Connected
On the Go
Broadband Goes
Wireless
Overview of the
Wireless Broadband Access
Task Force Report
Federal Communications
Commission
February 2005
Connected & On the Go
The FCC’s
Wireless Broadband Access
Task Force
John Branscome, Co-Director
Lauren Van Wazer, Co-Director
Paul Murray, Special Counsel
Erin Boone, Wireline Competition Bureau
Peter Corea, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau
Chelsea Fallon, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau
Leon Jackler, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Meribeth McCarrick, Office of Media Relations
Paul Nagle, Office of Legislative Affairs
To learn more about wireless broadband,
visit the FCC’s web site at:
www.fcc.gov/wbatf
1
Broadband Goes Wireless
The Dawn of a Communications Revolution
We are at the dawn of a digital watch streaming video on a mobile
communications revolution. Ideas that phone.
once resided in the realm of science
fiction are now being transformed into Communities large and small across the
the reality of everyday experience. U.S. are getting connected to
broadband – gaining access to a wealth
Wireless technologies are one of of resources and opportunities not
the major drivers of this revolution. previously available.
These networks are largely invisible to
consumers, yet powerful enough to Wireless broadband technologies are
transform their lives. Wireless offers helping to fuel the engines of our economy.
consumers a new freedom – the ability Indeed, the impact of wireless technologies
to communicate and connect with the is magnified by their ability to be coupled
world anytime, anywhere. with other communications technologies –
including wireline, cable, broadband over
Consumers using wireless power line, and satellite technologies – in
broadband technologies have the ways that enable endless combinations of
freedom to access the Internet mixing and matching of technologies to suit
from coffee shops, on moving the needs of different applications.
trains, and in their own backyards.
The promise of the benefits of wireless
Consumers can access the broadband is no longer reserved only for the
Internet using a single device – to future. The future is now.
make phone calls, pay bills
electronically, and access
entertainment and data – all with a
seamless high-speed wireless
connection. One device now
opens up the world.
Using off-the-shelf equipment
bought at their local electronics A Look at Wireless Broadband
store, Americans now have the in Sioux Falls
power to build their own, in-home
wireless broadband networks, Sioux Falls, South Dakota – Sioux Valley
Wireless (SVW), a long-established service provider
operating at speeds that, until in the Sioux Falls area, is now one of the most active
recently, were far beyond reach. wireless Internet service providers (WISPs) in South
Dakota. In 1989, the company began offering
Technological advances in wireless multichannel video service over its licensed
spectrum in the 2.5 GHz BRS/EBS band. By 1998, it
are occurring at a rapid pace. decided to offer two-way, high-speed fixed wireless
While these technologies are Internet access. To do so effectively, and to provide
powerful and often complex, they coverage not only to Sioux Falls but to surrounding
also bring a refreshing simplicity to areas as well, SVW combined use of this licensed
our lives: laptops with built-in spectrum with spectrum in the 2.4 GHz band, which
permits use of unlicensed devices. SVW’s wireless
wireless capabilities can broadband network consists of cell sites deployed on
automatically locate all of the licensed spectrum using three towers in the Sioux
nearby hotspots, e-mail can be Falls area, each with a 35-mile radius, as well as 2.4
automatically forwarded to a GHz license-exempt equipment deployments that
include areas not covered by the licensed spectrum.
handheld device, and we can now The company offers Internet access speeds of up to
1 Mbps.
2
Connected & On the Go
actively sought the experience, expertise,
and advice of consumers, state and local
governments, industry (such as
equipment manufacturers and service
providers), and other stakeholders across
the nation.
