You could do worse than starting with the Wikipedia entries on "radio" , "radio frequency" , "wireless communications" , "antenna" and mobile radio telephones (which includes links to discussions of a wide variety of cell phone technologies.) I admit it - I am a Wikipedia fan and contributor, but have had no role in these specific entries.
For books on the topic for nonengineers, I recommend Tomasi'sElectronic Communications Systems - apparently a junior college textbook; and the ARRL Handbook - - intended for radio amateurs but many parts have general utility and all are straightforward. We used the Tomasi book at FCC as a key part of a basic course on radio technology and policy. A classic, intellectually elegant, but slightly dated, survey of telecom technology is J.R. Pierce's Signals.
ICT Regulation Toolkit - A training course on communications policy issues with a lot of good background information.
General US Spectrum Information
I strongly recommend Benn Kobb's book, Wireless Spectrum Finder, as a general source of information on US spectrum. It is a little dated now, published in 2001, but most of the information is still accurate. Sometimes copies can be found in book stores, but Amazon has used copies and a download version.
Spectrum Charts
Let's suppose you absolutely must have a spectrum chart. I really don't recommend it since Benn Kobb's book, discussed above, is a lot more useful. But here are some options:
If you really need a copy of the NTIA-produced US allocation chart, click on the above miniature. Just know that I feel that it is confusing and misleading
NAF has its own answer to the NTIA spectrum chart. Neither tell the full story, but they are complementary. Click the above chart for a link.
If you really want a cool chart that will impress your friends, try this cool interactive chart -- again, it really isn't that useful. But it's cute!
Spectrum News -- US focus
These sites all provide some free spectrum news information - some have paid components also. Many of these new letters have a free e-mail version you can sign up for if you lack incoming e-mail
FCC Daily Digest - The daily official list of every document the FCC releases.
Telecommunications Reports - focuses on telecom issues but some spectrum coverage. (Note FCC employees get access to both TR and CommDaily through a special bulk purchase so this is what they read every morning.)
Broadcasting & Cable - published by Variety magazine, this is the premier broadcasting business magazine. It also contains spectrum-related broadcasting news and some good timely gossip about FCC. Note that they are not just reporters but advocates for their industry - so be suspicious about their objectivity.
TVTechnology - Better coverage of technical details of TV broadcasting than B&C, but less plugged in on policy issues.
RCR Wireless News - A widely read newsletter for mobile and cellular issues.
WirelessWeek - a good weekly news letter on wireless industry and technology with a nice website.
InStat Wireless Research - A market research firm's free newsletter on wireless trends including news about their expensive publications
openspectrum.info - A European site that focuses on worldwide unlicensed issues and is the source for the news on the homepage of this site
Fire the FCC.com - A website sharply critical of FCC broadcasting policy. Not much on spectrum policy per se, but a very different viewpoint than other sources.
Pike & Fischer - Need the text of an FCC decision more than 10 years old? Want to do a search of all proposals and decisions using a powerful search engine? Want FCC-related court decisions? [Note to non-Anglosaxons: US has a common law, notcivil law, legal system and previous decisions really matter.] P&F has it for you at a price. So do their more general legal service competitors Lexis and WestLaw. These services require expensive annual subscriptions. WestLaw offers credit card per document pricing but at present this does not apply to FCC documents. If you have a one time need for some documents, try asking these companies for a short free trial.
RFDesign - More technology than policy, but a good source for the latest technology that may become a policy issue. Good coverage of millimeterwave and software defined radio topics.
Law firm Publications - Major law firms that do substantial communications regulatory work publish free newsletters for clients and prospective clients. Here are several with a spectrum/telecom focus:
FCC is required by law to submit several industry status reports to Congress each year. Due to the chaotic nature of the FCC web site it is challenging to find them. As a service to the public, MSS provides here a consolidated list of links.
Responsible for most nonbroadcast licensing and radio service rules
Wireless Services A useful page maintained by WTB giving an overview of the radio service they regulate with links to appropriate rules. Sadly, the rest of FCC does not have a comparable page.
