The Spectrum Licensing Specialists
Spectrum (space-centric) licensing, delivering authentic technology and service neutrality, began in Australia around 1989, with the necessary precursors allowing the first licenses to be issued in 1997 and resulting in a world first in 2007.
Authentic neutrality can only be achieved with spectrum rights formulated as explicit transmit rights which isolate spectrum spaces in a technically precise and legally certain manner so that all the necessary inputs to new equipment design are provided without further negotiation with a Regulator. Such rights are applicable to either centralised management or full industry self-management as well as to either a single country or a number of adjacent countries.
Futurepace Solutions helps to make spectrum licensing work for the telecommunications industry, including internationally. The Managing Director was the principal architect of spectrum licensing in Australia, has extensive journal publications and developed the first software applications for the online automated certification of devices. We can be reached by email.
The Australian government decided that apparatus (device-centric) licensing would not be able to cope with the anticipated rate of equipment change and laid legislative foundations for new methods of licensing: spectrum and class. Spectrum (space-centric) licensing would treat radio spectrum space as a commercial asset with a clearly defined utility under conditions of flexible use where technology and service would be determined by the licensee. Since 1997 the Australian Government has issued spectrum licences for radiocommunications in the 500 MHz, 800 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 2 GHz, 2.4 GHz, 3.4 GHz and 27/28/31 GHz bands.
Because different technologies and services utilise different amounts of spectrum space, technology and service neutrality can only relate to the spectrum access pathway. Neutrality means that given the necessary amount of spectrum space, all the rules necessary for access by all technologies and all services are provided by the initial licence conditions. This type of liberalisation minimises the cost and uncertainty of negotiation (as well as Government corruption) and provides consistent and agreed negotiation benchmarks for spectrum trading. The rules work to clearly define the real utility and hence value of a spectrum licence.
Spectrum licences having authentic technology and service neutrality arose first in Australia because of the creative support provided by the following factors:
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sufficient political will to implement;
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a national centralised online database already operational; and
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while the Radiocommunications Act 1992 did not provide a clear technical solution, there were nevertheless sufficient legal “hooks” to allow a full solution to be designed.
At the start of 2007, FuturePace Solutions had authorised over 5000 WCDMA (850 MHz) base stations in Australia using an online process during the previous 3 months. There was no need for negotiation for the authorisation of these stations just a requirement to place certified data into a central register. The process was fully self managed, business decisions were taken, stations deployed and authorised and all without reference to either the Regulator or adjacent spectrum licensees. Importantly the rules that allowed the authorisation of WCDMA850 in 2007 were truly technology and service neutral since they were provided to the licensee 10 years previously in 1997.
Commercial certainty can only be achieved with rules offering explicit guardspace isolation under space-centric management. Guardspace isolation in relation to devices (device-centric management) has the same meaning as traditional ‘coordination’, i.e. specific minimum distance, frequency and time separation between transmitters and receivers to supplement the hardware isolation provided in a device to ensure interference free operation. However, in relation to a spectrum space managed with explicit transmit rights (space-centric management), guardspace isolation means establishing minimum distance, frequency and time separation for the emission levels radiated at each antenna in relation to the geographic, frequency and time boundaries of that space.
The guardspace isolation is always the same, independent of whatever type of new device is being operated. Instead of having equipment design driving the levels of guardspace isolation (this is how device-centric coordination rules are designed), the process is reversed with the fixed guardspace isolation of space-centric management (the spectrum rights) driving equipment design.
Spectrum rights formulated in this manner are not anything like the Spectrum Usage Rights (SUR) being promoted by Ofcom and some USA commentators. Instead, they provide harmonisation of spectrum access including clear rules for dynamic spectrum access. A complete solution for industry driven innovation with all the necessary inputs to enable industry to independently:
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design any type of new technology and service;
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authorise the operation of that equipment after trading sufficient spectrum space; and
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efficiently self-manage interference with devices operating outside the space.
