International Telecommunication Union

Radio Spectrum Management

for a
Converging World

Eric Lie
Telecommunication
Development Bureau
ITU
ITU-WTO Workshop on
Telecom and ICT Regulation

Geneva, Switzerland
1 - 7 December 2004

1 The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do
not necessarily reflect the opinions of the ITU or its Membership.
 International Telecommunication Union

Presentation Overview
 Introduction to spectrum management
• Role of spectrum management
• Int’l and national regulatory frameworks
 Market-based approaches to spectrum
planning
• Auctions, secondary trading, administrative
incentive pricing and license-exempt use
 Policy and regulatory aspects of advanced
wireless technologies
• Spread spectrum, Ultra Wide Band (UWB),
software defined radio, agile radios, etc.
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 International Telecommunication Union

Role of Spectrum Management

 Technical efficiency
Introduction to Spectrum Management

• Minimizing interference
 Economic efficiency
• Allocating and assigning spectrum to its most
economically valuable use
• Harmonization
 Public policy
• Public services (e.g. Public broadcasting,
safety, defense, etc.), Technological diversity

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 International Telecommunication Union

International Framework
 ITU
Introduction to Spectrum Management

• World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC)

• Table of Frequency Allocations
• ITU Radio Regulations
 Regional
Organizations
• Regional co-ordination
• Harmonization
• e.g. European
Commission
 Bilateral Agreements
• Cross-border co-
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ordination
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National Framework
 Spectrum planning
Introduction to Spectrum Management

• Allocation (“Band Plan”)

• Table of Frequency Allocations
• Assignment (“Spectrum licensing”)
• “First come, first served”, beauty contest, lotteries, auctions
 Spectrum engineering
• Modeling of propagation patterns
 Spectrum monitoring and enforcement
• Type approval of equipment
• Detection of illegal or wrongful use of
frequencies or equipment
5 • Enforcement of regulations & licence conditions
Introduction to Spectrum Management International Telecommunication Union

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Changing Paradigms
 Increasing demand for spectrum
Introduction to Spectrum Management

• New technologies and services

• Need for mobility
• Advantages of wireless infrastructure
 Rapid technological change
 Greater capabilities of market players
 Convergence
• Blurring of regulatory boundaries between
different services & technologies
Strain on traditional command and control
7 model of spectrum planning
 International Telecommunication Union

Market-based approaches
Market-based approaches to Spectrum Planning

 Exclusive rights regime

• Where spectrum is licensed or awarded to a
single user for his exclusive use
• Market based spectrum planning approaches
include:
• Auctions
• Administrative incentive pricing
• Secondary trading of spectrum rights
 Non-exclusive rights regime
• Where the use of spectrum is licence-exempt or
shared with other users
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 International Telecommunication Union

Auctions
 Types of auctions
Market-based approaches to Spectrum Planning

• English auction, first price sealed-bid auction,

second price sealed bid auction, Dutch auction,
simultaneous multiple round auction
 Advantages
• Transparent and economically efficient
• Windfalls or economic rents accrue to the govt.
 Disadvantages
• May lead to higher prices and concentration in
the wireless sector
• Auction design can be complex
9 • Temptation to use auctions to generate revenue
 International Telecommunication Union

Secondary Trading (1)

Market-based approaches to Spectrum Planning

 Promotes economically efficient use of

spectrum after initial assignment
 Modes and variations
• Change of ownership
• Reconfiguration
• Partitioning and aggregation
• Change of use
• Constraints e.g. interference, international obligations
• Leasing / Sharing
• Partial transfer of rights to use spectrum for a limited time
or for a limited portion of the spectrum “owned”
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 International Telecommunication Union

Secondary Trading (2)

Market-based approaches to Spectrum Planning

 Making the transition to secondary trading

• Refarming, conversion (e.g.UK), creation of
management rights (e.g. NZ), overlay licensing
 Dividing and packaging spectrum
• e.g. Standard Trading Units (Aust.)
 Non-commercial uses
 Institutional arrangements
• Competition safeguards
• Trading mechanisms
• Windfall gains
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Secondary Trading (3)

 The case of New Zealand
Market-based approaches to Spectrum Planning

• Intro. of secondary trading despite presence of

incumbents in the band
• 3 tier system of rights:
• Management rights
• Manage nationwide band of frequencies
• Right to issue licences for frequencies in the band
• No restrictions as to usage
• Licence rights
• Issued by band management rights holders
• Apparatus licences
• Legacy regime where management rights have not been
created 
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 International Telecommunication Union