FCC comment deadlines are all given relative to the Federal Register publication date of the document. The document may be published in a few days or possibly 2 months later. So to confirm the actual date you have to go see what is printed in the Federal Register. The new regulations.gov site is supposed to be an alternative to this and appears to give the actual due date. (You can also file comments through the regulations.gov site.) Note that the Federal Register date is considered to be the definitve date.
In theory the Unified Agenda " summarizes the rules and proposed rules that each Federal agency expects to issue during the next six months. " Thus searching on "Federal Communications Commission" should give a prediction on what topics the FCC is about to act on. Don't bet your company on this data!
This is an advertiser supported site for lawyers that duplicates the information in the above legal sites in one, albeit, unofficial site. It also has access to decisions of federal appeals courts and even state laws. No registration required. See also
This document describes how FCC and NTIA have agreed to work with each other (in theory) on spectrum issues that impact both agencies. The 2003 changes were the first revisions in almost 60 years.
This is the place to file comments with FCC or to look up comments that have been filed by others. Unfortunately you need to know the docket number and there is no simple way to find it in general. (But in the special case of dockets originating from OET, there is a simpler way.)
This is the systems for searching for documents on FCC actions, e.g. proposals and decisions.
Spectrum Policy Task Force In 2002, at the direction of Chmn. Powell, the FCC staff did a major review of spectrum policy and produced a set of reports with bold recommendations. Some recommendations were initiated, most await action. The SPTF appears seems to have been dissolved in 2005 without any announcement - like in China and the former Soviet Union you have to infer this from hints. SPTF faded out of existence in 2005-6 without any formal announcement. The website implies it may exist, but that is just a lack of clarity.
FCC Allocation History File- "Each Commission document that proposes to amend or that amends the Table of Frequency Allocations and its associated news release is available for downloading in the FCC Allocation History File. The History File contains the complete citation for each document, including information concerning its publication in the Federal Register and in the FCC Record. The History File also contains the changes to the Table."
FCC Service Rule History File - "A separate history file is maintained for those Commission documents that, while not affecting the Table of Frequency Allocations, directly pertain to the regulation of the radio spectrum (service rules)."
History File for FCC Reports "A separate history file is maintained for those Commission documents that do not amend the Table of Frequency Allocations or service rules, but that directly pertain to the regulation of radio spectrum. These documents are available for downloading in the History File for FCC Reports and Other Spectrum Related Releases"
FCC does not have an "official" spectrum chart like NTIA (see below), but in November 2002 Evan Kwerel and John Williams published on the FCC web site an alternative way to look at spectrum use. Note that this chart has not been updated so may only be about 95% correct now.
FCC often isn't very graphical in explaining band plans, but the Auctions Division of Wireless does a good job with bands that are about to be auctioned. Note that this information may not be necessarily updated to show changes in adjacent bands after the specific auction and hence might be out of date.
These are public presentations at FCC on technical topics of policy interest. The newer ones can be watched online - if you have broadband. The older ones can be purchased at a nominal cost. (Disclosure - I started this program and appear in many of the early tapes and some of the later ones.)
While the FCC website has lots of information, it is often very difficult to find what you want. This page is an exception and gives updates due dates for comments in all the rulemakings OET is responsible for. Also included are direct links to the docket files. The rest of the FCC should copy this!
What to see what commercial equipment is sold in a certain band? Want to see details on a certain piece of equipment such as schematics and interior photos? Surf on over!
Despite its name ULS is not really "universal". It does not include any Federal Government users and has most, but not all, FCC licenses. You can search on location and/or frequency.
The other major exception to the "universality" of ULS is this system which deals with various items in the jurisdiction of the FCC International Bureau including satellites, earth stations, and HF broadcasting.
If you will be contacting FCC about a pending rulemaking (or adjudicatory matter) you must know and follow these rules. Unfortunately they are difficult to read and the FCC explanations are not much better. (The Media Access Project has a more understandable explanation of these rules.)
Lots of interesting historical information including the reports of the FCC's predecessor back to 1925. Post 1998 reports are hard to locate. Here are some of them: 2000200320042005
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Under the Communications Act of 1934, FCC regulates all spectrum use in the US except that of federal agencies. The Act gives that responsibility to the President who has in turn delegated it to NTIA.
