Remarks from Michael K. Powell
Chairman, Federal Communications Commission
at WISPCON
October 27, 2004
Las Vegas, Nevada
"WISPs: Bringing the Benefits of Broadband to Rural America"
Thank you for the kind introduction. It is a great pleasure and privilege
for me to have the opportunity to address this audience of Wireless Internet
Service Providers.
Adopting policies that foster increased availability of broadband
alternatives and competition is one of the most important goals of the FCC.
You have helped to transform our policy goals into a bandwidth-rich reality
in the unlicensed spectrum bands. I have tried to be an advocate for the
transformative impact of unlicensed services - in short, "I believe!"
Historically, these unlicensed bands were dubbed "junk" bands because of the
plethora of devices and manufacturing equipment occupying them - devices and
equipment not used for communications purposes, but occupying spectrum only
because RF energy was a byproduct of their operations. Now, spectrum that
was formerly the exclusive province of microwave ovens and industrial
equipment also plays host to wireless broadband networks that provide not
only last-mile connectivity, but last-30-50-mile connectivity. In fact, and
impressive by all accounts, some of your networks span large geographic
regions, even covering several states. And, perhaps most importantly, many
of you provide service in rural and remote communities that have no other
broadband option -- demonstrating that, with relatively small investments,
hard work, and ingenuity, broadband services are possible for everyone.
You are among my broadband heroes - spinning wheat into gold -- turning the
spectrum "junk" bands into venues for providing increasingly important
services to businesses and consumers. You are leading a grassroots
broadband movement that is growing throughout the country in communities
across America - in places like Colusa, California; Helena, Montana; Scotts
Bluff, Nebraska; Flora, Illinois; and Holbrook, New York.
I know I don't need to tell this audience that it's what's behind the FCC's
drive to facilitate broadband deployment that excites me about all of this.
. Access to broadband translates into improved access to education -
enabling people in rural or remote areas to take classes at far away
universities and schoolchildren to be home schooled.
. Access to broadband translates into improved access to medical
services, through telemedicine applications - enabling communities
everywhere to have virtual communications to the top doctors and medical
facilities.
. Access to broadband translates into economic development - enabling
new jobs so that people can stay and find work in the communities in which
they live.
. Access to broadband translates into closer community ties - enabling
communities to stay in touch through e-mail and web sites.
You have helped bring your communities all of these benefits.
Self-empowerment - that's the idea I most associate with our
unlicensed rules - and an idea that's so much a part of the fabric of the
American way. Low equipment costs, free access to spectrum, and regulatory
flexibility empower anyone who wants to provide broadband services. It's
the "democratization of communications". We help to give you the tools and
provide the freedom to build, and observe, with delight, the results.
I have been fortunate to see some of these results firsthand. Recently, I
had the opportunity to visit a studio called the Manhattan Neighborhood
Network (MNN), which makes use of WiFi technology in a novel way. MNN
provides facilities that allow average citizens to produce their own
programs for airing on public access channels. Members of the community can
check out top quality video cameras and produce and edit their own programs,
using off-the-shelf equipment. Partnering with WISPs and others throughout
the city, MNN can transmit live video to its studio for broadcast. I was
interviewed by some kids who were running their own Youth Channel. They
conducted the interview offsite and transmitted it wirelessly from a WiFi
hotspot. Now, any WiFi hotspot in New York can be a studio for MNN. The
Manhattan Neighborhood Network demonstrates all the good that can come from
hard work and creativity - it's a very real American success story using the
unlicensed bands.
Our unlicensed rules have been a hotbed for wireless broadband innovation -
spawning new industries like your own and encouraging significant capital
investment. It is estimated that by next year, sales of wireless networking
equipment will exceed $5 billion. Our regulatory flexibility in this area
has helped to enable this thriving industry.
