In a speech to the Americas Spectrum Management Conference in Washington this week, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn emphasized spectrum sharing as an important policy for promoting greater spectrum efficiency. She referenced the report issued by President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and how it concludes that the best way to increase capacity is to use new technologies that will enable large blocks of this spectrum to be shared with commercial providers.
According to Commissioner Clyburn, the old ways of making spectrum available – such as clearing bands and reallocating – will not be enough. “New approaches and policy tools are needed. What is clear to me is that we should encourage technological creativity for the use of spectrum, because ultimately, these advances have the potential of improving the lives of our citizens,” she said.
The adoption of cognitive radio technologies like xMax could lead to a dramatic increase in spectrum efficiency, which would help ensure that consumer, commercial and government users of wireless systems will maintain unobstructed wireless connectivity in the face of skyrocketing demand.
Efforts to promote the benefits of spectrum sharing are receiving increased publicity lately, both in the U.S. and abroad.
Commissioner Mignon also spoke about next-generation unlicensed spectrum as an important way to promote spectrum efficiency. She called unlicensed spectrum one of the great spectrum policy innovations of the 20th Century, noting that it has allowed for a new wave of technologies – from baby monitors, to cordless phones, to Wi-Fi. She sees unlicensed technologies as key complements to licensed spectrum technologies, bridging the supply/demand gap in a sustainable way.
“Expanding the availability of unlicensed spectrum will help increase the chance that Americans who live in low income rural and urban areas will have affordable, competitive options, for mobile broadband service,” she said. “In addition, this proposal could provide an extraordinary new platform for next-generation Wi-Fi, greater machine-to-machine connectivity, and other innovations.”
xG has been at the forefront of developing unlicensed spectrum solutions to meet real business needs. xMax allows spectrum-challenged operators to utilize the free, unlicensed 902-928MHz ISM band spectrum and an end-to-end IP-based infrastructure to provide fixed and mobile broadband services. In rural areas, these operators can now extend low-cost broadband services beyond their DSL footprint while maximizing their broadband subsidies. Last month,xG received a $3.28 million order for xMax broadband network equipment and services from NEFCOM, a rural telecommunications -provider in Northern Florida.
As reported in MIT Technology Review, this will result in the delivery of fixed and mobile broadband data and voice services at competitive prices for people in the area, which will be a first.
Daniel Carpini
Marketing Director
xG Technology, Inc.
Tags: cognitive radio, rural broadband, spectrum, spectrum sharing, unlicensed, wireless spectrum