The ICT revolution and spectrum reform

Over the last two decades, information and communication technologies (ICT) have evolved quickly, making it hard to draw a line between the two. New silicon technologies associated with more powerful applications have generated integration and massive processing and communication capabilities around IP.

These developments have changed the way we work, communicate, shop, see movies or listen to our favorite songs. They have also dramatically increased worker productivity which is a key determinant of living standards in today’s global market.

For example, mobility was practically a non existent concept before the 80’s, but in 2005 there were over 2 billion cellular subscribers in the world. Likewise, broadband now reaches more than 200 million subscribers from barely 5 million in 1999.

The challenge for policymakers is to create a regulatory environment especially in the management of the radio spectrum that will sustain these amazing trends and create an environment that allows innovation especially new wireless technologies to flourish.

Wi-Fi & WiMAX

The history of Wi-Fi (802.11) and WiMAX (802.16) wireless technologies demonstrates how important it is for industry and the government policy makers to work together to promote innovation and benefit customers.

Highly successful Wi-Fi now attaches to 90% of all new notebooks shipped today, connecting in roughly 100 thousand hotspots around the world. Wi-Fi has promoted new business models, new services and applications, and continues to evolve.

This Wi-Fi track record was made possible by the entire whole industry coming together around an open standard that addressed the powerful customer demand for mobility. But Wi-Fi also benefited from a favorable regulatory framework. In order to become the success it is, Wi-Fi required access to unlicensed spectrum and technical characteristics. Industry and most administrations cooperated to create an environment that permitted the standard to happen. 

WiMAX has a shorter history. The fixed WiMAX solution did not become a standard until 2004, but we already can identify elements that suggest it can become as successful as Wi-Fi. WiMAX can make wireless access even more useful and cheaper, but it requires a major industry effort to create the necessary standards. Much has already been achieved. The number of WiMAX trials is growing, with over 100 around the world. WiMAX in less than two years came from the ratification of the standard (802.16-2004) to product certification and homologation, to commercial implementations. The same is happening with WiMAX mobile (802.16-2005), already approved and with a strong pipeline of pilots scheduled to happen.

Spectrum Reform

In order to assure that high quality broadband is widely deployed and affordable, government policy makers need to adopt a new way of managing the radio spectrum. For many years it was accepted that spectrum needed to be tightly managed to avoid interference and to maximize economic and social benefits. This current spectrum management approach, sometimes called “command and control,” was driven in part by the limits of the radio technology used in the 1940s and 1950s.

Technology innovation makes today’s severe spectrum scarcity artificial. Radios are now smarter than previous generations, allowing different technologies to coexist, operating in the same spectrum bands. However, to fully take advantage of these improvements, regulators need to use innovative approaches to dynamically manage spectrum bands. Also, new spectrum management techniques can manage interference and still give licensees more freedom to accommodate customer demands.

Accordingly, Intel advocates that government policymakers adopt the policies of technology neutrality and flexible use when allocating spectrum bands:

• Technology neutrality gives licensees the freedom and flexibility to deploy the technologies of their choice, following their commercial interests rather than technology mandates. Indeed, the rapid pace of innovation makes it likely that any mandatory rule will quickly become outdated or obsolete. Technology neutrality maximizes innovation, creates conditions to promote new services, reduces investment risks and stimulates competition among different technologies.
   
• Flexible use allows licensees to decide on the best business models for a particular place and time. For example, they can move from fixed to portable and mobile services, as long as the licensee operates within specified power limits and technical parameters defined by regulators to ensure efficient, safe and fair use of spectrum.

Conclusion

Together, these two regulatory policies can foster the development of new wireless services and applications and help continue the ICT revolution. Intel believes that nations who intelligently manage spectrum will be far better positioned to benefit from the coming revolution in advanced radio technologies than those who do not.  The citizens of nations who anticipate and plan for the revolution in radio technology will benefit from better broadband connectivity, availability of cheaper access devices and ultimately, a higher standard of living.

Peter Pitsch
Communications Policy Director
INTEL