The Task Force sought public
comment on wireless broadband issues,
organized events to promote wireless
broadband, and conducted outreach
efforts across the country – in places
MNN Youth Channel reporters such as New York City; Jacksonville,
conduct a live interview with
Chairman Powell via Wi-Fi. Florida; Rapid City, South Dakota; and
the Bay Area in California. Through these
Wi-Fi in the Big Apple efforts, the Task Force learned about
New York, New York – The Manhattan innovative wireless broadband
Neighborhood Network (MNN) makes use of Wi-Fi technologies being used and developed,
technology in a novel way. MNN provides facilities examined the level of availability of
that allow average citizens to produce their own wireless broadband services, and heard
programs for airing on public access channels in
New York City. Members of the community can rent
the concerns of those involved in the front
top-quality video cameras and produce and edit their lines of these developments. The Task
own programs using off-the-shelf equipment. Force also established an FCC website
Partnering with WISPs and others throughout the devoted to wireless broadband issues –
city, MNN can transmit live video to its studio for www.fcc.gov/wbatf – in order to provide
broadcast. In September 2004, a group of young
people who ran the MNN Youth Channel conducted consumers and industry with useful
a live interview of Chairman Powell at a local hot information regarding wireless broadband
spot in New York, and transmitted it wirelessly back services, and to invite further participation
to the studio using Wi-Fi technology. Now, any Wi-Fi by the diverse and dynamic wireless
hot spot in New York can be a studio for MNN. MNN
demonstrates all the good that can come from hard
broadband community in relevant FCC
work and creativity – it’s a genuine American proceedings.
success story using the unlicensed bands.
The Task Force used the term
“broadband” to describe a general set of
The Task Force transmission capabilities and
characteristics, such as always-on, high-
FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell speed Internet access with a sufficiently
created the Wireless Broadband robust functionality suitable for evolving,
Access Task Force (Task Force) in bandwidth-hungry applications.
May 2004. The mission of the Task
Force – a team of multidisciplinary staff For purposes of this report, the Task
from across several FCC Bureaus and Force limited its review to terrestrial wireless
Offices – was to identify and broadband technologies and services.
recommend changes in FCC policies These wireless broadband services are
that would facilitate the more rapid delivered through use of unlicensed
deployment of wireless broadband (license-exempt) devices or through devices
services for the benefit of all using licensed spectrum, or both. This
Americans. regulatory distinction may not be apparent
to most users – who expect ever-
In looking at ways the FCC could increasingly sophisticated wireless devices
help in making wireless broadband to “just work” regardless of technology or
technologies available, the Task Force spectrum. However, the Task Force’s
3
Broadband Goes Wireless
observations and recommendations to 2. There is a range of innovative
the FCC necessarily reflect these wireless broadband technologies
regulatory distinctions. For example, available to consumers. Wireless
FCC rules permit operation of so- broadband networks can span the length of
called license-exempt devices without a room, a building, reach several miles, or
a user license (for example, services even cover the nation. We are witnessing
using the Wi-Fi standard) as long as exciting technological advances, and
the equipment is FCC-certified and significant growth in both users and uses.
operates at low power levels and with Here is an overview of the different types of
emissions limits designed to prevent wireless broadband networks:
harmful interference to licensed radio
services. License-exempt devices Personal Area Networks use license-
share the same spectrum and must exempt equipment to send signals short
accept any interference that may be distances – a few feet or yards – between
received from other devices. In and among mobile devices (e.g. mobile
contrast, providers using so-called telephones, laptops, PDAs, and cameras)
licensed spectrum (for example, and stationary devices (e.g. computers,
mobile phone providers), once they printers, televisions, personal video
obtain a license through the FCC’s recorders, and home appliances). These
licensing processes, are granted wireless networks not only serve as a
exclusive rights to use specified desirable replacement for numerous wires
spectrum within a defined geographic and cables in the home, but also provide
area and are protected from simple, quick, and seamless
interference from other users. Both interconnectivity among a wide range of
types of wireless broadband play an devices and the data they hold. Broadband
important – and often complementary personal network technologies include
role – in ensuring American’s access Bluetooth, ZigBee, and ultra-wideband.