We continue to look for more ways to encourage growth of unlicensed wireless
broadband services. Last year, we made an additional 255 MHz of spectrum
available in the 5 GHz region of the spectrum - adding a sizable chunk of
spectrum to that already available for unlicensed devices. We also made
spectrum available in the upper reaches of the spectrum - above 70 GHz - on
an unlicensed and very lightly licensed basis. Technologies that use this
new spectrum frontier are rapidly maturing and new services are on the
horizon. We are also in the process of considering additional spectrum
bands for use by unlicensed devices - the so-called spectrum "white spaces"
between the channels assigned for TV broadcast services and 50 MHz of
spectrum in the 3650 MHz band.
In addition to looking at how we can provide more spectrum for additional
capacity of wireless networks, we have also looked at ways in which we can
provide more operational flexibility. We have looked at this issue of
flexibility with particular focus on what we can do to facilitate additional
spectrum-based services in rural areas - including more technical and
operational flexibility to make deployments more economical.
New wireless technologies show considerable promise for wireless broadband
services. We recently concluded a proceeding that enabled "smart" antennas
to be used in some of our unlicensed bands. "Smart" radios are another new
technology that enable users to use the spectrum more intensively. Smart
radios can facilitate secondary markets - that is, licensed users could
lease their spectrum to third parties using smart radio technologies. And,
because of their frequency agility, smart radios could also act as a bridge
between two different radio services - effectively translating the signals
from one service to the frequency and format of another. The possible uses
for "smart" radios are wide ranging. The challenge before the Commission is
to determine how we can open the door for these technologies so as not to
shut out any of their tremendous potential.
New technologies are simply better tools for you - the service providers -
to use. Technology can't substitute for human creativity and ingenuity.
>From what I've seen, it's no accident that the term engineer and ingenuity
derive from the same Latin root. One shining example of creativity and
ingenuity that I have seen using unlicensed wireless broadband technologies
is in the Tribal Digital Village of Southern California. Using a network of
WiFi devices, eighteen Native American reservations located in a remote
region -- spanning more than 150 miles -- now have broadband connectivity.
The project had many technical challenges -- the terrain is rocky,
mountainous, and has deep valleys - making it hard to achieve line of sight.
Creative solutions for supplying power to the network access points were
also needed - so, the Native Americans used solar power and, in one
location, even used a car battery. The fruits of their efforts have been
substantial - among many other benefits, the 12,000 Native Americans in that
area can now take classes at a distant university and their youth can now
access the Internet and listen to archived recordings of elders speaking
Native languages - helping them to preserve their rich culture. As I said,
there is no technical substitute for the human spirit.
While today I have focused primarily on what the FCC has done in the area of
unlicensed wireless broadband services, there have been similar parallel,
positive developments in the area of licensed wireless broadband services as
well. For example, we have facilitated spectrum leasing for licensees and
streamlined our process for license assignments and transfers. This
flexibility allows spectrum users to make choices as to how they will use
spectrum, taking into account market factors, including customer demand and
availability of technology.
I understand that many of you are considering how you can make use of
licensed spectrum for network backhaul or other applications. This is the
beginning of a new wireless broadband future. We are moving to a future of
fully integrated wireless networks. That is, the real issue is not whether
you use licensed spectrum or unlicensed devices, or both. Or even whether
you use one type of broadband platform or another. It's an issue of what
fits and where. At the FCC, we want service providers to have the
flexibility to optimize their own networks based on factors like geography,
types of applications, and the number of subscribers - not as a function of
non-market based regulations. We've already begun to see providers mixing
and matching technologies - major cellular carriers are integrating their
networks with WiFi hotspots and some broadband over power line providers are
using WiFi to get from the power lines at the curb to inside the home.
We'd like to do more to facilitate the provisioning of wireless broadband
services. Last May, I created the Wireless Broadband Access Task Force to
conduct a comprehensive review of our wireless broadband policies to
determine whether we can do more, especially to see what policies might
further encourage WISPs. We'd like to see how we can add more tools to the
broadband tool box to enable service providers like yourselves to better
serve your communities.
