Spectrum Bridge Selected as TV Bands Device Database Administrator

Yesterday, an order was released by the Federal Communications Commission and the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) conditionally appointing Spectrum Bridge as a TV White Spaces Database Administrator. This follows the FCC’s unanimous approval of the white spaces rules from September 23rd, allowing for the use of unused TV spectrum by new broadband networks and devices.

We would like to extend our thanks to the FCC and the OET for their decision to appoint Spectrum Bridge as one of the TV White Spaces Database Service Providers. This decision is a critical step in the white spaces proceeding, paving the way for great innovation in technology, and will help to realize the potential of unlicensed spectrum and spectrum databases as solutions for alleviating the spectrum shortage. As Chairman Genachowski said in his speech at the Consumer Electronics show in January, “the future success of this wide-ranging industry and others depends on whether our government acts quickly to unleash more spectrum -- the oxygen that sustains our mobile devices.”

TV White Spaces are positioned to play a major role in the future of wireless technology, and we, along with other major industry players, will continue to develop and demonstrate technological innovations in this space. Our four trial networks, showcasing a multitude of applications, are a testament to our success in TV White Spaces, and we are looking forward to bringing this success to a commercial level.

We have also released an updated version of our TV White spaces search tool, ShowMyWhiteSpace, in accordance with the FCC’s updated white spaces rules. The updated version includes enhancements to the interactive TV White Space Map and channel query interface, accessible via our website. Visit our website to learn more about our database, or partnering with Spectrum Bridge.

- Neeraj Srivastava, VP of Marketing & Business Development

Continuing the Momentum in White Spaces

Last week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski addressed the country’s looming spectrum challenge, saying, “Though we can’t see it, spectrum is becoming increasingly essential to the daily lives of almost every American. This invisible infrastructure is the backbone of a growing percentage of our economy and our lives….In 2011, a central priority at the FCC is unleashing spectrum to spur innovation, economic growth, and job creation."

In his remarks, he mentioned Spectrum Bridge as an example of a company, “investing in developing technology” and leading “innovation around unlicensed spectrum and Super Wi-Fi…” Spectrum Bridge would like to extend our thanks to the Chairman for this recognition and applaud the FCC’s efforts to improve our nation’s communications infrastructure by expanding access to broadband and wireless services via progressive policies.

Chairman Genachowski also noted, “I hope to see companies large and small bring Super Wi-Fi and other products using this spectrum to next year's CES.” In order to achieve this ambitious goal, it will take more than progressive policies – it will also take decisive action. We ask for the FCC’s help in continuing the momentum, and eagerly await their decision on White Spaces database administrators and certification requirements.

Spectrum Bridge stands ready to move forward aggressively, once the FCC has completed these important actions, to expand the reach and quality of wireless services through innovative spectrum management and sharing technologies to help deliver Chairman Genachowski's vision. To learn more about Spectrum Bridge, and how our database-driven technology is helping to deliver alternative solutions for managing bandwidth, click here.

Neeraj Srivastava, VP of Marketing & Business Development

Spectrum and Wireless Broadband – Where do we go from here?

While many were debating the pros and cons of net neutrality the past few weeks, the FCC subtly released a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) “Promoting More Efficient Use of Spectrum Through Dynamic Spectrum Use Technologies”. To summarize, the FCC has asked the telecommunications industry for comments on how we can better utilize “dynamic spectrum access radios and techniques” to support the expanding mobile broadband usage.

As noted in the Ars Technica blog posted last week, some of the FCC proposals under consideration include:

• Extending the current white space device service, which relies on databases telling you what spectrum is available for use at any given moment

• Continue to advance sensing technologies, allowing current license owners a way to lease their unused or underutilized spectrum to other parties

• Developing technologies to group non-contiguous spectrum usage, creating more available bandwidth
  

Spectrum is the backbone of the telecommunications industry, the most critical component of enabling wireless communications. We cannot wait for more spectrum to become available to keep pace with consumer’s bandwidth demands while supporting existing network infrastructures. As with the wireless evolution of the past two decades, there is opportunity today for many new technologies to arise as solutions are proposed and developed for a more efficient spectrum utilization model.

So what can the industry do to improve broadband connections? At Spectrum Bridge, we support the Commission’s ideas, believing equipment flexibility, improved spectrum management and a better understanding of usage can benefit the industry today, without major upheavals or rule changes. Our four White Space trial networks have successfully demonstrated the “database access model” works for managing shared access for unlicensed devices in the TV bands. And SpecEx has always been about creating a marketplace where holders and buyers of spectrum could come together and leverage the secondary spectrum market, enabling spectrum to flow more freely in response to economic demand. Read more about how we are continuing to improve software and services for next generation wireless networking.

And we encourage all to add comments to the FCC Notice of Inquiry, sharing your ideas and recommendations to improve the current processes; responses are due on February 28, 2011 and can be submitted here, proceeding number 10-237.

Peter Stanforth, Chief Technology Officer

Spectrum, Spectrum, Spectrum

Last week, the FCC released a notice of proposed rulemaking to repurpose a portion of the UHF and VHF bands that are currently being used by broadcast services. The long term goal is to make this spectrum available for fixed and mobile wireless communication services, including mobile broadband. The move to repurpose broadcast spectrum through voluntary incentive auctions coincides with the goals set forth in the National Broadband Plan to make more spectrum available for mobile broadband.