to these advanced services. Their data transfer speeds range from 300
kbps to 100 Mbps. We expect significant
What We Learned advances in the coming years in these
broadband technologies – both in terms of
1. Wireless broadband data rates and range of coverage.
technologies play a unique role in
bringing broadband to everyone,
everywhere, at any time. Unlike Wireless Broadband Increasingly
other broadband technologies, A Solution in Rural Areas
wireless broadband gives you
“broadband on the go.” Its uniqueness
Percentage of Rural Broadband
lies in its mobility. Either on a free- Subscribers Who Use Wireless Technology
standing basis, or when combined with for Internet Access
other broadband networks, wireless
broadband imparts welcomed new
freedom to users, providing the kinds
of seamless interconnectivity that
Americans increasingly seek. In
addition, wireless broadband plays a 10%
critical role of bringing the benefits of
broadband to rural and underserved
areas in the country, where it often is
the most efficient means of delivering
these services.
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project (2004)
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Connected & On the Go
Local area networks have
Wireless Broadband Technologies been tremendously
successful in expanding
broadband access in recent
years. The number of WISPs
in the U.S. offering “last-mile,”
Personal
Area
fixed, wireless broadband
Networks service – often in rural areas
Local – has grown to between 4,000
Speed Area and 8,000. At the same time,
Networks Metropolitan the number of Wi-Fi “hot
Area
Networks spots” worldwide has grown
significantly and is projected
Mobile
Networks
to reach 150,000 by the end
of 2005. In addition, several
major wireless carriers have
begun using Wi-Fi hot spots
Distance to complement their mobile
cellular services. Significant
advances are expected in the
Local Area Networks typically use IEEE 802.11 family of standards, thus
license-exempt equipment developed enabling further improvements in the
under the IEEE 802.11 family of broadband data rates, coverage, and
standards, commonly referred to as performance.
“Wi-Fi.” They can cover a distance of
up to 300 feet when the network signal Metropolitan Area Networks give
is omni-directional, such as in a Wi-Fi consumers portable, “last-mile” wireless
hot spot. Wi-Fi networks can also broadband access – using devices such as
cover a distance of a few miles when a wireless modem connected to a laptop
the wireless signal is computer – within cities or
used as a direct, point- towns at shared data rates
to-point link between two of up to 75 Mbps. Newly-
fixed locations (with no developed wireless
obstructions such as technologies now allow
trees or buildings in metropolitan network
between). These signals to pass through
directional networks are buildings and trees. This
commonly used by development has eliminated
wireless Internet service the need for a rooftop
providers (WISPs) to antenna and has given
bring “last-mile” consumers the freedom and
broadband connections ease of using smaller, off-
to homes not served by the-shelf, easy-to-install
DSL or cable. Local wireless equipment that
area network speeds they can carry with them to
range from 11 to 54 connect to the Internet in
Mbps. other area locations where
a network signal is
available.
WISP radio transmitter equipment
on a grain elevator in Grimes, Iowa.
5
Broadband Goes Wireless
Wi-Fi Hot Spots Worldwide by Type of Location
(2001-2005)
160,000
140,000 Other
Other
Community Hotspots
Community Hot Spots
120,000 Stations and Ports
Stations and Ports
Enterprise Guesting Areas
100,000 Retail Outlets
Enterprise Guest Areas
Hotels
80,000 Airports Outlets
Retail
60,000 Hotels
40,000 Airports
20,000
-
2001 2002 2003 2004E 2005E
Source: Gartner Dataquest, June 2003 E = estimate
The IEEE has been
developing a metropolitan
network area technology standard
called WiMAX, or 802.16a/d.
Because it is an “open” standard,
WiMAX will allow network
equipment made by different
vendors to work together and will
drive down cost of equipment
production, thereby lowering the
Bringing Broadband to an Alaskan Fishing
cost of devices for consumers.
