[Chapter-delegates] MIcrosoft White Space & Spectrum Sharing efforts

[Joly MacFie]

An interesting report by Tammy Parker, on ISOC Organizational member
Microsoft's efforts to develop white space tech worldwide. I've
snipped some salient paragraphs.

http://www.fiercewireless.com/tech/special-reports/microsoft-mixing-tv-white-space-spectrum-policy-and-altruism

Microsoft has embarked on a global strategy to develop and promote TV
white space technology as well as spread the news about the benefits
of liberalized spectrum policies in conjunction with the use of
dynamic spectrum-sharing technologies.

Microsoft has involved itself in lots of initiatives to bring Internet
connectivity to the unconnected and underserved. TV white space (TVWS)
spectrum trials in places such as Kenya [1], South Africa[2] and
Tanzania[3] are being conducted under the Microsoft 4Afrika
Initiative,[4] and Microsoft is also involved in TVWS trials in
Singapore and the Philippines. In the United Kingdom, Microsoft was
involved in what was at the time the world's largest TVWS trial in
Cambridge, England. That effort wrapped up during April 2012, but now
the company is about to embark on a TVWS trial in Glasgow,
Scotland,[5] in partnership with the University of Strathclyde and
several industry partners.

In all of these trials, Microsoft and its collaborators are basically
using TVWS spectrum--vacant frequencies that sit between TV broadcast
channels--to backhaul Wi-Fi hotspots, connecting the TVWS base station
to a Wi-Fi access point which then links to end-user devices.

<snip>

Microsoft's TVWS trials are key to the company's efforts to convince
telecom regulators of the value of unlicensed, shared spectrum. For
example, the company is working closely with Singapore's regulator to
form a TVWS regulatory process.

<snip>

Microsoft is also involved in efforts to show that most spectrum
remains unused most of the time in most places. The company's Spectrum
Observatory[6] gathers information from sensors set up in four
locations. Two of the locations are in the Seattle area, one is on top
of Microsoft's offices in Washington, D.C., and another is at the
company's offices in Brussels.

While uncovering large amounts of unused spectrum can help the company
form policy discussions, Garnett said the data also contributes to
research advancements by helping Microsoft see how spectrum is used in
different bands by different types of radios and technologies.

Microsoft intends to significantly expand the spectrum observation
project over the next year, adding more locations around the world,
such as at universities where researchers are also interested in such
information.

Though much has been made of the possibilities for using TVWS to
introduce affordable broadband access to developing markets such as
Africa, Garnett noted that urban areas in developed markets also
require technologies that can deliver more bandwidth to consumers on a
less expensive per-bit basis. In major cities, one can often find a
couple hundred or more megahertz of unused TV frequencies that can be
used for broadband access. Even in densely populated locales such as
Singapore or London, where there is heavy use of TV broadcast
frequencies, there could be upwards of 50 MHz of TVWS frequencies
available, he said.

Garnett charges that current TVWS rules enacted by the FCC, which has
led the world in setting early TVWS usage policy, are too strict. "The
rules are written in such a way that white space devices can't have
access to [all of the] unused channels because of adjacent channel
rules and other rules that the FCC adopted to protect incumbent
broadcasters from interference. We think that they're probably too
conservative," he said.

As part of its championing of liberalized spectrum policies, Microsoft
is a charter member of the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance[7], which
recently chose London for its headquarters. The group's mission is to
influence regulators to support TVWS technology and spectrum sharing.

<snip>

All of Microsoft's efforts to champion a TVWS industry and lobby for
spectrum sharing incur costs but have no immediate financial returns
for Microsoft. However, they could breed future upsides.

"We're trying to take a longer-term strategic view on the issue of
access," Garnett said. "Doing low-cost access networks in partnership
with ISPs in developing markets makes perfect sense, and, of course,
over time those markets will become more mature."

Microsoft recently joined the Alliance for Affordable Internet,[8]
which wants to drive down Internet prices in developing countries.
Garnett said that in Africa, "where the majority of the top 10 growth
economies are located," it is true that many people cannot afford
broadband access if it costs more than a few dollars a month. But he
expects that in the future, as economies expand and as broadband
prices fall, people they will be interested in gaining Internet access
and purchasing technology, such as Microsoft-brand products.


[1} http://www.fiercewireless.com/tech/press-releases/microsoft-teams-government-kenya-and-indigo-telecom-deliver-low-cost-solar

[2] http://www.fiercewireless.com/tech/story/microsoft-launching-tv-white-space-pilots-two-nations/2013-07-28

[3] http://www.fiercewireless.com/tech/story/microsoft-unveils-tv-white-space-pilot-tanzania/2013-05-08

[4] http://www.microsoft.com/africa/4afrika/

[5] http://www.fiercewireless.com/europe/story/ofcom-picks-bt-microsoft-and-google-major-white-spaces-trial/2013-10-04

[6] http://spectrum-observatory.cloudapp.net/

[7] http://www.dynamicspectrumalliance.org/

[8] https://a4ai.org/


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