Administrative Incentive Pricing

 Use of fees as an incentive for spectrum to
Market-based approaches to Spectrum Planning

be used efficiently
• Fees levied by government act as the
opportunity cost of using spectrum to the user
• Users would return spectrum if the opportunity
cost is higher than the economic value derived
 Factors in calculating fees
• Coverage area, bandwidth, population density
• Simulated auctions, financial studies,
extrapolations from secondary markets
 Imperfect substitute for market-forces
• Information deficiencies and methodological
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problems in determining fees.
 International Telecommunication Union

Licence-exempt Spectrum
Market-based approaches to Spectrum Planning

 2 forms: Low power transmissions or allocated

bands
• ISM bands at 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz
• 5 150-5 250, 5 250-5 350 MHz and 5 470-5 725 MHz
 Benefits
• “Hostile environment” and power limitations create a
fertile test bed for new wireless technologies and
services (e.g. WiFi, WiMax, etc.)
• Lower costs for manufacturers and consumers
 Drawbacks
• Spectrum bands can become congested
• Difficulty clearing new bands
• Loss of direct revenues to governments if spectrum is
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A Flexible Framework
Market-based approaches to Spectrum Planning

 Exclusive vs. Non-exclusive approaches

• Interference (and spectrum scarcity)
• Underutilization vs. overuse
• Technology and innovation

 Towards a more flexible framework?

• e.g. different regimes in different bands, open
access to spectrum underlay, etc.

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Cross-cutting concerns
Market-based approaches to Spectrum Planning

 Non-commercial users
• E.g Public broadcasting, aviation, defense, etc.
• Market-based incentives include:
• Imposing administrative incentive pricing
• Allowing spectrum leasing / sharing
 International aspects
• Harmonization
• Interference management

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 International Telecommunication Union

Policy and Technology

 Regulation (circa 1930)  Technology (2004)
Policy and Regulatory Aspects of Advanced

• Built on the assumption • Fast processing power

Wireless Technologies

of “dumb” radios and intelligent radios

• Tightly regulated use to • New technologies that

prevent interference are more tolerant
towards interference and
• Very limited provisions that make better use of
for reclaiming available spectrum
inefficiently used • Spread spectrum
spectrum • Agile radios
• Software defined radios

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 International Telecommunication Union

Spread Spectrum
Policy and Regulatory Aspects of Advanced

Information is sent over

a much wider band
than the actual
Wireless Technologies

bandwidth of the
information by using
a code to either
modify the carrier
wave (direct
sequence) or to
define a hopping
pattern for
frequencies
(frequency hopping).
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Image source: http://www.futaba.com/IRC/irctechlib.htm
 International Telecommunication Union

Ultra-wide band (UWB)

 Ultra-wide band is a spread spectrum technology
Policy and Regulatory Aspects of Advanced

that transmits data at very high speeds by sending

the transmission over a wide range of frequencies
Wireless Technologies

but at very low power levels.

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Image source: ITU adapted fromIntel
 International Telecommunication Union

Agile radios
 Agile radios act as frequency scavengers. They
can broadcast on an unused frequency until the
Policy and Regulatory Aspects of Advanced

agile radio “senses” another radio trying to use

the same frequency. At that moment, the radio
Wireless Technologies

“hops” frequency to another temporarily unused

portion of the radio spectrum.
Frequency

Time
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 International Telecommunication Union

Software-defined radio
 A wireless communication device where a
Policy and Regulatory Aspects of Advanced

computer controls the transmitter

modulation.
Wireless Technologies

 Can be re-programmed to transmit on

different frequencies.
 Promising applications:
• Multiple uses from generic radio terminal
• Mobile phone, cordless phone, pager, WLAN, etc.
• Quick software upgrades to adapt to regulatory
changes or to different regulatory environments

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Key policy decisions

 Introducing underlays/noise floor rights
Policy and Regulatory Aspects of Advanced

• Allows use of the noise floor by technologies

such as UWB
Wireless Technologies

 Developing noise temperature measures

• Requires devices to measure the level of
interference and to transmit accordingly
 Developing co-existence models
• Allows agile devices to operate in bands
alongside licensed users
 Allowing multi-use or software defined
radios
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 International Telecommunication Union

Summary
 Introduction to spectrum management
• Increasing demand for spectrum and
convergence are placing a strain on the
traditional “Command and Control” model
 Market-based approaches to spectrum
planning
• Greater use of auctions, secondary trading,
administrative incentive pricing and license-
exempt use to reflect market forces
• Need to resolve issues of non-commercial use
and int’l constraints
 Policy and regulatory aspects of advanced
wireless technologies
23 • Policy has to keep up with technology
 International Telecommunication Union

Thank you
http://www.itu.int/itu-r

http://www.itu.int/itu-d/treg

http://www.itu.int/spectrum

Eric Lie
[email protected]

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