Village
WiMAX can be used in both
licensed and unlicensed Coffman Cove, Alaska – Coffman Cove is a remote
fishing village with a population of 240 on Prince of
spectrum. The IEEE is also Wales Island, Alaska, where even dial-up Internet
developing a mobile version of access requires a long-distance call. Local leaders were
WiMAX, called 802.16e, which determined to provide its residents with better access to
will give users a high-speed the outside world and give the local economy a boost.
wireless Internet connection while While their village’s location made wireline broadband
access infeasible, local leaders realized that
moving or traveling at high complementary use of satellite and terrestrial wireless
speeds. could provide the necessary level of service at a
reasonable cost. The village established an ISP, to be
Mobile Networks provide owned and run by the local citizens. The village
contracted with SkyFrames to provide satellite backhaul
consumers with extensive, fully service, and deployed a wireless hot spot with a radius
mobile broadband access, of 2 miles surrounding the village center, completing the
including while walking around or network in less than one week. Now more than half of
traveling in vehicles at high the residents of Coffman Cove – as well as the local
speeds. Mobile networks school, library, and local businesses – subscribe to the
service, which offers access to the Internet at data rates
generally use licensed spectrum of up to 1 Mbps. While Coffman Cove still is not served
and cover large areas of the by roads, the villagers now have access to information
country. Over the past sixteen and entertainment, as well as economic opportunities,
months, wireless carriers have previously unimaginable.
6
Connected & On the Go
Mobile Broadband Deployment by Technology
(January 2005)
CDMA 1xEV-DO
WCDMA/UMTS
Flash-OFDM
begun to deploy mobile broadband
technologies, such as CDMA 1xEV-DO Mesh Networks
and UMTS/WCDMA, as overlays on
their existing cellular networks, and
many have announced plans to launch
or expand these technologies in the
near future. Carriers are now
providing mobile wireless broadband
services to millions of Americans at
speeds ranging from 300 kbps to over
one Mbps. It is expected that networks
using EV-DO technologies, for
instance, will be available to 150
million Americans by the end of 2005.
Mesh Networks are an example of
some of the additional advances in
wireless technology and may enable a
more flexible and more efficient
expansion of wireless broadband
Mesh networks allow multiple points of connection to a
services. Mesh networks are a wireless network, with no central tower. The network
relatively new and evolving type of consists of shorter distances between nodes, enabling
network. Unlike the technologies each antenna to broadcast at lower power and thereby
creating less risk for interference.
7
Broadband Goes Wireless
Video on Mobile Phones o mobile applications for
In the ever-increasing variety of new and enhanced mobile commuters, such as on trains and
services, one recent entrant has been the introduction of
video services offered over mobile devices. Subscribers ferries; and
can use so-called smart phones to download and view a o educational applications, such as
range of different channels – from news to sports to soap creating a “wireless” campus that
operas. MobiTV was the first mobile television service connects students with school
launched in the United States. It is currently available to
Sprint, Cingular, and Midwest Wireless subscribers and
networks.
offers programming available with cable television,
including the Discovery Channel, CSPAN, and CNBC, and These are but a few of the
it includes programming customized for mobile wireless broadband applications that
subscribers. Verizon Wireless recently launched its mobile exist today. Tomorrow promises
streaming video service – VCAST – which is available on
phones that use its EV-DO network technology. In even greater growth and innovation.
addition to traditional programming, Verizon’s service also
includes short, made-for-mobile episodes – often called 4. Significant growth in the
“mobisodes” – of existing and new programs, including wireless broadband market can be
“24” and several new soap operas. Other planned mobile
video programming services also have been announced.
expected. Recent trends
In November 2004, Qualcomm announced its MediaFLO demonstrate the tremendous
service, which will be deployed over a network dedicated potential of wireless in the delivery of
exclusively for mobile music and video. Qualcomm’s broadband services to Americans.
service will include access to between 50-100 channels, More Americans – approximately 170
including 15 live programs.
million – rely on wireless phones than
ever before. In addition, growing
described above, in which each “node” numbers of Americans use wireless
(or consumer device) in the network devices – such as cell phones and Wi-Fi
communicates only with a central enabled laptops – to connect to the Internet.
