Sharing at Heart of 5 GHz Spectrum Plan

Spectrum sharing is at the heart of the Wi-Fi Innovation Act of 2015, S. 424. That legislation directs the Federal Communications Commission to explore release of the upper part of the 5 GHz frequency band for unlicensed use.

In the U.S. market, 3.5 GHz and 5 GHz are the frequency bands where spectrum sharing is going to be extended, each featuring a unique approach to sharing.

In the 3.5 GHz band, one would in the past have witnessed a complicated process whereby existing licensed users transition off the band to new frequencies, while new users eventually are allowed to then use the spectrum.

Instead, and for the first time, licensed users will continue to use the original spectrum, while additional groups of users are allowed to share the capacity when spare bandwidth is available.

As planned, the  3550-3700 MHz band would be governed under a three-tier system.

The top tier would be reserved for federal and non-federal incumbent users including the Defense Department.

The lowest tier, General Authorized Access (GAA), would be open to any FCC-certified device.

The middle tier, dubbed the Priority Access tier, would make available Priority Access Licenses (PAL), or “targeted, short-duration licenses,” for auction, presumably to commercial users requiring more bandwidth predictability.

Sharing in the 5-GHz band will operate differently. Designated as a new band for Wi-Fi, licensed mobile carriers would be able to contend for use of capacity using a protocol known as License Assisted Access (LAA).

License Assisted Access would allow licensed Long Term Evolution 4G providers to bond or aggregate 5 GHZ Wi-Fi spectrum with licensed LTE frequencies.

The M Hotel Singapore  |  10-11 September 2015

Spectrum Sharing is the New Frontier REGISTER NOW Spectrum Futures 2015 will examine spectrum abundance Licensing use of spectrum impossible to use in the past Sharing spectrum without clearing existing users Releasing 10 to 100 times more bandwidth than presently in use Spectrum Futures 2015 will bring together regulators and service providers from throughout the Asia-Pacific region to allow the exchange of ideas about key policies to help emerging markets like India, the Phillipines, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and Myanmar connect to their populations to the Internet within the next decade.

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