What is the correct term for something that is operating as a license-exempt 
device - yet has been given short term authorization to share a channel with 
other license-exempt devices based on a query to a regional authorities 
database in a portion of spectrum that may also include licensed or 
light-licensed devices at other times or in other areas.


Paul



From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> 
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Gerald Chouinard
Sent: Monday, January 30, 2012 3:30 PM
To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Subject: [paws] Discussion on 'license-exempt' vs 'unlicensed'

All,

Here is my understanding of the terms:

Licensed: Spectrum that is acquired by an operator over a given service area 
for a given time period.  This is usually done through auctions (think of the 
Telcos), beauty contest, first-come / first-served or by government allocation 
(e.g., public service).

Lightly licensed: Special case where thefrequency allocation is done through 
first-come / first-served process for a given time frame over a relatively 
limited service area. The annual license fee is usually small to facilitate the 
deployment of a service that would not normally be economically attractive.  
Small local operators would be interested by this (e.g., rural broadband in 
Canada) and not big Telcos that would normally work with full licensing through 
auction over large service areas.

License-exempt: Operation of RF devices in a frequency band where no formal 
licensing process is needed such as in the 2.4 GHz ISM band. In the USA, this 
term is used for a specific type of operation. The FCC should be contacted to 
clarify it.

Unlicensed: Illegal operation of an RF device that can transmit in a frequency 
band without a duly issued license.  In the USA, this term is used to mean 
"license-exempt," see above.

To my knowledge, the term "unlicensed" is used only in the USA to describe a 
legal operation because the term "license-exempt" has been used for another 
specific purpose.

Since the PAWS addresses the interface to the database for the international 
market, it should rely on the definition of the terms recognized by the ITU-R. 
I would suggest the use of 'licensed' and 'license-exempt' with a footnote 
indicating that the term 'unlicensed' is used in the USA instead of the usual 
'license-exempt'.

Gerald
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