Elsewhere on this website we have described the events that resulted in various FCC millimeterwave rules for frequencies above 57 GHz. Suffice it to say, your blogger was involved. At various times, senior colleagues of mine at FCC dismissed the need for policy activity here since no one was asking for it. (A variation of “no one ever got fired for buying IBM”)

Thus it was gratifying to see public data on 70/80 GHz licenses, courtesy of Comsearch, Inc. one of the database managers, that when analyzed shows the above plot of licenses vs. date. Basically “Clearwire Spectrum Holdings II, LLC” submitted about 1000 registrations to Comsearch in February (at $75 each) for links apparently in support of their new WiMAX network.

This doubles the number of licenses essentially overnight!

Wireless Week reports:

AT&T today announced a campaign aimed at curtailing the unsafe practice of texting while driving. The carrier hopes to raise awareness about the risks of texting and driving and remind all wireless consumers, especially youth, that text messages can, and should, wait until after driving.

Thus AT&T is breaking with the CTIA crowd and taking a more aggressive stand on the issue. CTIA’s position remains

The wireless industry is neutral on outright bans of cellular use while driving and hands-free legislation. We believe consumers can best determine what laws (bans or hands-free) that they would or would not support related to talking on their devices. At the same time, we believe text-messaging while driving is incompatible with safe driving, and we support state and local statutes that ban this activity while driving.

T-Mobile’s “driving tips” include nothing about texting. The only thing on the subject I could find on Sprint was a link to the horrific YouTube U.K. public service announcement shown below - a bloody example of what texting can result in. This PSA is so horrific that YouTube restricts to viewers over 18 - so it probably has limited impact on users. I could find nothing on VZW’s website on texting and driving.

However, if these firms provide me with links, I would be glad to revise this.

So congratulations to AT&T for making the decision to break from its more conservative competitors and push the safety issue here.

Marcus’ First law of Spectrum is quite simple. It states,

“Free spectrum is always cheaper than efficient wireless technology”

This has been proven in a self congratulatory press release on the “pitchengine.com” website: Shure, Inc. has announced that ”FCC received more than 300 letters, from houses of worship, theaters, education institutions, musicians, producers, sound engineers, AV rental and production companies, hotels, and convention centers during the comment period, which ended on March 1, 2010.”

Actually considering the ubiquity of these recently illegal products, 300 is a rather small number.

The release goes on to say

“Wireless microphone users are sending a strong and clear message that they and their audiences expect and deserve interference-free audio,” said Sandy LaMantia, President and CEO of Shure Incorporated. “Wireless microphones are an essential feature of professional sound production in many contexts where audio quality is a priority. These users need to be eligible for licenses that will afford them protection from interference from new devices using the same spectrum.”

Your blogger agrees. As has been said repeatedly here “"wireless mics are a legitimate use of spectrum (that) deserves more from FCC than benign neglect that allows most users only criminal spectrum squatting”.

But the key policy question is not whether there should be a legal path or wireless mic users, but rather is continued unlimited access to UHF “white space” spectrum an anachronism in the age of current spectrum policy and current wireless technology.

Any one who has observed the evolution of spectrum policy in the past 2 decades realizes that most private sector use of spectrum is subject to economic forces to assure spectrum gets to its highest and best use. There are exceptions for public safety and personal radio services, but not for the huge amount of “beach front” spectrum the wireless mic community seeks continued unfettered access to.

TV spectrum used to go to channel 84, then to channel 69, now it ends at channel 51. It is likely that the pending FCC Broadband Report will try to pack it down smaller. The number of TV stations hasn’t decreased so there is less white space, especially in urban markets. With analog TV, generally only 1 out of 6 channels was used in a given area due to limitation of TV sets - at least when the rules were set in 1953. (The TV broadcasters fought hard in the 1970s against having this reexamined in view of improved technology.)

The basic problem of long term use of UHF for wireless mics is benefit vs. opportunity cost. By the nature of their use, wireless mics using a negligible part of the space-time spectrum resource nationwide, yet they deny that resource to other users who could use it more intensively. While wireless mic spectrum use is intense in the Broadway area for a few hours a day, that is really a small fraction of the land area of the FCC’s jurisdiction.

What technology do almost all US wireless mics use? The “wideband FM” that Maj. Armstrong invented in the 1930s. Part 90 licensees must stop using wideband FM by 2013 at the end of a transition that has been underway for more than a decade. (FM broadcasters would also like to get away from wideband FM, but their inept efforts at promoting HD Radio have resulted in slow progress.) It appears that the wireless mic manufacturers are more interested in spending money for lawyers and the ilk of “pitchengine.com” than they are on developing new more efficient technology. Shure, do you anticipate any other technology beside wideband FM?