antenna or base station, each node in According to one recent analysis, 41% of all
a mesh network can also function as Internet users – or 56 million Americans –
an access point and transmit data to all use devices that are capable of accessing
of the other nearby nodes. the Internet wirelessly. The percentage of
younger Americans that use such wireless
3. Wireless broadband devices is significantly higher, and their
technologies improve the quality of demand for mobile communications, as well
consumers’ lives. Along with the
advances in wireless broadband Wireless Broadband
networks and technologies, described Supporting Public Safety
above, come a host of new and
exciting uses, or applications, which
provide people with more ways to be
“more connected” and simplify their
communications with work, home, and
friends. Some examples include:
o Wi-Fi hot spots;
o personalized mobile access to
music and video entertainment;
o public safety applications;
o community networks;
o surveillance applications, such as
There are numerous ways in which the public safety
ensuring building security and community can use wireless broadband technologies to
improving transportation support their mission-critical work. Here, a police officer
monitoring; with the Pennsylvania State University Police Department
uses a laptop computer with a mobile broadband
connection to obtain real-time information, such as drivers
license records, vehicle registrations, and local crime data. 8
Connected & On the Go
broadband over both the near and
An Increasingly Wireless World long term. We expect the following
Wireless vs. Wireline Usage
trends to drive this growth: greater
900 network deployment, lower
equipment costs, new applications
800 such as video and Voice-over-IP
(VoIP), new and enhanced device
700
features such as longer battery life,
600 improved pricing plans, and the
increasing convergence and
500 integration of wireless broadband
Billions
with other broadband delivery
400
mechanisms.
300
FCC Accomplishments
200
Wireless Minutes
Wireless MOUs
Interstate Wireline Minutes
The FCC’s recent wireless
100 Interstate Switched Access Minutes
broadband policies have fostered
0 continued innovation. These policies
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 have helped to encourage capital
Americans now spend more time talking on their cell phones
than their wireline phones. This familiarity with wireless is
investment in wireless broadband
likely to help drive demand for wireless broadband. and to deliver new and empowering
technologies and applications to
American consumers.
as their comfort and familiarity with
these technologies, will serve to further Providing Spectrum
enhance demand.
The FCC has significantly increased the
Future developments will also spectrum available for wireless broadband
stimulate significant growth in wireless services. In 2003, the FCC made an
additional 255 MHz of spectrum
available in the 5 GHz band for
Wireless Broadband: Building on the unlicensed devices and
increased by nearly 50 percent
Success of Two High-Growth Industries
the spectrum available for
200
licensed mobile wireless
Total Mobile Telephone broadband services. In addition,
Subscribers in 2004, the FCC proposed to
160 Total High Speed Lines allow unlicensed wireless
devices to operate in the vacant
120 channels of certain television
Millions
broadcast bands and proposed
rule changes governing 50 MHz
80
of spectrum in the 3 GHz band to
foster the introduction of new
40 and advanced wireless
broadband services. In 2003,
0 the FCC dedicated 50 MHz of
spectrum in the 4.9 GHz band
Source: FCC 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
suitable for wireless broadband
The emerging wireless broadband market will capitalize on the applications in support of public
widespread use of mobile phones and the growing demand for safety services.
broadband connections.
9
Broadband Goes Wireless
proposed changes to promote the use of
smart radio technologies to facilitate more
flexible, efficient and reliable spectrum
use.
