of the electromagnetic spectrum is not working. Understanding Digitization also makes possible an intimate marriage of zoning board treats real estate, setting aside different areas for The Airwaves why requires a bit of history and a short physics lesson. and computer networking, locally and globally different uses—broadcast and , cellular phones, The “airwaves” used for a growing body of communica- on the . In theory, this will one day grant individuals great fixed satellite communications, military and federal govern- tion—radio, television, cell phones, CB radio, , cordless freedom to customize communications to suit their needs and ment communications—and granting free, renewable licenses Explained phones, garage door openers—consist of electromagnetic waves tastes—and to do so in infinite variety. As one person archives to spectrum users. The F.C.C. retained huge patches of unallo- that are part of the larger electromagnetic spectrum, which a complete file of “The Sopranos” to watch at will, stores MP3’s cated “white space” between broadcast frequencies to avoid A spectrum of possibilities. includes light, ultraviolet and other forms of radiation. of favorite music and subscribes to Internet-based news serv- interference. It also set aside a relatively small portion of spec- The section of the spectrum useful for broadcasting is defined ices, her neighbor creates a database from the food channel and trum for unlicensed uses such as amateur radio, walkie talkies, BY NEIL CARLSON by a range of frequencies—the rates at which waves oscillate— samples TV shows from India, South Africa and Los Angeles. global positioning satellite devices and networking. measured in megahertz. A transmitting device generates elec- Realizing such a vision, however, depends on a lot: contin- Although the rationale behind this allocation process made or all the benefits it offers, rapidly advancing tech- tronic impulses that travel as waves of a certain frequency within ued advances in digital communications with no unforeseen sense in the early 20th century, it had two unintended conse- nology may leave even a well-educated public in the this part of the spectrum. A receiver must be tuned to the same snags, and a massive shift of software and hardware on behalf quences. First, in granting free, exclusive licenses to the public dark about matters that bear directly on their lives. frequency to capture them. of everyone who wants to broadcast and receive. airwaves, the F.C.C. was essentially sponsoring what the New These days, that’s the issue with the science of wire- Through most of the last century, much of radio, television The need for government to regulate use of the spectrum America Foundation and others consider the huge gift of a pub- less communication, which is moving fast to trans- and other wireless communication depended on “analog” broad- arose from the fact that analog technologies are susceptible to lic asset to private business. Second, by the mid-1990’s, new com- form the ways people receive news and entertainment casting of sounds, images or other data by altering or “modu- interference: If there is another transmission on the same fre- munications technologies created huge demand for spectrum, and communicate with each other. lating” the shape or other aspects of electromagnetic waves. quency, the receiver gets confused. but there was little left to allocate. And incumbent license hold- Most people don’t spend much time thinking about Analog , TV sets and other devices receive modulated The current regulatory regime took shape in 1934, when the ers, notably the radio and television broadcast industries and cel- F “smart radio” or “collaborative gain networks,” yet waves by tuning to their frequencies and converting them to Federal Communications Act created the Federal Communi- lular communications companies, have no desire to give up their these and other marvels of new electronics are forc- images, sounds or commands—to beep a beeper or open a cations Commission and charged it with allocating spectrum. valuable spectrum allocations. (Legally, of course, “their” spec- ing decisions on reform of federal communications policy that garage door, for example. Individuals or companies wanting to use a slice of the spec- trum belongs to the public, but the F.C.C. has never terminated will dictate the shape and substance of democracy, politics and Advances in digital communications technology over the last trum apply for an F.C.C. license, which authorizes the holder to an industry’s spectrum allocation without compensation.) economics in the 21st century. How has this policy evolved, and decade threaten to render all of this obsolete. It is now possible use a particular frequency for a specific purpose in a particu- Meanwhile, digital communications have revolutionized use what does the new technology portend for its future? to convert sounds, images and other data into electronic impulses lar location. (Thus, an ABC affiliate in Indianapolis, say, is of the spectrum. Small, low- An excerpt from “The Citizen’s The corporate leaders, policy experts and public interest advo- that may be processed by computer chips. In this form, they licensed to broadcast “The Bachelor” and other shows at a cer- cost computer chips mean that Guide to the Airwaves,” cates who spend their days thinking about the issue agree that can be transmitted and received via frequencies of the spec- tain frequency and power level, but it may not use its spectrum wireless devices are more published in May 2003 by the current system of allocating space for devices that make use trum in greater volume, and with much more efficiency and allocation for radio or cellular communications.) Over the fol- sophisticated in how they “lis- the New America Foundation. precision than as analog waves. lowing 70 years, the F.C.C. treated the spectrum the way a city ten” to the spectrum, how they Neil Carlson is a freelance writer based in New York City. Copies are available at www.spectrumpolicy.org.

