[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 135 (Tuesday, July 15, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41262-41264]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-16529]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
[Docket Number: 140708559-4559-01]
RIN 0660-XC011
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
[Docket Number: ET Docket No. 14-99]
Model City for Demonstrating and Evaluating Advanced Spectrum
Sharing Technologies
AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information Administration,
U.S. Department of Commerce, and the Office of Engineering and
Technology, Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration
(NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Office of
Engineering and Technology (OET) issue this Joint Public Notice to seek
public comment on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and
Technology (PCAST) recommendation that the Secretary of Commerce
establish a public-private partnership to facilitate the creation of an
urban test city that would support rapid experimentation and
development of policies, underlying technologies, and system
capabilities for advanced, dynamic spectrum sharing. The test services
(referenced herein as a ``Model City'') for demonstrating and
evaluating advanced spectrum sharing technologies could include large-
scale sustainable facilities for systems-level testing in real-world
environments across multiple frequency bands, including public safety
and selected federal bands. Through this Joint Public Notice, NTIA and
OET seek to promote the Model City concept in conjunction with: (1) The
new Center for Advanced Communications established by NTIA and the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and (2) the FCC's
existing experimental licensing program.
DATES: Comments are due on or before August 29, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Parties must file one copy of their written comments with
the FCC, using one of the following addresses:
U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority
mail must be sent to: Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications
Commission, 445 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554. ET Docket No.
14-99.
Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service
Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to: 9300 East Hampton
Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743.
Parties must also file one copy with the FCC's copy contractor,
Best Copy and Printing, Inc. (BCPI), Portals II, 445 12th Street SW.,
Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554, (202) 488-5300, or via email to
[email protected].
Comments may also be submitted electronically by email to
[email protected] or by mail to: National Telecommunications and
Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401
Constitution Avenue NW., Room 4096, Washington, DC 20230, Attn: Rangam
Subramanian, Office of Spectrum Management. Written comments should be
in standard Word or Adobe PDF format if submitted electronically.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rangam Subramanian, NTIA, at (202)
482-4399 or [email protected], or Matthew Hussey, OET, at (202) 418-
3619 or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In July 2012, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and
Technology (PCAST) released a set of recommendations to the President
on how to realize the full potential of government-held spectrum to
spur economic growth by facilitating spectrum sharing as a mainline
approach to spectrum management.\1\ This report (herein PCAST Report)
concluded that clearing and reallocation of federal spectrum is no
longer a sustainable basis for spectrum policy due to the high cost,
lengthy time to
[[Page 41263]]
implement, and disruption to the federal mission.\2\ Based on this
finding, the PCAST called for a new spectrum architecture premised on
spectrum sharing rather than exclusive use. To bridge the gap from
today's spectrum use model to such a new regime, one of the PCAST's
recommendations was to create an urban test city in a major U.S city to
support realistic, rapid experimentation in spectrum management
technology and practice.
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\1\ See Report to the President: Realizing the Full Potential of
Government-Held Spectrum to Spur Economic Growth, at 49-50 (July
2012), available at http://go.usa.gov/k27R (PCAST Report).
\2\ See id. at vi.
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Before and after the release of the PCAST Report, the
Administration, NTIA, and the FCC launched several initiatives to
facilitate research, development, testing, and evaluation of spectrum-
sharing technologies. The 2010 Presidential Memorandum on ``Unleashing
the Wireless Broadband Revolution'' directed the Secretary of Commerce,
working through NTIA in consultation with NIST, the National Science
Foundation (NSF), the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice,
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and other agencies
as appropriate, to create and implement a plan to facilitate research,
development, experimentation, and testing by researchers to explore
innovative spectrum-sharing technologies.\3\ NTIA, NIST, and NSF, with
support from the National Information Technology Research and
Development (NITRD) program, formed the Wireless Spectrum R&D (WSRD)
Senior Steering Group (SSG) to coordinate spectrum-related research and
development activities across the federal government, private sector,
and academia.
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\3\ See Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and
Agencies, Unleashing the Wireless Broadband Revolution (rel. June
28, 2010), published at 75 FR 38387 (July 1, 2010), available at
http://go.usa.gov/8nr3.
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The 2013 Presidential Memorandum on ``Expanding America's
Leadership in Wireless Innovation'' directed the Secretary of Commerce,
working through NTIA, to continue to facilitate greater discussions
between government and commercial stakeholders on spectrum sharing.\4\
Pursuant to this memorandum, the NITRD WSRD SSG, on behalf of NTIA and
NIST, published a comprehensive inventory of federal and non-federal
test facilities.\5\ NTIA and NIST also created a new Center for
Advanced Communications (CAC) to promote interdisciplinary research,
development, and testing in several areas, including spectrum sharing
and advanced technologies for broadband and public safety.\6\ The CAC
will develop multiuser testbeds that allow government and industry
researchers to measure and evaluate the performance of new advanced
spectrum-sharing technologies.