This is the counterpart to the FCC Rules for federal spectrum users. Note, however, that NTIA does not have to follow these as rigidly as the FCC follows its Rules with the public.
A 2000 update of the previous document that has more information on both present and planned federal spectrum use in more bands, 30 MHz to 1000 GHz , but omits the FCC-regulated bands that were discussed in the 1997 version. Another interesting feature is that it talks about ITU activities for bands that were pending at the time of writing. It would be really nice if FCC and NTIA could work together to create a new updated document with the best features of both the 1997 and 2000 documents.
In response to a White House request, NTIA and the federal agencies using spectrum prepared these reports for the President's Spectrum Policy Initiative. Policy wonks might want to compare them with the FCC's Spectrum Policy Task Force Report which was prepared in a much shorter period.
While NTIA will vehemently deny it, most of their spectrum decisions are made by the IRAC which meets every 2 weeks in a windowless room in the Commerce Department. The members represent most federal agencies that use spectrum. Their site isn't too informative but it does have a list of members.
TPRC is an annual conference with participation from academia and industry on new ideas in telecom policy. Many of the papers represent early stages of new ideas, some will become policy years later. There is an archive of previous papers.
Need a lawyer for a telecom problem? Don't use the yellow pages! If the outcome of a policy issue will have a large impact on your business you need professional help. This is the FCBA committee listing and is a good indication of which lawyers deal with each area. You might also try contacting a committee chair and describe what you are looking for or you could contact me for for some recommendations.
TIA is both an important standards organization for communications products and an advocate for its members before FCC and Congress. It is also a good source of sales data and projections for electronic equipment but charges for many of such publications.
LMCC is an association of land mobile user groups and often files for them at FCC on spectrum issues. It bills itself as "The Umbrella Organization of Public Safety, Infrastructure, & Business Wireless Communications".
NSMA bills itself as "a voluntary international association of microwave radio/wireless and satellite frequency coordinators, licensees, manufacturers and regulators."
Represents amateur radio operators in the US. (If you have a US ham license, you should join even if you don't agree with all their positions - I sometimes don't agree either but I am a loyal member and tell them what I think.)
This section is for websites with tools for spectrum-related calculations. I welcome suggestions for additional sites. (Needless to say, I make no guarantees about the accuracy of calculations from these sites.)
Japan's telecom reguator. Site includes links to laws , statistics , and biweekly newsletter. There's a lot of information and some propaganda. While requests for public comment are often announced here, you really have to go to the Japanese side of the site to get details on proposals. (But then again, FCC doesn't have any information in Japanese on its site.)
The equivalent of the Administrative procedures Act in Japan for rulemaking is this cabinet order. Since it is not a law, it is difficult to challenge noncompliance.
TELEC is what I call a "quasigovernmental entity" in Japan. There are many such agencies that perform governmental-like functions but are not formally agencies. TELEC performs many of the equipment authorization functions of the FCC Laboratory.
ARIB, the Association of Radio Industries and Businesses, is also a quasigovernmental organization although it sees itself as more like TIA in the US. Its main activity of interest to foreigners is developing technical standards, which in Japan have much more influence than "voluntary standards" in the US.
Other Japan Links - In response to many requests, here are some general links on Japan in English.
Newspapers with English sites:
Japan Times - Published only in English - although the majority of its readers are Japanese! A middle of the road political viewpoint. Much of its news comes from domestic wireservices intended for regional newspapers. The print edition has useful information for foreign visitors including a good set of comics. (Note a pet peeve about the JT print version : if you are outside of a few major cities the JT delivers a paper with day old news [and comics] but the current date as a solution to their distribution problems!)
Asahi Shimbun - Left of center newspaper that is one of the largest in Japan. Copublisher of the International Herald Tribune in Japan and responsible for its local news pages. (An IHT pet peeve: the IHT edition here in Paris has virtually no local news even though its headquarters are here.)