100 500 1.5 2 3 4 megahertz (MHz) 200 300 400 600 700 800 9001 GHz 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4.2 (see note* at bottom of page) MHz (1,000 MHz) GHz GHz GHz GHz

Remote- Wireless Satellite controlled Cordless GPS Unlicensed Satellite networking Radio: radio (Wi-Fi, phones AM toys Wireless phones* GPS Wireless PCS FM radio Medical medical (Global Positioning medical (SDARS) Bluetooth)* implants telemetry System) telemetry Satellite Fixed satellite Pagers phones communications (cable TV networks are carried Short- Most on these bands) wave of the white space is spectrum reserved for Mobile Broadcast Broadcast Broadcast Broadcast Mobile military, federal phones Cordless* TV TV TV TV phones CB Highway government phones Car alarms Family and industry use. radio toll tags* Mobile Weather radar Radio *overlapping Microwave* Cordless Service use phones phones Garage door ovens (walkie 2.4 GHz is unlicensed—a “public park” free to a wide openers talkies) *overlapping use variety of consumer devices (300 and growing fast).

Permeable zone: signals, which carry information, can easily traverse through dense objects such as buildings, mountains, forests, and storms. Semi-permeable (transition) zone: signals have difficulty traversing dense objects.

FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY UPSCALE SUBUR

* Radio waves are transmitted at different Wireless is generally counted in megahertz. A wavelength is the distance The electromagnetic spectrum has long The radio spectrum The amount of spectrum required frequencies measured in hertz (Hz). A slice between the wavelengths (low frequency) at one end and short (enlarged in the charts above) 3 kHz 300 GHz recurring peaks wavelengths (high frequency) at the other end. THE RADIO SPECTRUM for everyday communications of spectrum contains a band of frequencies. Abbreviations: kilohertz (1,000 hertz) is written as kHz, is the portion of the total visible of a wave. electromagnetic spectrum Today, most wireless communication is low fidelity The wider the band, the more information megahertz (1 million hertz) is written as MHz, and microwaves infrared light ultraviolet x rays gamma rays The size of the wavelength influences the ability of a wave to pass through objects. distinguished by its value audio. In the future, high fidelity video could require carrying capacity it has. (It has more “bandwidth”). gigahertz (1 billion hertz, or 1,000 megahertz) is written as GHz. Generally, as a wavelength decreases in size, its value also decreases. for communication. up to 5,000 times as much bandwidth.

