THE BUSINESS JOURNAL

Vol 19, No 24                                February 25 - March 1, 2001

Open spectrum lets new technology try to make waves

by M. Steele Brown, Staff Writer

In the big business of auctioning wireless spectrum, companies such as Voicestream and Winstar pay big bucks to own the air. But without deep pockets, how do smaller companies compete?

Use the unlicensed spectrum, of course.

The Federal Communications Commission has set aside these unregulated slices of the airwaves -- known formally as Industrial, Scientific and Medical Spectrum -- as a sort of free testing ground for new technologies and other devices. "Licensed" spectrum merely means that there are defined boundaries, enforced by the FCC, that a company must operate within once it owns that license.

Graeme Gibson, president and CEO of Computer Training Corp., a local wireless broadband provider, said free airspace was needed to allow companies such as his to develop technology. Also, without these free bands, the government essentially would be erecting barriers to entering the marketplace. With licenses for regulated spectrum going for as much as $40 billion in Europe and $17 billion in this country, it is easy to see that only the big players would have a fair shot at success without this loophole.

The unregulated bands, which sit at 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz, are used by mobile and wireless broadband carriers, private corporations for close-in networking purposes, scientific groups and hospitals. The spectrum's medical uses, Gibson said, range from getting information and data back to patient-monitoring devices to connecting baby-monitoring cameras from the nursery to the television in front of the on-duty nurse.

In the 900 MHz range, the band is used mostly as a carrier for pagers, wireless e-mail providers and cordless phones. Microwaves operate in the 2.4 GHz zone, making almost every kitchen a possible no-fly zone for devices operating in that range, Gibson said, which is why the band is open. Fortunately, most microwave ovens are shielded from allowing too much of the signal to escape, he said.

The 2.4 band is the most popular right now, Gibson said, because it allows a clear signal to travel farther than in other bands.

"Anyone can use it," Gibson said. "You show up with a transmitter, scan the band, find out what is available and then begin using it. And with the right antenna, you can get a good signal to travel 15 to 18 miles."

If only it were that simple.

Without the government to oversee and regulate use, the issue of overlapping with another user is always prevalent.

One factor working in favor of carriers operating in the 2.4 band is that the technology is designed to deal with interference. If there is distortion in the channel the carrier is operating in, just like on a cordless phone, the carrier can move around the other signal to produce a clear transmission.

Another plus is that the 5.8 band is mostly unused at this point, Gibson said, because carriers must spend money on more expensive technology to get their signals out. So when 2.4 is used up in five years, as most experts predict, carriers will have someplace else to go. There is more space, and more carriers can work side by side in the band. But signals do not go as far, and amplification hardware must be attached to antennas.

Art Graham of wireless broadband provider KNet said companies are attempting to work together to make sure the 2.4 range lasts as long as possible. They even have formed an organization called Aircore Alliance, which promotes equitable use of available spectrum.

"We have an informal structure so far," Graham said. "We're working with various companies to make sure there's no overlap. They don't have to agree, but it is in everyone's enlightened best interest to work together, so it's going to work."