% / year

Mobile market competition
More competing carriers requires more total spectrum

Unwillingness to invest where returns are positive
but bring down average ARPU/ROI (rural areas)
Wi-Fi to the Rescue:
Offloads Surging Mobile Device Traffic
Wi-Fi offload > 50% of total mobile data in U.S. -- more in Europe
Observed and Projected Mobile Data Offload (EC Study, 8/13)
Cumulative UK, Germany, France, Italy

Nomadic is the New Mobile
The difference between wireline and
wireless is blurring . . .

Critical to distinguish two types of
mobile:
Truly mobile (on the go)
Nomadic (home, work, caf, outdoors near a
wire)
Relatively little smartphone data usage is truly mobile.
European Commission study (Aug. 2013)


Mobile device use by location: Two-thirds at home or work (15% on the go)
Nomadic Apps Drive Demand
Video is driving mobile device traffic
a majority now (Verizon) and two-
thirds by 2016 (Cisco)

> 85% is watched indoors and even
more near a wired LAN

Already surveys show 80% of
consumers prefer to connect via Wi-Fi
(cheaper, faster, easier, more reliable)
Preferred Network Access: Wi-Fi or Cellular?

Wi-Fi is a Windfall for Mobile Carriers as Well
Consumer Federation of America Study: > $20B savings per year
European Commission: For EU-27, $35B Euros now, $200B/year by 2016

Scarcity to Abundance:
Small Cells and Open Spectrum
As high-capacity wireline networks become
ubiquitous, mobile devices can transmit data
short distances, at low power, over shared
spectrum, and into less traffic-sensitive wired
networks replacing the spectrum crunch
with bandwidth abundance.

Wireline ISPs recognize this . . . They are
provisioning dense Wi-Fi hotspot networks and
lobbying for more unlicensed spectrum.

Carrier-Provisioned Wi-Fi Networks
Blanketing Urban Areas Worldwide
BT Wi-Fi > 5 million hotspots in UK
500,000 in London
7 sq. mile WMAN central London
Part of FON Consortiums > 8 million hotspots

Free Mobile (France) > 4 million hotspots
Built on wireline subs of parent, Iliad

China Mobile > 2 million
Projecting 70% offload rates

U.S. Cable Consortium (5 companies)
200,000 hotspots (mostly outdoors/urban)
Comcast: Adopting FON model ~ potential 20 million
hotspots

Needed: More Open Spectrum for
Community Networking and Rural Areas
Location, Location, Location!
TV Band Spectrum (< 1 GHz) is uniquely valuable:
- Larger Coverage Areas
- Lower Infrastructure Costs
- Better In-Building Penetration
Unlicensed Spectrum Enables
Small Business WISPs to Serve
Rural and Other Unserved Areas
WISPs in the U.S.
Approx 2,000
Serve approx. 3 million
people in rural, small
town, unserved areas
Most are small, local
businesses
Often the only local ISP
TVWS allows WISPs to
expand coverage of
unserved areas at
affordable prices
TVWS: Cost-Effective Community Networks
Targeting Unserved Rural Areas
In a rural, forested and rugged Maryland
County, wireless backhaul from distant
State fiber to TVWS base station hubs . . .
. . . will connect 3,000 unserved
homes and businesses to > 3 mbps
Wi-Fi service for $30/month.
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AIR.U: University of West Virginia
TV White Space Network Blankets
University tram system with Wi-Fi
Connectivity
White Space Network Extends Public
Wi-Fi Internet Access (Fixed & Mobile)
15,000 Student/Faculty Commuters per day
3.5 miles of track 5 station platforms
21
University W. Virginia
Personal Rapid Transit System
PRT route
identified in
orange
Whats Next for White space and DSA?

M2M: Sensor Networks, Smart Home, Mobile Payments
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Whats Next for White Space?
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Whats Next for White Space and DSA?
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Extending the Wi-Fi Model:
Use it or Share it
U.S. National Broadband Plan (2010):
The FCC should spur further development and deployment of opportunistic
uses across more radio spectrum. (p. 95)

Licenses are for exclusive use not non-use.
Under Communications Act, unused capacity remains
available to the public.

Proposal: Identify and open the most underutilized and useful
bands for opportunistic sharing on a secondary basis . . .

. . . Subject to band-by-band conditions protecting incumbent
uses from interference:
Transmit power limits
Geographic exclusion zones
Coordination with geolocation database (connected devices)
Sensing/DFS
Remote preemption/updating/disabling (policy radios)
PCAST: Overarching Recommendations

Presidents Council of Advisers on Science and
Technology (PCAST) advised President Obama to:

Issue an Executive Order stating the USG policy is
to share underutilized Federal spectrum (issued
June 2013)

Identify 1,000 MHz of Federal spectrum for sharing
with the private sector, starting with the 3550-3700
MHz band (FCC rulemaking opened Dec. 2012)

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Create shared-use Spectrum Superhighways:
3 tiers of access to Underused Federal Bands

Expand on TVDB to develop a Spectrum Access
System to enforce band-by-band rules of the
road (interference protections)

Emphasize small cell, low-power, spectrum re-use
PCAST: 3-Tier Hierarchy of Access
Spectrum Access System
Dynamic Spectrum Access
Secure
DSA
Geo-location
Database
Available
Frequency
List
Spectrum-
sensing
Input(s)
Secure
band-by-
band
Database
Input(s)
Registered
Base Station
Frequency
Query
Advantages of Building on
the TV Bands Database
No permanent assignments, no stranded users
o Any band or channel can be listed for access then de-listed

Access to additional bands can be subject to unique
access/operating conditions (e.g., TTLs: time-to-live)

Preemption, shut down and priority access can
protect primary operations

Any Tragedy of the Commons can be avoided
o A ceiling on the noise floor: At any time/place, access can
be limited or rationed via micro-payments

Devices can sense and share data on spectrum
environment (improving QoS)
Dynamic Device Management: SAS can help
manage cooperative sharing (e.g., variable power)
PCAST: Shared Use Spectrum Superhighway

NTIA Fast Track Bands: 12 bands identified and prioritized,
950 MHz of which is contiguous (2700 to 3650 MHz)

Source: NTIA, Second Interim Progress Report on the Ten-Year Plan and Timetable,
October 17, 2011
Whats Next for White Space
3.5 GHz NPRM:
Citizens Broadband Service
FCCs Notice of Proposed Rule Making:
FCC: Modeled on the spectrum access framework proposed in
the PCAST Report.
Three-tiered licensing/interference protection framework:
o Incumbent Access (Federal primaries)
o Priority Access (50 mhz licensed by rule for mission critical indoor use)
o General Authorized Access (opportunistic, but must register in SAS)
An SAS incorporating a dynamic database and, potentially,
other mitigation techniques . . . Modeled after TVWS database
Priority Access and GAA would be low power, small cell
o Exception: Higher GAA power in non-congested areas (akin to 3650)
FCCs Notice of Proposed Rule Making:
Spectrum Act of 2012 required an FCC proceeding on
unlicensed use of an additional 195 MHz by Feb. 2013






Outdoor devices now permitted in 455 MHz (subject to DFS):

Proposed: 775 MHz contiguous, for indoor and outdoor use

to support wide-channel, high-capacity 802.11ac standard
Whats Next for White Space
Extending 5 GHz Unlicensed
THANK YOU!


QUESTIONS?

Contact:
Michael Calabrese
Open Technology Institute
New America Foundation
calabrese@newamerica.net
33 6/11/2014