THE BATTLE OVER LICENSE-FREE USE OF THE RADIO SPECTRUM...
A Backgrounder on the Part 15 Debate
_______________________ THE ISSUE
An imminent decision by the Federal Communications Commission
could dramatically affect the daily lives of millions of American
consumers, as well as hundreds of businesses and public entities.
Proposed rules under consideration could threaten a wide range of
low-cost, state-of-the art consumer and business electronic
devices -- including digital cordless phones, utility meter
readers, wireless stereo speakers, remote controls, and home
security systems.
The FCC is considering whether to expand the wideband Automatic
Vehicle Monitoring (AVM) service that operates in the 902-928 Mhz
band into a new Location and Monitoring Service (LMS). If the FCC
decides to expand the current environment by including LMS, it
will open the door to wide-spread interference from existing
devices and services.
Because the rules would allow wideband AVM/LMS operators to demand
that license-free wireless users cease to operate if there is any
interference, this would be a severe setback in the use and
development of license-free wireless devices -- the development of
which has been encouraged by the FCC and embraced by the
marketplace.
Should the FCC overrule the clear choice of the marketplace by
giving an anti-competitive advantage to AVM/LMS companies, the
U.S. would lose tens of thousands of new jobs, forfeit more than a
billion dollars in potential economic growth, and waste the
efforts of many of our greatest technological innovators and
entrepreneurs.
________________________
BACKGROUND
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is expected to decide
within days whether to adopt new rules regarding the use of the
902-928 MHz band.
This 902-928 MHz band is currently used by many types of low-power
services and is often employed by small businessmen, innovators,
and entrepreneurs whose technology does not require a license from
the FCC. These technological leaders share access to the band
under Part 15 of the FCC's rules.
The AVM/LMS corporations are essentially seeking exclusive
licensed use of a portion of this spectrum band for expanded
automatic vehicle monitoring (AVM) services. Because of the
fragile nature of the AVM system, other current users of the band
could cause interference to it. If they caused interference, they
could force those other users to cease operating their systems,
services, or devices.
Currently, all users share the spectrum within rules established
by the FCC. Under these rules, the Part 15 products and services
cannot cause interference to other non-Part 15 devices and
services.
______________________
THE PLAYERS
The Wireless Opportunities Coalition is made up of individuals,
organizations, and companies that want to ensure the continued
growth of the unlicensed wireless industry.
Consumer and business electronics devices using the 902-928 MHz
band under Part 15 of the FCC's rules include: automated utility
meter readers, automobile and railroad traffic signal control
devices, wide-area data networking, cordless telephones, wireless
headphones and speakers, retail security scanners, home security
systems, lifesaving medical devices and many others communication
devices.
The AVM corporations seeking expanded access to this band are five
telecommunications companies. They are Airtouch Teletrac (formerly
PacTel), MobileVision, Uniplex, Pinpoint Communications, and
Southwestern Bell.
________________________
THE EFFECT ON CONSUMERS
Giving AVM companies expanded access to the band would affect the
daily lives of millions of Americans. More than three million Part
15 devices are now in use by U.S. businesses and consumers, and
the market is about to explode.
Under the proposed rule making, users of Part 15 devices that
cause interference could be ordered to cease their operation.
Cordless phones, home security systems, medical devices, and
others could be rendered ineffective or useless.
________________________
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE TECHNOLOGY
The technologies employed by the Part 15 coalition companies have
been developed with the encouragement of the FCC. The FCC Office
of Engineering and Technology noted that "our attempts to
encourage this development have been successful and today millions
of Part 15 spread spectrum devices provide a wide variety of
communications services..." Congress also has investigated Part 15
technologies. In the House Energy and Commerce Committee Report to
accompany the October 1994 FCC Reauthorization bill, it stated:
"A major consideration in the Committee's deliberations must be the
current deployment of these [Part 15] devices throughout the
country. An allocation decision that has the effect of rendering
useless millions of these devices - many of which cost $200 or more
- would cause a significant number of American households a real
hardship."
The technology used by the AVM companies who want exclusive use of
the spectrum is fragile and old, having been developed for use in
a foreign country more than 20 years ago. Part 15 companies use
innovative and ultra-efficient technologies to share the band,
permitting coexistance of a wide range of consumer devices.
________________________
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF AN ADVERSE FCC DECISION
An adverse decision by the FCC will have a clearly negative
economic impact on the nation. Immediately, it will mean the loss
of jobs and sales for a technology the marketplace has openly
supported. In the longer term, it will mean lost economic
opportunities.
A negative decision would deny consumers of low-cost, high-quality
products (as well as lower, more timely, and more accurate utility
bills), and have obvious negative ramification for utilities,
public institutions (such as schools), businesses and other
private enterprises (such as health-care providers) that could use
wireless data networks.
The U.S. Department of Commerce has estimated that annual sales of
consumer electronics devices operating in this spectrum are
currently close to $1 billion. By 1996, sales are expected to top
$1.5 billion.
Part 15 companies estimate that they have invested more than $2
billion in research and development on emerging technologies that
use the band.
