international telecommunication union 1 the views expressed in this paper are those of the author...

International Telecommunication Union

1 The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the ITU or its Membership.

Eric LieTelecommunication

Development BureauITU

ITU-WTO Workshop on Telecom and ICT Regulation

Geneva, Switzerland1 - 7 December 2004

Radio Spectrum Management for a

Converging World


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Presentation Overview Introduction to spectrum management

• Role of spectrum management • Int’l 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

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International Framework ITU

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

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Regional Organizations• Regional co-ordination • Harmonization

• e.g. European Commission

Bilateral Agreements• Cross-border co-

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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

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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

Strain on traditional command and control model of spectrum planning

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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

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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

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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”

Secondary Trading (1)

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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 gainsM

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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


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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.

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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

Licence-exempt Spectrum

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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.

A Flexible Framework

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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

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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 spectrumP

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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).

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.

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.

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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

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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

Key policy decisions

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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 int’l constraints

Policy and regulatory aspects of advanced wireless technologies• Policy has to keep up with technology


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Thank youhttp://www.itu.int/itu-r

http://www.itu.int/itu-d/treg

http://www.itu.int/spectrum

Eric [email protected]

international telecommunication union 1 the views expressed in this paper are those of the author...

Documents

spectrum management

spectrum planning slide

packaging spectrum

radio spectrum management

efficient use of spectrum

spectrum new technologies

national framework spectrum

control model of spectrum