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\4\ See Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and
Agencies, Expanding America's Leadership in Wireless Innovation
(rel. June 14, 2013), published at 78 FR 37431 (June 20, 2013),
available at http://go.usa.gov/8nr3 (2013 Presidential Memorandum).
\5\ See WSRD SSG National Wireless Testbed Information Portal,
available at http://go.usa.gov/8ngh.
\6\ See NIST and NTIA Announce Plans to Establish New Center for
Advanced Communications, Press Release (June 14, 2013), available at
http://go.usa.gov/DTdG.
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The 2013 Presidential Memorandum also directed NTIA to design and
conduct a pilot program to monitor spectrum usage in real time in
selected communities throughout the country to determine whether a
comprehensive monitoring program in major metropolitan areas could
disclose opportunities for more efficient spectrum access, including
via sharing.\7\ In August 2013, NTIA published a Notice of Inquiry on
the spectrum monitoring pilot program to solicit input from
stakeholders, and has used some of the information collected from that
inquiry to begin implementation of the pilot.\8\
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\7\ See 2013 Presidential Memorandum.
\8\ See NTIA, Spectrum Monitoring Pilot Program, Notice of
Inquiry, 78 FR 50399 (Aug. 19, 2013), available at http://go.usa.gov/DWQw.
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The FCC recently modified its experimental licensing rules to
provide a more flexible framework to keep pace with the speed of modern
technological change, including advanced spectrum sharing concepts.\9\
The revised rules permit institutions to move from concept to
experimentation to finished product as rapidly as possible using a new
program experimental license that gives licensees more flexibility to
conduct multiple experiments in certain locations without filing
separate applications. Program licensees can also conduct specific
types of experiments without individual authorizations in designated
``innovation zones.'' In March 2014, the FCC's Technological Advisory
Council (TAC) created a working group to study advanced sharing of
federal and non-federal spectrum bands and enabling wireless
technologies.\10\ This working group is developing key recommendations
to support the creation of a Model City including scope, logistics,
locations, frequency bands, and other operational issues and
objectives.
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\9\ See FCC, Promoting Expanded Opportunities for Radio
Experimentation and Market Trials Under Part 5 of the Commission's
Rules and Streamlining Other Related Rules, ET Docket No. 10-236,
Report and Order, 28 FCC Rcd. 758 (Feb. 2013), available at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-13-15A1_Rcd.pdf.
\10\ See TAC, Summary of Meeting at 36 (Mar. 10, 2014),
available at http://transition.fcc.gov/bureaus/oet/tac/tacdocs/meeting31014/TACSummary3-10-14.pdf.
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Discussion
The purpose of this Joint Public Notice is to build upon the PCAST
recommendations on test services necessary to demonstrate and evaluate
advanced spectrum sharing technologies through the potential
establishment of a Model City program. This program, if established,
could facilitate large-scale sustainable facilities for systems level
testing in real-world environments across multiple frequency bands,
potentially including selected federal and non-federal frequency bands.
NTIA and the FCC would work together in accordance with their
respective areas of authority. The responses to this Joint Public
Notice will help determine whether NTIA and/or the FCC may need to
undertake additional actions or initiate formal proceedings.
Through this Joint Public Notice, NTIA and OET seek comment on the
PCAST recommendation and on ways to establish, fund, and conduct the
Model City program. We also welcome stakeholder input on other measures
that NTIA and the FCC could employ to promote the program, for example,
through independent public-private partnerships among federal and local
government stakeholders and commercial interests. We are soliciting
ideas on how to move the PCAST recommendation forward and therefore
seek comment on the next steps that NTIA and the FCC could take to
develop specific approaches for effectively demonstrating and
evaluating sharing technologies in real-world environments. NTIA and
OET also seek comment on the types of spectrum sharing innovations and
supported applications that would be good initial candidates for such
evaluations, including their potential benefits, recommended spectrum
bands for sharing, and appropriate operational requirements.
NTIA and OET seek comment on the extent to which the Model City can
and should be a largely self-organizing effort to establish independent
public-private partnerships by industry, municipalities (or other
political subdivisions), and other non-federal stakeholders.