Why don’t marketplace forces apply to wireless mics? In the UK, FCC’s counterpart, Ofcom has delegated wireless mic issues to a mandatory coordinator named JFMG which charges users for spectrum access and can use its income to procure spectrum. Why doesn’t FCC consider such a band manager for wireless mic use? Of course, the users prefer FREE SPECTRUM!

If wireless mics were used to another band with a more compatible sharing partner, they would not incur any opportunity cost. For example, wireless mics are short range links usually less than 100m and aeronautical telemetry ground stations are not located on Broadway, why can’t they share?

Notice the growing use of femtocell technology by the cellular crowd? Femtocells are tiny cellular base station-like units for the home that use cellular spectrum in cooperation with the cellular carrier for short range links from the unit to nearby cellphones. The audio of the call is then connected to the carrier’s main network via an Internet VOIP connection. So what happens if you make 2 minor modifications here: 1) Instead of connecting the audio to the public network at the femtocell, connect it to the audio system of the user. 2) Instead of using the highly compressed low bit rate voice processing used in cellphones, use a high quality microphone and a high rate bit stream (remember 3G is broadband) to get high audio quality that theaters require. (Before you complain about a slight sound delay, observe that the digital mixers users in most professional sound systems already introduce a delay in audio and with proper engineering the delays introduced by A/D conversion in the modified cellphone need not be additive to the existing delays.)

So why isn’t the CTIA crowd interested in providing a new service and a new income stream? They are all looking for “killer apps” like iPhone and don’t want to spend their limited R&D budget on niche markets with potential for only a few million here and there. Wake up CTIA: you covet the same UHF spectrum here yourself and the squandering of this resource on the present technology wireless mics is really a barrier to your own spectrum access. Addressing this market through minor modifications of present cellular products will both give you new income and help break the spectrum log jam!

In reality, wideband FM use of UHF spectrum is the only options for wireless mics for the next 2-4 years. It may be reasonable to let small wireless mic users with few units e.g. small churches and conference rooms, and noncritical use stay in the UHF band on a long term basis. But FCC could take a leadership role here in starting a transition to another technology and band for the large and professional wireless mic users who dominate the spectrum requirement. Broadcasters and Hollywood also may like the long standing deal for free spectrum use for their high income businesses, but that is also an anachronism in today’s policy environment.

No doubt in honor the the 25th anniversary of FCC’s creation of the rules for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, Amtrak has announced Wi-Fi service for its trains. Here is their press release:

This morning Amtrak launched its Wi-Fi Internet service, known as AmtrakConnectSM aboard all 20 high-speed Acela Express trains, in six major stations along the Northeast Corridor, and in all four Club Acela lounges. Initially offered as a complimentary service, AmtrakConnect is available to every passenger on board Acela Express both in Business and First class seating.

“AmtrakConnect delivers the fast, reliable and consistent connectivity that our customers have been asking for,” said Matt Hardison, Chief, Sales Distribution and Customer Service, noting the on-board Wi-Fi system typically outperforms cellular air cards and smart phones.

Using any laptop computer or other portable device that is Wi-Fi enabled, Amtrak passengers traveling on Acela Express between Washington, D.C. and Boston can connect to the service for general Web surfing and reading email. The system also allows passengers to access their corporate networks through most standard Virtual Private Network (VPN) solutions, turning the train trip into productive work time.In addition, Amtrak is launching AmtrakConnect for all Amtrak passengers within the gate areas of Washington Union Station, Baltimore Penn Station, Philadelphia 30th Street Station, New York Penn Station, Providence Station and Route 128 Station in Boston. Wilmington Station will be Wi-Fi equipped once major station renovations are completed in early 2011. Wi- Fi service continues to be available in all ClubAcela lounges in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.

“This is only the first step for our AmtrakConnect program,” says Lenetta McCampbell, Senior Director for On-board Systems. “Amtrak will continually improve the service as Wi-Fitechnology evolves, and we are evaluating opportunities to expand AmtrakConnect to additional routes and stations throughout the country.” AmtrakConnect service on Acela Express trains will remain free of charge during theintroductory period, after which the policy will be reviewed based on customer demand and system performance.

AmtrakConnect was deployed on Acela Express by Virginia Beach-based GBS Group and its partner Nomad Digital.

In my ex parte complaint Petition for Review (that the FCC has never acted on in over a year), I quote former Commissioner Abernathy who said to an ITU meeting

“I believe that transparency is best achieved through the creation and publication of clear rules. However, for the regulatory regime to be successful, these rules must also be strictly enforced. Based on personal experience, I know that the U.S. regulatory model has only been successful when the FCC has enforced its rules vigorously. Failure to enforce rules sends the inappropriate signal that companies may engage in anticompetitive behavior or other unlawful conduct with impunity.”

