Public Knowledge President Calls for More Spectrum Sharing
Public Knowledge President Calls for More Spectrum Sharing
Public Knowledge President Calls for More Spectrum Sharing

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    It will be “extremely difficult, if not impossible” to free
    up more spectrum to be used solely by wireless services, Public Knowledge
    President and co-founder Gigi B. Sohn said in remarks prepared for an
    Oct. 8 FCC panel on spectrum issues.

    The problem, she said at the San Diego hearing, is that most of the
    spectrum that would have value to industry is controlled by the Defense
    Department and Federal Aviation Administration. It will “prove
    politically difficult” to reallocate that spectrum, she added,
    noting that today spectrum that was supposed to have been cleared by
    government users from a 2003 auction still is “bogged down and
    underutilized.”

    Sohn said: “We believe that it will be impossible to convince
    government to abandon the spectrum it controls, and that the better
    course is for the FCC, working with the National Telecommunications and
    Information Administration, to promote shared use of federally controlled
    spectrum.”

    In addition, she proposed a four-point policy program, saying the FCC
    should:

    • complete its white spaces proceeding, and specifically, resolve the
      rules under which the database will operate and settle the pending
      Petitions for Reconsideration so that manufacturers can certify and
      deploy devices;

    • adopt a Notice of Inquiry that seeks comment on the possibility of
      variable power for white spaces devices in rural areas for fixed and
      backhaul services, as promised last November;

    • confer with NTIA to determine how best to promote the shared use of
      spectrum controlled by the federal government; and

    • urge Congress to pass the Radio Spectrum Inventory Act.

    Her full statement can be found here.

    Members of the media may contact Communications Director Shiva Stella with inquiries, interview requests, or to join the Public Knowledge press list at shiva@publicknowledge.org or 405-249-9435.