House Wants Answers on Receivers' Role in Spectrum Sharing

The House Communications Subcommittee wants industry input on how to allow spectrum users -- like broadcasters, wireless companies and the government -- to occupy increasingly close quarters without "stepping on each other's toes."

That is according to a majority staff memo on a Nov. 29 hearing in the subcommittee on "The Role of Receivers in a Spectrum-Scarce World." The issue is growing in importance given a number of FCC initiatives to boost spectrum efficiency and use, including allowing unlicensed devices to share the so-called "white spaces" in the broadcast band, moving broadcasters to make room for wireless companies, the FCC's so far unsuccessful attempt to allow LightSquared to operate alongside GPS spectrum, and the FCC's recent move to loosen rules on terrestrial use of satellite spectrum. "Good fences make good neighbors," say the staffers, "but how do you know how high to build your fence or what materials to use if you don't know who your neighbors might be in the future or precisely what they will be doing on their lot?" They point out that the two main "fences" are guard bands on the spectrum side and filters and power limits on the transmitter/receiver side.