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

Thu Nov 14 13:08:12 PST 2013

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Microsoft came too late. Starting  2015 ITU will take care for intl
coordination  only  for digital  TV, which is  without white spaces.
All white spaces will be allocated in the Digital Dividend -extra  80
MHz spectrum in 800 MHZ band, which will be distributed among cellular
 operators.

On 15.11.2013 0:19, Joly MacFie wrote:
> 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/
> 
> 

- -- 
Grigori Saghyan
PGP Key ID: 0x48E4D5DC
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