CTIA President, Steve Largent reiterated the need for more spectrum in a recent interview, “It really is the lifeblood of the industry…It really is the most critical element to the service that we provide.” Today, the FCC only has 50 MHz of spectrum in the pipeline that can be assigned for broadband use, which is just a fraction of the amount necessary to meet growing demands. However, in recent years, the FCC has recognized the need for a more efficient spectrum allocation model, encouraging secondary markets for spectrum, to allow for dynamic spectrum leasing, as well as releasing final rules to make the unused spectrum in the TV bands available for unlicensed use.

Although the FCC has shown its commitment to finding and freeing up other types of spectrum, Largent made a very good point in that bringing spectrum to market can often be a long and arduous process. “What a lot of people forget about is how long the process takes to get spectrum to the marketplace. The last two spectrum auctions that we had took somewhere between eight and 11 years to come to market. We simply can’t wait that long. The FCC and the president called for 500 MHz in the next 10 years and 300 MHz of that in the next five years. That is a laudable goal. We’re seeing if we can’t even get more spectrum and get it quicker.”

The process for transacting spectrum and bringing it to market can be a very lengthy process; in order to meet the growing demands from mobile users, wireless devices, and wireless access technologies that utilize spectrum, it is critical that the FCC utilizes existing solutions to enable expeditious transactions. One way to realize the FCC’s vision for more efficient and available spectrum is allow companies such as Spectrum Bridge to facilitate commercial contracts for leasing in the secondary market for spectrum. The existing rules in place for secondary markets would help to repurpose spectrum more quickly, while improving the efficiency of this finite resource.

America’s growing demand for mobile access anytime and anywhere make it necessary to find new avenues for bandwidth, in addition to utilizing alternative solutions such as secondary markets to expedite the process of bringing spectrum to market. To learn more about secondary spectrum markets, visit the Useful Links section of our website or contact us.

Joe Hamilla
COO

Spectrum Bridge to host webinar detailing the TV White Space Rules

Spectrum Bridge recently held a webinar providing a general introduction, potential economic impact, and expected timeline of the newly available unlicensed spectrum known as TV White Spaces. To continue with our informational white spaces webinar series, we will be hosting the second webinar, Analyzing the New TV White Space Rules on November 18th, 2010 at 2:00pm ET. The detailed recordings of the first webinar can be found here.

This webinar is co-sponsored by Rini Coran, PC, a law firm specializing in the representation of telecom, media and technology clients before Congress, the FCC and in communications related transactions. From Spectrum Bridge, Peter Stanforth and Neeraj Srivastava will be presenting an overview of the low power device rules and provide insight on the database service providers. Stephen Coran from Rini Coran, PC will be presenting the high power rules and analysis from an attorney’s perspective.

A few topics to be covered during the webinar include:

• What do the high power and low power rules mean?
• What are the different classes of devices?
• What are the height and power limitations?
• What is new regarding the TV White Spaces Database Service Providers?

For additional information, or to register for the event, please click here.

Roundtable discussion at Offshore Communications

On behalf of Spectrum Bridge, I had the opportunity to attend the Offshore Communications 2010 conference in Houston, Texas on November 3, 2010 as a panelist on the Communications Systems: What’s Here and What’s Next? roundtable.

The roundtable consisted of a diverse group of panelists representing a broad range of communications directors and satellite and wireless providers. One of the main topics and key issues that the panelists are facing is the bandwidth availability in each of their respective geographic regions. With new regulations and additional advances in wireless technology, the wish list of remote data applications is growing along with the bandwidth requirements to deploy them. While there is no single technology readily available to solve the problem; fiber, wireless and satellite will play a major role in supplying the necessary bandwidth to various applications.

In the What’s Next? category, the audience was eager to learn about TV White Spaces and the potential applications of this newly available spectrum. The enhanced propagation characteristics of TV White Spaces were an area of interest for many of the attendees, as it is an alternative solution to Wi-Fi to aggregate the vast amounts of data before it is backhauled to the beach.

Following the discussion, attendees had many questions regarding the usage and timeline of TV White Spaces. Most recently, Spectrum Bridge held a webinar about TV White Spaces and the expected timeline for its deployment. To watch the recording of Introducing TV White Spaces, please click here.

- Lou Eisenberg, Senior Account Manager

Spectrum Bridge Honored - Best Specialty Deployment 2010 RCR Ecosystem Award

Earlier this week we attended 4G World, an event covering next generation technologies enabling mobile network infrastructure, advanced devices, applications and content. With organizations focusing on the future of mobile broadband, Spectrum Bridge was awarded the 2010 RCR Ecosystem Award for Best Specialty Deployment.

As the recipient of this award, we were recognized for successfully demonstrating the best engineering, design and installation practices; delivery of connectivity objectives; and effectiveness of investment in utilizing TV White Spaces spectrum in a specialty deployment.

The award honored our fourth major trial network deployment at the Hocking Valley Community Hospital in Logan, Ohio, showcasing how TV White Spaces is well suited for the healthcare industry. The applications deployed in this trial network:

• Support wireless internet connectivity throughout the hospital


• Provide more efficient wireless transmissions of Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) staff to Hospital Emergency Administration Staff


• Supply additional security for hospital operations


• Enable patients and visitors to access the internet from their mobile devices

Read more about how Spectrum Bridge’s breakthrough software and services is providing wireless bandwidth for next generation wireless networking.

Sheri Ridenour

Business Development Manager