In 2003 and 2004, the FCC also
established new policies and rules that
permit parties seeking access to spectrum
to enter into a wide variety of spectrum
leasing arrangements which enable them
to access – with reduced transaction costs
Grain Elevators and Wireless Broadband – the amount of licensed wireless
Amarillo, Texas – AMATechTel of Amarillo, TX spectrum they may need to provide
is one of the largest regional WISPs in the U.S., wireless broadband services.
serving approximately 4,000 customers across
20,000 square miles in northern Texas. The vast
reach of AMATechTel’s network is a result of its
In 2004 the FCC also provided
affiliation with Attebury Grain, a large grain storage additional flexibility in the 2.5 GHz band,
company that hired AMATechTel to connect the which spans almost 200 MHz of radio
company’s grain elevators to the commodities spectrum that is ideal for wireless
market via a wireless network. After the project was
broadband. Licensees and their spectrum
completed, the two companies joined forces to
expand this network, using the top of Attebury’s lessees in the band will now be able to
grain elevators as towers, to transmit wireless develop and deploy innovative
signals to provide Internet access to surrounding technologies, including low-power, mobile
areas. AMATechTel supplies broadband to wireless broadband technologies.
communities that are not currently served by cable
and DSL providers, and have no other means of
receiving broadband service. It uses license-exempt Enabling Continued Network Growth
spectrum and radio transmitters to provide its service
to subscribers such as school systems, universities, Sufficient infrastructure, particularly
hospitals, banks, and public safety agencies
antennas and towers, is critical to ensuring
throughout the region.
the degree of reliability, higher speeds,
and lower latency that are required to
provide high-quality broadband services.
Allowing Choice
The FCC has taken many steps to
When wireless providers have the facilitate the deployment of infrastructure for
flexibility to choose which technologies wireless broadband networks. For example,
and services to deploy, as well as an in 2004 the FCC clarified that consumers
innovative means of obtaining access can install and place Wi-Fi, mesh, and
to spectrum, they have the ability and related license-exempt equipment, in
the incentive to deploy the services, addition to other types of wireless
features, and functions that Americans equipment, on their property without
desire. restrictions from landlords, home owners’
associations, or state and local
The FCC has made substantial governments. The FCC also clarified its
efforts to allow licensees and parties infrastructure sharing policies to encourage
seeking access to spectrum the licensees and equipment manufacturers to
flexibility to use spectrum for its enter into beneficial infrastructure sharing
highest and best purposes. For arrangements. And the FCC adopted
example, the FCC revised its antenna measures to facilitate the ability of wireless
rules in 2004 to enable deployment of broadband providers to construct
advanced technologies used by communications towers and other FCC-
unlicensed wireless networks and also licensed facilities when it streamlined the
10
Connected & On the Go
National Historic Preservation Act understanding emerging technologies and
review process for these facilities. in ensuring that existing regulatory policies
do not get in the way of these advances.
What We Recommend Innovative technologies call for innovative
regulatory policies. And the American
To ensure that our nation’s public benefits most when regulatory
regulatory policies concerning wireless policies enable consumers and businesses
broadband do not impede innovation to fully tap the benefits of emerging wireless
or delay service availability across technologies.
America, the FCC should be vigilant
and proactive in identifying and Building upon the FCC’s actions to date,
the Task Force
recommends that the
SU
With private industry FCC take the following
initiatives like BANC, wireless steps to speed the
SU broadband providers can
SU SU SU
work together to avoid deployment of wireless
SU AP interfering with one another broadband to American
and to provide more reliable consumers:
SU
service to consumers. The
SU different colors in the diagram
SU
above represent the License-Exempt
separate, and non-interfering,
SU
SU networks of individual WISPs,
Equipment
AP
with the lines depicting the
AP
SU SU “last mile” wireless links used We believe the
SU to serve individual customers.
following
SU SU
recommendations will
continue and enhance
SU
the success of wireless
SU broadband via license-
SU SU
SU exempt devices and
equipment.
SU AP
SU
Promote voluntary
frequency
Private Solution Increases Wireless coordination efforts
Broadband Service Quality by private industry –
San Francisco Bay Area, California – The Broadband Access Network
such as those
Coordination (BANC) organization provides a model of how WISPs using already successfully
the license-exempt bands to provide wireless broadband services can deployed in some of
work together to avoid interfering with one another and provide higher the more congested
quality, more reliable service. BANC consists of several WISPs that serve parts of the country –
the San Francisco Bay Area and use the 5 GHz license-exempt bands to
establish “last mile” fixed wireless connections to their customers. As to mitigate potential
members of BANC, these WISPs pre-coordinate their network links in interference among
order to reduce interference. As an increasing number of WISPs have users of license-
begun to provide broadband service using the license-exempt bands, exempt spectrum.
interference has become a significant concern, particularly for those
WISPs serving densely-populated areas like Northern California.