Let me provide for potential commenters some facts that are not in the NPRM.

1. In 2009, there were 6070 ex parte notifications filed at FCC. The numbers for 2008 and 2007 were 10,046 and 7,960 respectively. I assume that the drop in 2009 was due to both the inevitable drop in activity with major changes at the Commission and the distraction of the DTV transition.

2. I believe that the Commission’s ex parte rules were heavily influenced by Recommendation No. 77-3 of the former Administrative Conference of the U.S., formerly codified as 1 C.F.R. 305-77.3. The HBO Case mentioned in Chmn. Genachowski’s statement was in March 2007 and the ACUS recommendation was made in October of that year. The ACUS recommendation stated “Agencies should experiment in appropriate situations with procedures designed to disclose oral communications from outside the agency of significant information or argument respecting the merits of proposed rules, made to agency personnel participating in the decision on the proposed rule, by means of summaries promptly placed in the public file, meetings which the public may attend, or other techniques appropriate to their circumstances.”

3.While the NPRM mentions ex parte policies at 3 other commissions, it fails to mention the key fact that parallel policies are in place at all regulatory agencies, be they independent agencies like FCC or Executive Branch agencies. But only FCC has the system where the outside party files the summary that goes on the public record. Thus in the 30 odd years that ex parte procedures have been used for agency rulemaking, no other agency has ever adopted the FCC’s approach. Perhaps the Commission should ask why?

4.Finally, the NPRM states in para. 32 “Regardless of what amendments are adopted in this proceeding or when, we intend to place greater emphasis on enforcement against impermissible ex parte contacts.” This implies there has been some previous emphasis on enforcement. A fairer statement is that enforcement has been ignored for decades. At the October public workshop the staff stated that it dealt with complaints by calling the party at issue and telling them not to do it again. This is reminiscent of the comedy skit in which an unarmed British policemen says to a fleeing robber “Stop or I’ll say stop again”. As far as I can tell, the Commission has NEVER taken ANY ex parte enforcement action. While the NPRM mentions the possibility of “monetary forfeitures”, I doubt that it has legal authority to do so. However, it does have the authority - unused to date - to forbid future oral ex parte by the guilty party and that should be more than adequate IF there is ANY interest in enforcing these rules.

UPDATE

Your blogger’s Petition for Review has finally made it to circulation on the 8th Floor more than a year after it was filed. This was not a very complex matter although it may be the first time ever the commissioners had to formally consider enforcement of their rules.

Stay tuned for the outcome. How much longer could it take?

On February 18, FCC finally adopted an NPRM for changes in its ineffective ex parte system. Faithful readers will recall that this has been a long term theme here. The good folks at Public Knowledge have produced a video on the topic:



Oddly, MSTV has nothing on their website yet on the topic.

The above title is from a full page ad on p. 16 of the 2/8 Washington Post.

It goes on to say


“Opposable thumbs helped humans to survive. But in modern times, using thumbs to text while driving could lead to extinction....Join us tomorrow, February 9, at the Allstate Thumbs Up Pledge Event from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Union Station to add your thumbprint to the more than 65,000 who have pledged not to text and drive.”

This is in addition to the Allstate website shown below on the issue and a separate one devoted to teenage texting


CTIA does have a public service announcement on its website on the teenage issue:

On the Road, Off the Phone
As teens & novice drivers learn the complex task of driving a motor vehicle, safety should always come first. The wireless industry & National Safety Council urge teens to adopt an “On the Road, Off the Phone” philosophy to avoid the dangers of distracted driving”

But CTIA still has this position statement:

The wireless industry is neutral on outright bans of cellular use while driving and hands-free legislation. We believe consumers can best determine what laws (bans or hands-free) that they would or would not support related to talking on their devices.

So it looks like Allstate and the wireless industry have staked out very different positions here.

This is not a new issue. In searching the ever cluttered FCC website for information on it, I found this statement from (then) Comm. Rachelle Chong, who had worked for a major cellular carrier before joining the Commission, to a CTIA meeting in 1997:

“Driving Risks of Mobile Phones

Another potential hot issue for your industry stems from media attention on a recent Canadian study. That study found that drivers who used car phones were four times more likely to have accidents.

In light of this study, I would like to ask the industry to step up your public education efforts about safe driving habits. Stressing the risks involved and the availability of hands free technology would be helpful. I do recognize, however, what a benefit mobile phone users have been for law enforcement officials. They often aid the highway patrol in reporting accidents and reporting road hazards.”