There are a few issues that the Task Force has identified as particularly
important to the license-exempt community that I would like to talk about.
As license-exempt spectrum is used more and more intensively, interference
mitigation among unlicensed users is an increasingly important issue.
Recognizing this, in communities as diverse as San Francisco and rural West
Texas, private industry has formed frequency coordination groups. These
efforts help to optimize the operation of everyone's networks and, in turn,
consumers benefit through enhanced and more reliable services. I applaud
these private initiatives. They enable communities of service providers to
self-monitor their deployments and manage interference on a real-time basis.
To the extent they fit local needs, I would like to see more of these
initiatives taking hold throughout the country.
Another way to better leverage the amount of spectrum to which WISPs already
have access is through the adoption of voluntary industry Best Practices. I
like to think of Best Practices as reference manuals for being a good
spectrum neighbor. I understand that the License Exempt Alliance has formed
a working group to develop model Best Practices industry-wide and I look
forward to seeing the final results of this effort. Of course, as I've
indicated, the best practice for the FCC in this is a deregulatory one and I
want to emphasize that any industry Best Practices would only be voluntary.
I also want you to know that we are there for you - to back you up - to
enforce our rules as the need arises. I hear concerns from the WISP
community that - while it's not a significant number -- not everyone is
playing by the rules - that a few folks out there are using non-FCC
certified equipment or are installing power amplifiers to boost their
signals beyond allowable limits. Understand this directly from me - we are
fully committed to enforcing our technical rules. Indeed, over the last two
years, we have investigated approximately one dozen complaints related to
WISPs for non-compliance with our rules. Moreover, during my tenure as
Chairman, we have significantly ramped up the resources in our enforcement
field offices - increasing the total investment by more than 5 times. Also,
our investment in the FCC's engineering laboratory has increased by more
than 20 times - providing us with much more sophisticated tools for
technical analyses. So, in an era of increasingly more intensive spectrum
use, we now have the improved tools to do our jobs policing the airwaves.
The reason the unlicensed bands have been a model of success is that we set
up a framework of flexible, non-prescriptive rules for operation - rules
that have spawned considerable innovation and economic benefits. But these
rules are the result of a careful balance between protecting existing
authorized services from interference and providing the maximum
opportunities for many different types of unlicensed operations. Let's not
let a few wayward operators spoil a good thing.
I wanted to take this opportunity to stress that we need to hear from you.
Be proactive, weigh in, and make your needs known. I am very enthusiastic
about all of the possibilities of "smart" antennas and "smart" radios, but
technology can't do everything. We need your input to help the FCC to make
"smart" policy decisions. Right now, we have several ongoing FCC
proceedings that have potentially significant impact on the WISP community
-- the 3650 MHz proceeding, the cognitive radio proceeding, and the TV White
space proceeding, to name a few.
One of the most important roles of the Wireless Broadband Access Task Force
has been to conduct outreach - in part to spread the good-news story of the
fruits of all of your labors and entice others to follow in your footsteps,
and in part to go to different parts of the country to let folks know what's
going on at the FCC and how it might affect your industry (hopefully in a
positive way). Through these events, I have had the opportunity to meet with
some of you to see demonstrations of your products and services. I have
appreciated the opportunity to learn more about your industry, how it works,
and how we can help. I look forward to hearing more from you today.
One day, broadband services will know no boundary. Because of your efforts,
that day is fast approaching.
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Frank Keeney
Tel: +1-626-344-1424
Pasadena Networks, LLC
http://www.pasadena.net
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Wireless Antennas, Cables and Equipment:
http://www.wlanparts.com
Frank Keeney
Tel: +1-626-344-1424 / 888-259-5110 x0
Pasadena Networks, LLC
http://www.pasadena.net
----------------------------------
Wireless Antennas, Cables and Equipment:
http://www.wlanparts.com
