[Cu-wireless] more wireless spectrum:

[Sascha Meinrath]

for those who haven't heard:

Wireless Networks Gain Spectrum

Fri Nov 14, 7:39 AM ET Add Technology - washingtonpost.com to My Yahoo!

By Christopher Stern, Washington Post Staff Writer

The Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) set aside a new
slice of airwaves yesterday for wireless Internet users, a move the agency
said was designed to encourage the spread of high-speed data access in
rural and other underserved areas.

The action is the latest by the FCC (news - web sites) to free up
high-frequency spectrum for devices that allow people to access the
Internet over wireless (news - web sites) connections, often referred to
as WiFi networks. The nascent technology could have a particularly great
impact in rural areas where telephone and cable lines have yet to be
upgraded to carry high-speed Internet services.

WiFi networks are already sprouting up in coffee shops and hotel lobbies
across the country. Now policymakers and technology entrepreneurs hope
they can be expanded to provide high-speed data connections in sparsely
populated communities and entire neighborhoods, without the expense of
stringing cables from telephone poles or laying them underground.

The spectrum allocated yesterday is open to any company to use and will
not require the purchase of a license at an airwave auction. But companies
using the airwaves will have to share the frequencies. To limit the
congestion and interference that might result from sharing, the FCC put
limits on the amount of power any device can use to transmit a signal.

Some public interest groups criticized the FCC's decision yesterday,
saying the particular slice of airwaves targeted by the agency is not well
suited for delivering a robust, high-speed data stream to a wide area.
They argued that the 255 new frequencies can't carry a data stream capable
of penetrating walls or even passing through leafy trees.

"The problem is that the combination of the high frequency and the low
power limits mean the stuff won't go far enough," said Harold Feld,
associate director of the Media Access Project, a Washington-based public
interest law firm.

The spectrum allocated by the FCC is in the five gigahertz band of the
radio spectrum, which has traditionally been used by military and
satellite companies. Because the airwave allocations are relatively high
frequencies, they require more power to transmit a signal. Most wireless
devices used by consumers, including cell phones and televisions, are
located in the three GHz band of the radio frequency spectrum and require
much less power to send signals over a long distance.

But FCC officials said several start-up companies have already
demonstrated that the new frequencies can deliver data over relatively
long distances. "I have no idea where they get their information, but the
[the signals] can go five miles," said Edmond Thomas, FCC chief of
engineering and technology.

At the heart of the consumer group's concern is a larger debate over the
level of competition in the high-speed data business. Consumer groups say
there is not enough competition and that cable and telephone companies
should be forced to share their lines with rivals. FCC Chairman Michael K.
Powell has said consumers would be better off if competitors developed
their own facilities and technologies to compete with established players.

"[M]aking more spectrum available for this important application will
foster facilities based competition and significantly advance the public
interest," Powell said in a prepared statement released after yesterday's
vote.

Feld countered that if Powell is going to point to WiFi companies as
examples of competition in the market for high-speed Internet access, the
FCC should make sure their airwave allotment allows them to compete head
to head with cable and telephone companies. "You have to give these guys
some spectrum that is useful," Feld said.

Gregory L. Rohde, president of e-Copernicus, a Washington-based consulting
firm that specializes in financing for rural wireless companies, said the
FCC's actions can only help a struggling industry. "I'm optimistic that
technology moves quite fast and that we will find ways to make this
spectrum usable."

Coleman D. Bazelon, a vice president with Analysis Group Inc., an economic
consulting firm, said one alternative route would be for the FCC to
license the 255 new frequencies released yesterday. "If you make it
unlicensed, you have to limit power levels to control congestion," said
Bazelon.

Bazelon suggested that companies could develop more robust networks if
they had greater control over the airwaves. "It would be more useful if
the power levels were managed by a licensee," he said.