Daily Yomiuri - Right of center newspaper which has the largest readership in Japan. Strong supporter of the ruling LDP. The print edition has useful features for foreign residents of Japan. (Sometimes if you read about the some event in Asahi and Yomiuri you wonder if the reporters are talking about the same same thing - their editorial biases are each so strong.)
Metropolis - An English weekly for expats in Tokyo, it has little news but lots of information on events and actvities in Tokyo. A lot of restaurant listings with websites given.
Japan Travel Information
Hotel search engines that include reasonably-price hotels. ("Business hotels" are clean efficient hotels with reasonable prices and small rooms.)
Hostelworld - Despite the name has both hostels and low cost hotels
Japan Guest Houses - An English language site specializing in traditional hotels of various price ranges
Capsule Inn Akihibara - Foreigners have all heard of "capsule hotels". They actually exist, but don't have a major role. I have never stayed in one, but here's an English web site for one in a convenient part of Tokyo if you must have this experience. It accepts both male and female guests.
Love hotels are another special category of hotels. They rent rooms by the hour during the day/"rest". But they have a "stay" rate that applies after 9 or 10 PM to 9 or 10 AM the next morning that is often quite reasonable for a large room. While much of the clientele use the facilities for trysts, married couples and singles are welcomed also. These hotels cater to the local market and don't have websites or reservations in general. My wife and I have stayed in them a few times while traveling and have even vouchered the overnight cost as travel expense for reimbursement. But read this link above and other links readily found on Google to make sure you understand the system as there is usually no English available in this class of hotels.
Tokyo Metro - Information on Tokyo subway (Actually there are two different organizations running different parts of the Tokyo subway and a 3rd organization running the trains that interconnect with the subway. Consult a good guidebook for details.)
Cell phone use for visitors in Japan - Japanese concerns about 'security", combined with protectionism for local main stream companies, have combined to preclude many cell phone options for visitors that work in other countries. Basically, nonresidents can't get the cheapest options. Anonymous pay-as-you go is not allowed either. Some options:
Learning Japanese - Japanese has a reputation for being nearly impossible to learn. Indeed, it is nearly impossible for a native anglophone to become as fluent in Japanese as one might get in French or Spanish with reasonable amounts of study - unless you start at a young age and have a lot of total immersion. However, with reasonable amounts of effort you can learn a lot of the spoken language and even the written language - if you limit yourself to reasonable goals. (The textbook Basic Technical Japanese has a good explanation about how you can make real progress in the written language by choosing realistic goals. It turns out that technical Japanese is a modest subset of the whole language.)
Japan-America Society of Washington Language School - "Been there, done that" A good place to start if you live in DC area. Low cost and not too intense. If you like it, you might want to move to something more intensive.
Climate Data
Tokyo has several English publications for expats with news and advertising, Paris doesn't really have anything comparable since the IHT, under NYTimes ownership, now virtually ignores its home market in Paris. However 2 sites fill in a lot of what is needed:
Expatica.com has local news in English and local ads
FUSAC , a giveaway magazine, has housing (including short term rentals), language school, and classified ads
Hotel booking sites (for reasonably priced hotels):
www.bestwestern.com (Best Western hotels in Europea are independently owned and have local character in general.)
www.accor.com (Accor is a huge Franch chain, also owning Motel 6 in US. Their European properties span many price ranges. The lower price ones are as impersonal as Holiday Inns in the US.)
Restaurant information - I suggest you either buy the red Guide Michelin or subscribe online to Zagat (which is quite reasonable if you travel a lot since their site covers most US cities and many foreign ones.) Michelin now has a free website, requiring registration, that gives you access to much of the information in their red guide with the additional feature that you can list restaurants in terms of distance from a location you specify. Some people have strong negative feelings about Michelin ratings while other swear by them. While I am not impressed by US guidebooks on French restaurants, there are many French language restaurant guides available in Paris bookstores/librairies. If you must eat at a top Paris restaurant, e.g. with Michelin stars, reserve a table weeks in advance. Restaurants, including top ones, are generally much cheaper at lunch time.
My favorite French event is a wine fair. Vignerons Independants, a trade association of small growers, have several fairs throughout the year in Paris and other major cities. If you have an interest in wine, try to visit one.
Paris Information