Particularly in light of the recent modifications to the FCC's
experimental licensing rules, how could the Model City take advantage
of these rule changes without having to establish or fund a new federal
program? What type of formal or informal agreements or arrangements
among the non-federal
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parties would be necessary to effectuate the Model City relationships
and understandings between, for example, an industry consortium and the
participating city? Beyond the FCC's formal role in administering the
experimental licensing process, NTIA and OET seek comment on how it
could further expedite or streamline the process for Model City
participants and more effectively ensure compliance with the rules and
any license conditions.
In addition to coordinating experimental license applications to
use bands implicating federal spectrum assignments, to what extent
should NTIA be involved in particular initiatives to facilitate federal
agency participation in a Model City program? NTIA and OET seek input
from commenting parties on whether the Model City program should be
managed by the federal government or whether the FCC and NTIA could, on
top of their existing licensing and coordination roles, help initiate
and facilitate a dialogue between the key stakeholders who will
directly develop, participate in, and benefit from a successful Model
City program within the scope of existing rules or other requirements.
The new CAC established by NTIA and NIST could be a potential
vehicle to advance the Model City concept. As noted above, a core
function of the CAC is to promote interdisciplinary research,
development, and testing in radio frequency technology and spectrum
sharing. NTIA and OET seek comment on the potential role of the CAC in
managing the activities within one or more Model Cities, such as
working directly with NTIA and the FCC to coordinate the interests of
incumbent spectrum users to avoid harmful interference, while ensuring
that innovators have access to adequate spectrum resources and other
facilities in cooperation with city officials. While we would expect
private sector stakeholders to drive the design and development of
innovative wireless technologies and business models that could be
tested in a Model City, NTIA and OET seek comment on how the CAC could
work as an impartial facilitator with the federal and non-federal
stakeholders and local governments to develop feasible test plans,
minimize regulatory issues and constraints, monitor experimental
deployments, and evaluate and report the test results.
The FCC's experimental licensing program makes spectrum available
to any non-federal party interested in experimenting with new radio
technologies, equipment designs, radio wave propagation
characteristics, and innovative service concepts (including market
trials), especially in new innovation zones. NTIA and OET seek comment
on how this program can be effectively used as a platform for the
establishment of the Model City. For example, how can the FCC and NTIA
facilitate stakeholder deployment of innovation zones in one or more
Model Cities?
NTIA and OET invite commenters to suggest opportunities for
collaboration among wireless service providers, hardware vendors,
academia, federal agencies, and other researchers and developers. How
would such collaboration in a Model City better facilitate more rapid
experimentation of advanced spectrum sharing techniques between new
commercial systems and incumbent or new federal systems? How would such
collaborative use within Model City innovation zones enhance
stakeholders' ability to try various sharing concepts? For example,
what kind of flexibility would stakeholders need to make adjustments as
needed when developing sharing protocols under real-world scenarios
while ensuring protection of other services and operations?
The host community for a Model City could play a crucial and
collaborative role by expediting access to rights-of-way and other
facilities (e.g., fiber, conduits, poles, towers, buildings, rooftops,
park spaces, tunnels, etc.) for short- and long-term wireless
infrastructure and monitoring deployments. The PCAST Report suggests
that regional clusters of local industry associations, government, and
academia could develop proposals to host the Model City in their
particular regions to leverage their own innovation investments, local
suppliers, terrain characteristics, nearby federal installations, and
other unique features and benefits.\11\ NTIA and OET seek comment on
the most appropriate approach for soliciting or identifying eligible
cities interested in hosting Model City deployments. What particular
factors, accommodations, commitments, or benefits would be important?
For example, how should local permitting processes, accessibility to
city lands and facilities, or incentives be considered? What features
of a Model City would be most attractive for candidate cities to
participate in the program?
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\11\ See PCAST Report at 71.
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Finally, NTIA and OET seek input on the potential funding
mechanisms and other processes for establishing and maintaining one or
more Model City deployments in a manner that facilitates potentially
resource-intensive collaborative efforts among a wide range of
stakeholders while minimizing expenditure of taxpayer (both federal and
local) dollars. How should funding be addressed in Model City proposals
and what minimal commitments should be required for such proposals to
go forward? How would existing mechanisms, such as federal Cooperative
Research and Development Agreements, be used to expand opportunities
for private stakeholder funding, collaboration, and information
protection, and what other alternative methods could be used to
formalize the parties' roles and responsibilities, including funding?
What incentives might be provided, and by whom, to increase
participation in a Model City program? What other factors should be
considered in a process to solicit interest in and successfully
initiate Model City proposals?
Dated: July 10, 2014.
Milton Brown,
Deputy Chief Counsel, National Telecommunications and Information
Administration.
Dated: July 10, 2014.
Julius P. Knapp,
Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology, Federal Communications
Commission.
[FR Doc. 2014-16529 Filed 7-14-14; 8:45 am]
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