FuturePace Solutions has been active in international promotion of the method of Australian spectrum right formulation for many years. We have contributed papers to many consultations and have sought to maintain a professional publishing program in our area of expertise. FuturePace Solutions has presented overseas at the:
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CEPT 2003 conference, Nice, France;
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EMCUK 2004, Newbury, England, 12-13 October 2004;
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Spectrum Management Strategies conference, London, March 2005;
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Software Defined Radio (SDR) Forum meeting, Singapore, April 2005;
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International Workshop organised by the German Government near Bonn, July 2005;
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ITU/Ugo Bordoni Foundation workshop on Market Mechanisms for Spectrum Management, Geneva, January 2007; and
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European Spectrum Management Conference, Brussels, June 2007.
Managing Director Michael Whittaker, B Sc. (Physics), Grad. Dip. Electronics, has over 23 years experience in radio spectrum planning, working for the Australian Government beginning 1984, pioneering automated frequency assignment systems and publishing in that field.
Michael led the introduction of flexible space-centric spectrum management techniques in Australia in 1994 becoming the principal architect of the manner of formulating conditions for flexible spectrum licences which consist of pure or explicit transmit rights i.e. rights that define maximum radiated power at an antenna rather than maximum field strengths away from antennas and which support either the outsourced or centralised regulatory authorisation of spectrum access for any type of technology and service.
When correctly designed, the practical effect of explicit transmit rights under space-centric management is to create precise levels of ‘guardspace isolation’ separately for, and in relation to, all interference mechanisms so that licensees have all the necessary inputs to independently and without negotiation:
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design any type of new (innovative) technology and service;
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authorise the operation of the equipment; and
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efficiently self-manage interference.
This approach is able to provide equitable spectrum access when dissimilar equipment is operated in adjacent spectrum spaces and create practical rules for authorising dynamic spectrum access by software reconfigurable devices.
Michael was chairman of the Technical Liaison Group in 1997, a government sponsored industry consultative forum which established the licence conditions for 800 MHz and 1.8 GHz spectrum licences. Michael also later designed the 28/32 GHz and 3.4 GHz spectrum licence conditions.
Journal publications by Michael include:
[1] Bramley R., Peppercorn A.E., Whittaker M.J. "Simultaneous Nitrogen-14 and Cobalt-59 Decoupling from Protons" Journal of Magnetic Resonance 35, 139-144(1979).
[2] Whittaker M.J. " Land Mobile Frequency Selection Strategies and Compatibility Criteria used in the Frequency Assignment Subsystem of the DOC’s Spectrum Management Information System" IREECON '85 Digest of Papers 1985, pp 882-885.
[3] Whittaker M.J. “LYNX - An Automated System for the Assignment of Frequencies to Two-Frequency Single Channel Fixed Radiocommunication Services” IREECON '87 1987, Digest of Papers, pp 799-802.
[4] Whittaker M.J. “Spectrum Efficiency Considerations in the Planning for Land Mobile Services which Employ 12.5kHz Channelling” IREECON '87, 1987, Digest of Papers, pp 806-809.
[8] “The 500 MHz Bands Spectrum Allocation – Applicant Information Package” Part 4, Technical Framework, pp 53-60 including Attachments, Spectrum Management Agency, Australia, November 1996.
[9] “Draft Plans, Spectrum Licence Allocation, 800 MHz and 1.8 GHz, Invitation to Comment” Part 4, Technical Framework, pp 39-51 including Attachments, Australian Communications Authority, 15 July 1997.
[10] Whittaker M.J. Yang H. “Managing Spectrum Licensing in Australia” ESRI 1997 Users Conference, Digest of Papers, San Diego, July 1997, see www:esri.com for a full copy of the paper.
[16] Whittaker M.J. 2002 – November: Size of a Spectrum Licence - CEPT 2003 conference, Nice, France
[26] Whittaker M.J. 2008 – June: Authorising Devices under Australian Spectrum Licences