Interference degrades broadband service quality by causing periodic Promote voluntary
outages and lowering connection speeds. industry “best
practices” (e.g.,
BANC members frequently exchange information with one another network planning and
about new links, system tests, and unknown sources of interference via a
Yahoo! chat group. BANC also maintains detailed information, using design, rule
specially-designed software, on where its members have deployed their compliance) among
network links. This system allows members to scan the available unlicensed users.
spectrum in order to pre-coordinate and register new, non-interfering links
before activating them. The BANC system has been adopted in other
11 parts of the country, including Los Angeles and San Diego.
Broadband Goes Wireless
Consider increasing the The coverage
area of the
transmission power limits in certain Grand Haven
bands available for use by network
unlicensed devices in order to
improve their utility for license-
exempt WISPs.
Work closely with license-exempt
WISPs to address, on a proactive
basis, their needs relating to FCC
policies and regulations.
Consider hosting a WISP forum on Town of Grand Haven and Local Provider
an annual or periodic basis to Work To Give Residents Better Broadband
provide additional opportunities for
Grand Haven, Michigan – When the town of
WISPs and consumers to share Grand Haven determined that it wanted to provide its
their views on issues before the residents with higher speeds and better broadband
FCC. coverage than was available, the city found a willing
partner in Ottowa Wireless. Ottowa Wireless is a
Work closely with the wireless local business that was granted a non-exclusive
contract to place access points on city-owned
broadband industry to ensure that, buildings and utility poles. Grand Haven now has Wi-
where necessary, the FCC Fi coverage over its entire six square mile downtown
addresses unlawful intentional area at subscription rates comparable to those in
violations, such as jamming and larger markets. Ottowa Wireless has also begun
deployment of a VoIP handset to provide voice
power boosting, of the technical service throughout the coverage area, bringing a new
rules applicable to unlicensed competitor to the local phone market.
wireless broadband devices.
Licensed Spectrum
and public safety, and facilitate its
We recommend the following use during the interim period.
policy changes in order to expand the • When adopting spectrum band
availability of wireless broadband plans, consider new flexible
services offered using in licensed configurations – such as allowing
spectrum. pairing of asymmetric bands – that
may be particularly conducive to
Improve access to licensed wireless broadband applications.
spectrum –
• Explore innovative ways to put Increase the technical and regulatory
valuable spectrum on the flexibility of FCC rules applicable to the
market through further use of licensed spectrum –
improvements and streamlining • Adopt more “flexible use” policies
of the FCC’s spectrum that remove impediments to the use
allocation and assignment of new and advanced wireless
process. broadband technologies and
• Given that spectrum in the 700 applications.
MHz band is ideal for wireless • Consider providing incumbent
broadband services, expedite licensees in restrictive bands with
the transition of the Digital additional flexibility, either by
Television (DTV) spectrum for granting significant new flexibility to
advanced wireless services existing licensees or by using
12
Connected & On the Go
creative market-based auction
mechanisms.
• Further facilitate secondary
market arrangements that
provide wireless broadband
service providers with easy
access to licensed spectrum, in
places and amounts that they
need, and enhance
opportunities for more efficient
and “dynamic” sharing of the
same spectrum among different
users and uses made
increasingly possible by today’s
and tomorrow’s technologies.
Apply a pro-competitive, innovative
framework – one that imposes the Companies are increasingly combining both wireless and
wireline technologies to bring broadband to consumers. In
fewest regulatory barriers at both Palatka, FL, a wireless base station on a water tower is used
the federal and state level – to to extend a broadband provider’s network to areas where it
wireless broadband services to was not feasible to deploy DSL. The inset shows the wireless
maximize consumer benefits – broadband modems used by customers.
