May 2012

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Genachowski joined GE Healthcare and Philips Healthcare at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington (DC) to announce that the FCC will consider new rules to allow greater use of spectrum for Medical Body Area Network (MBAN) devices, spurring innovation and development of new wireless health technologies. These new rules would make the United States the first country in the world to allocate spectrum for MBAN devices. Greater access to spectrum can revolutionize the health care industry, reducing the cost, and increasing the effectiveness of patient monitoring.

Next week at its open meeting, the FCC will consider adopting new rules permitting more intensive use of spectrum for wireless medical devices, making the U.S. the first country in the world to dedicate spectrum for Medical Body Area Networks in hospitals, clinics, and doctors’ offices. MBAN technology consists of small, low-powered sensors on the body that capture clinical information, such as temperature and respiratory function. These sensors free patients from the set of wires that would otherwise anchor them to their hospital bed. As patients recover, the technology allows them to move about the health care facility, while still being monitored for any health issues that might develop. MBANs consist of two paired devices—one that is worn on the body (sensor) and another that is located either on the body or in close proximity to it (hub).

The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on Thursday, May 24, 2012. The FCC will consider:

1. A Notice of Inquiry examining the role of deployable aerial communications architecture (DACA) in facilitating emergency response by rapidly restoring communications capabilities in the immediate aftermath of a catastrophic event.
2. A Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to establish service rules and an allocation for Medical Body Area Networks and seek comment on the selection of an MBAN coordinator.
3. A Report and Order that will provide EA-based 800 MHz licensees with the flexibility to better utilize spectrum to transition networks from legacy 2G technologies to advanced wireless technologies.

Representatives from a group representing more than 700 small wireless broadband providers are making their first pilgrimage to Washington to lobby policy makers to ensure the firms continue to have access to unlicensed spectrum.

About 20 members of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association are meeting with officials from the Federal Communications Commission and White House as well as key lawmakers on Capitol Hill. The group represents small firms that generally use unlicensed spectrum to provide wireless broadband service to a few hundred or several thousand customers in rural communities and small towns that are not served by a cable company or another wired broadband provider. Among the group's top priorities is to ensure that the FCC gives priority to unlicensed uses as it begins work on crafting rules implementing the spectrum legislation approved by Congress in February as part of a payroll-tax cut package. The legislation gave the FCC the flexibility to use some of the spectrum it may recapture as a result of the law for unlicensed uses. In particular, WISPA members said they will be watching the FCC closely to ensure that as it implements a new type of auction aimed at persuading broadcasters to give up some of their spectrum, it will continue to allow for unlicensed uses between television channels.

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