36 Ford Foundation Report Summer 2003 Ford Foundation Report Summer 2003 37 decode transmissions, and how they reassemble broken or incom- create ad hoc networks that were in and of themselves the wire- Property Rights the spectrum policy should generally move toward the com- plete packets of data. Frequencies that once carried a single ana- less communication infrastructure. In this view, the best way to handle the spectrum is to pri- mons, freeing up even more spectrum as the underlying com- log signal, for example, can now carry 10 signals. And with digital New technologies such as smart radio, ultra-wideband, and vatize it and sell it off like property. Advocates of privatization mons technology becomes commercially viable. transmission, there is no need to set aside so much white space collaborative-gain networking make the spectrum commons argue that doing away with the F.C.C.’s current system of licens- Other advocates of the middle way, including some who lean between frequencies. possible (see opposite page). The commons infrastructure has ing and use restrictions would allow the market to determine toward the commons or property rights model, share a belief The challenge now is to reform federal spectrum policy so it more in common with the Internet, which is essentially a dif- the most efficient uses of spectrum. Spectrum would become in the importance of blending the two opposing approaches reflects this new reality. Last summer, Michael Powell, chairman fuse network of users who all use a set of standard protocols to property, and owners could use their slice of spectrum however for the time being. Michael Powell, chairman of the F.C.C., of the F.C.C., assembled a Spectrum Policy Task Force and charged talk to each other. Just as no one “owns” the Internet, no one they pleased—they could broadcast on it, use it for cellular seems to be a middle-way believer, although it remains to be seen it with creating a blueprint for reform. As the task force got down would own the airwaves. Like the Internet, the capacity of the phones, or sell unused spectrum to the highest bidder. Advo- whether F.C.C. policy will follow this path. to work, nearly everyone called to testify agreed that the F.C.C. commons increases at the edges, through smarter gadgets, cates of property rights argue that new technologies are should do away with the grossly inefficient licensing regime. And sophisticated software and better transmitters and receivers. unproven, and that if they fail to deliver on the promise of end- most experts also agree that in doing so, the F.C.C. should do Promoters of the commons approach include public inter- less capacity, the common airwaves would become a crowded The Architecture of the Airwaves away with onerous restrictions on use. Beyond that, the advocates est groups like Consumers Union, as well as leading legal schol- cacophony—and an economic and policy disaster. Conventional wireless technologies are pretty sorry when it of spectrum reform fall roughly into three categories: those who ars like Lawrence Lessig, a professor at Stanford University Law Property rights advocates tend to be skeptical of technol- comes to using the radio spectrum efficiently. Analog tech- favor a “commons” approach, those who favor a “property rights” School and Yochai Benkler, a professor at Yale Law School. All ogy’s ability to meet all the demands—current and future— nologies such as broadcast television and radio and analog system and those who want a middle way between the two. recognize, furthermore, that it may take some time and finan- for spectrum. And if spectrum is a scarce resource, free markets wireless use up enormous amounts of spectrum. cial investment to accomplish a wholesale shift to a communi- lead to the best and most efficient use of those resources. In But as the New America Foundation has noted in “The Cit- Commons cations system based entirely on such networks. the short term, a property rights system tends to favor existing izen’s Guide to the Airwaves,” excerpted on these pages, new Advocates of open spectrum, or a commons approach to the The politics of the commons is a peculiar combination of technologies (radio and , cellular phones), digital technologies like (eliminating airwaves, argue that new technologies—some already com- libertarian technologists, progressive academics, consumer but the underlying market rationality, advocates say, would fos- redundant information), (using empty mercially available, some coming in the near future—will effec- advocates, and corporate interests. Computer makers, software ter innovation as new technologies replaced older ones. Even if spaces in the spectrum) and new modulation schemes (plac- tively create unlimited spectrum capacity. The best long-term developers and consumer communication device manufactur- spectrum scarcity is no longer an issue in the future, advocates ing more data in a single burst of energy), are capable of approach to spectrum policy, they argue, is to set some basic rules ers all have a vested interest in creating the next generation of argue, a property rights framework would allow companies to using the airwaves more efficiently than ever before. of the road but then to let anyone and everyone use the spec- smart radios and wireless communications devices. Meanwhile, capitalize the costs of innovation as new technologies emerge Here are three key technologies: trum as they see fit. In this model, the technology embedded in consumer groups, public interest advocates, and progressive and would effectively allocate spectrum in the interim. Smart Radio. Smart radio is a generic term for a device that individual devices—a laptop computer, a mobile phone, a intellectuals like the idea of the commons, and in equal measure, Incumbent corporate interests favor property rights, as do listens to a frequency before it transmits its signals. If it hears home —would provide capacity for wireless distrust the consolidation of corporate power embodied in the free-market economists (such as the American Enterprise Insti- that a frequency is busy, it switches to another. If that is busy, communications. Instead of buying access to privately owned property rights model. tute’s J. Gregory Sidak) and legal theorists such as Gerald R. too, it tries another, and so on until it finds an open fre- communications infrastructure, citizens and consumers would Faulhaber and David Farber, co-directors of the Penn Initia- quency. Software programs determine how the device nav- tive for Markets, Technology and Policy at the University of igates among frequencies. The upshot is that “radio” 5 50 Pennsylvania. Broadcasters in particular are lobbying for a prop- devices—radios, , wireless phones, pagers, wire- 4.4 4.6 4.8GHz 101520 25 30 35 40 45 GHz 100 150 200 250 erty rights approach since they would be well positioned to less computer networks—can jump frequencies together, acquire valuable spectrum. Some advocates have even suggested using spectrum efficiently without interruption. giving away property rights to current licensees—a policy that Ultra Wideband Radio. Ultra-wideband (UWB) radio Wi-Fi would effectively grant a $771 billion windfall to incumbent uses numerous low-power transmissions across a number Satellite corporate interests. In a sign that the F.C.C. may be leaning in of frequencies. To conventional devices, these transmissions Security TV Security alarms alarms this direction, a recent ruling allows current licensees to lease appear as radio background noise, but to a sophisticated, unused portions of their spectrum allocation for alternate uses. sensitive receiver, these wideband transmissions are recog- 20 GHz30 GHz 40 GHz nizable data. The receiver picks up the spread signals, reassem- The Middle Way bles them, and translates them into a usable end product—a Most argue for splitting the difference between the property voice transmission, a document or a digital image. Using Police Police speed radar speed radar rights and commons models. They say that the commons UWB, I could send my brother a digital photo over the same Highway toll tags approach is preferable both as an economic model and as an frequency NBC was using to broadcast “Friends,” yet no one Driver safety warning appropriate use of a valuable public resource—but the tech- between New York and Minneapolis would be the wiser. nology needs time to develop. In the interim, middle way advo- Collaborative Gain Networks. The Holy Grail of wire- cates argue that F.C.C. policy should retain public ownership less technologies, collaborative gain networks add capacity over the spectrum while pursuing two core goals: freeing as with each user on the network. Imagine me tapping away on much spectrum as possible for the commons and doing away my laptop at the kitchen table. Across the street, my neigh- Long line-of-sight zone: signals cannot traverse dense Short line-of-sight zone: signals objects but can be sent long distances through the atmosphere. can only be sent very short distances. with use restrictions on existing licenses. For example, the New bor is searching for an airfare on the Internet. Two blocks America Foundation has urged the F.C.C. to “lease” spectrum away, someone else is listening to archived editions of “This to commercial interests. In exchange for complete flexibility American Life” on Internet radio. Now imagine that our during the term of the lease (lessees would be free to sublease, computers are all broadcasting and receiving at the same barter, trade and consume spectrum however they wished), time: instead of transmitting and receiving through a cable

HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE FARMLAND BARREN FARMLANDSOUTHWEST SCRUBLAND SAHARA DESERT the lessee would make annual payments. As technology devel- modem, we are all broadcasting and receiving through each oped, the F.C.C. could reallocate the spectrum covered under other’s computers. The more people there are on the network, LOW FIDELITY 10 kHz Voice (e.g., quality) “The basic problem is that COMMUNICATIONS “[The spectrum allocation] system is inefficient, expiring leases to the commons. the more powerful it is. If one person’s computer crashes, 100 kHz Music (e.g., CD quality) demand for spectrum is unresponsive to consumer demand, and a huge 1,000 kHz (=1 MHz) Standard definition TV (e.g., VCR quality) outstripping the supply.” barrier to entry for new technologies anxious to In addition, these advocates argue for more unlicensed spec- wireless communication simply gets routed elsewhere in a 5,000 kHz (=5 MHz) High definition TV (e.g., movie theater quality) HIGH FIDELITY U.S. General Accounting Office compete in the marketplace.” COMMUNICATIONS APPROXIMATELY 50,000 kHz (=50 MHz) Super high definition TV* (e.g., glossy magazine quality) trum space—essentially more commons. They also argue that diffuse, seamless network. —N.C. *Super high definition video in 3D or holography would require additional bandwidth. Report, September 2002 Thomas Hazlett, Former Chief Economist, FCC

38 Ford Foundation Report Summer 2003 Ford Foundation Report Summer 2003 39