• Consider classifying wireless
broadband as an “information ensure that there is consistent and
service” – consistent with the minimal state regulation of
FCC’s determination regarding nationwide wireless broadband
broadband services offered deployment.
over cable networks and its
tentative conclusion regarding Converging Networks
broadband offered over wireline
– in order to minimize potential The FCC should take a pro-active,
regulatory hurdles at both the forward-looking approach as wireless
federal and state level. broadband networks begin to be used in
• Consider examining whether combination with other broadband service
wireless broadband constitutes networks and services.
an “interstate service” so as to
minimize potential regulatory Consider, in ongoing and upcoming
hurdles at both the federal and proceedings, the impact of the
state level. increasingly rapid convergence of
• Alternatively, clarify the scope wireless broadband with other
of the deregulatory principles broadband technologies and services.
applicable to Commercial
Mobile Radio Services (CMRS) Evaluate, on an ongoing basis, whether
– which laid the foundation for it is time to streamline the regulatory
rapid deployment of mobile treatment that applies to different
voice and data services over broadband access technologies and
the last decade. services.
• Similarly, consider clarifying the
scope of state authority in Look for opportunities to remove
setting “other terms and outdated rules, and accord an
conditions” relating to wireless increasingly flexible regulatory
broadband services so as to environment for service providers, to
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Broadband Goes Wireless
facilitate the convergence of maintenance of an FCC web page
wireless broadband and other dedicated to wireless broadband
broadband services and issues).
technologies.
Conclusion
Continued Outreach Efforts
This is an exciting time for wireless
We believe the FCC should build broadband. Through technological
upon and improve its existing outreach advances, innovative new applications, and
efforts with the following actions. ever-increasing deployment of wireless
broadband networks in both urban and rural
Continue the effective collaboration America, our nation is poised to experience
with other federal agencies – such the great freedom and promise enabled by
as the National wireless broadband. Building upon the
Telecommunications and strong foundation that the FCC already has
Information Administration (NTIA), established over the last few years, the
USDA’s Rural Utilities Service, the Task Force recommends additional steps
Appalachian Regional Commission the FCC could take to further foster wireless
and Delta Regional Authority, and broadband and facilitate these exciting
the Department of Homeland developments.
Security – to facilitate the more
rapid development of wireless
broadband.
In addition, collaborate more
effectively with state and local
governmental organizations to
promote wireless broadband
deployment.
Two Innovative Wireless Broadband
Build upon and improve the FCC’s Services in Jacksonville
current outreach efforts with Jacksonville, Florida – Clearwire began offering
consumers, institutional users, and wireless broadband service in Jacksonville in August
the industry (including both service 2004. The service is now available to 120,000
homes in the area, covering over 100 square miles,
providers and equipment and delivers speeds up to 1.5 Mbps. Users connect
providers) – to the Internet via a portable, plug-and-play wireless
• Improve the FCC’s analysis of modem device attached to a personal computer or
the wireless broadband laptop, and can access the service when roaming
anywhere within the Jacksonville coverage area.
industry – for inclusion in either Clearwire’s technology relies on licensed spectrum
the CMRS Competition or in the 2.5 GHz BRS/EBS band.
Section 706 reports – to help
inform the development of FCC In addition, the city of Jacksonville has created a
policies that eliminate outdated community wireless network that provides Internet
access to those who cannot afford it. Through a
regulatory barriers to the non-profit organization known as JaxWiz,
deployment of wireless underprivileged residents of Jacksonville are
broadband. provided with free computers, training, and
• Improve outreach to the public broadband wireless Internet connections. JaxWiz
began with a partnership among the city
and the wireless broadband government, public agencies, and private companies
industry to provide helpful and donors who were interested in creating a
information relating to wireless network to offer low-income communities Internet
broadband (including the access. Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton describes
JaxWiz as a catalyst for literacy and community
development.
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