Providers cautious as ISED eyes opportunistic spectrum access

Work is underway on technologies that could fundamentally change how spectrum is allocated in the future — and though Innovation Canada is looking at the possibility of opportunistic access to spectrum, wireless providers told the department they have numerous reservations about adopting it. “Moving towards an ‘opportunistic’ model for accessing spectrum would represent a significant change to facilities-based service providers’ business models, investment plans, and network deployments,” the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) told ISED in an intervention. The CWTA, along with various individual wireless providers, called for an extensive consultation process before considering any such change. ISED had asked, as part of its consultation on AWS-1 licence renewals, for comments on when equipment capable of providing opportunistic access to spectrum might be available. ISED officials told the Wire Report in a late August background briefing that opportunistic access to spectrum means that users can take advantage of spectrum that’s currently not being used, when they need it. Licensed spectrum, for instance, isn’t always being completely used, and opportunistic use allows others to access the unused space to offer a service, but without guarantees for how long. The AWS consultation wasn’t the first time Innovation Canada had expressed an interest in potential changes to how spectrum is allocated in the future. At the opening of the Big Data Analytics Centre in May, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains talked about giving access to spectrum in real time, in contrast to the current system where it is auctioned off to a particular licensee. The centre is a new division of the Communications Research Centre, ISED’s research arm, and one of the areas that CRC studies and tests is different ways spectrum can be allocated or shared in the future, an official noted. Opportunistic spectrum is made available using mechanisms like dynamic spectrum access, such as that used in accessing TV white space. With TV white space, a database would be used to find unused spectrum in Canada, and grant access to devices to use it. While the technical rules are in place to govern that system, it has yet to launch, since is ISED is currently considering the first application it received for a company looking to become an administrator of the white space database. While that technology currently exists for specific frequencies, of which TV white space is one, it’s not clear whether it will become available to be used for other bands of spectrum, the officials said. Implementing opportunistic access is still some time away in the future, and when it will arrive is still unclear, but ISED asked about it in the AWS consultation because it wanted to get stakeholders’ opinions on when equipment will become available and how that could affect their business models, they explained. Details of what such a future system — including how it would be administered and organized and any fee structure — could look like are still to be determined, but companies told ISED in the consultation it would make for a significant change. BCE Inc. argued that any such move would “constitute a fundamental change to Canadian spectrum management policy, that ISED should carefully consider.” Allowing providers to use spectrum without participating in an auction could undermine the value of spectrum, Bell said. And given that the technologies necessary to make it work — which currently aren’t commercially available and are unlikely to be commercially viable for at least five years — are still in the early stage of development, “opportunistic spectrum access could also introduce new risks to both the quality of service provided to Canadians and the security/privacy of wireless networks,” it added. ISED should first consider applying opportunistic access to spectrum that’s currently not in use, Bell said. “Clearly identifying opportunistic spectrum access as a before spectrum is initially licensed provides potential licensees with the opportunity to factor this condition into their business cases and set their auction participation strategies accordingly,” Bell said. “Companies who invest millions, or in some cases, billions of dollars deploying spectrum must clearly understand all of their rights and obligations up front.” Rogers Communications Inc. called for ISED to first trial opportunistic sharing in bands where it won’t pose any risk to spectrum licence holders, such as “future bands with open spectrum designations, lightly licensed mobile bands or bands with limited users in restricted geographic areas that will be protected from interference.” Telus Corp. noted that there are “nearly 8 GHz of licence exempt spectrum already at the disposal of Canadian innovators,” with an additional 7 GHz proposed in the open consultation on mmWave spectrum, “versus the mere 648 MHz of cellular radio mobile spectrum (CMRS) currently available to the mobile industry.” Immature dynamic spectrum access (DSA) technologies “should not be applied to current and planned mainstream CMRS assignments for the foreseeable future,” it said. Still, Telus noted that it “recognises the great value of developing DSA technologies for enabling opportunistic access to licence exempt spectrum and any underutilized licensed satellite and fixed service spectrum and would support such initiatives after they materialize and are fully tested.” Rogers also said imposing opportunistic access in spectrum bands that are currently licensed would affect the value of spectrum licences, noting that holders have spent more than $14 billion since 2001 on exclusive licences. “If existing exclusive licences could become subject to opportunistic sharing in the future, spectrum valuations and bidding in future auctions, including the upcoming 600 MHz spectrum auction, will be significantly diminished,” it argued. In such a scenario, it added, licence holders would also need to be given a “sizeable” reduction in their annual spectrum fees and a mechanism to allow those using the spectrum opportunistically to pay for their usage. Rogers also noted that there are still technical barriers before opportunistic access can be implemented, with two approaches — Cognitive Radio and Licensed Shared Access — currently in development. “Cognitive Radio, in which the mobile device looks for and is able to use any vacant radio channel, has substantial technical, regulatory, and business challenges to overcome before it becomes a reality,” and while Licensed Shared Access is more developed, it “still remains years away from commercial deployment.” Quebecor Inc. said in a French-language submission that imposing opportunistic access on existing licences would mark a radical change to the current rules governing spectrum management in Canada. In its reply comments, Shaw Communications Inc. said it agreed with many of the points made by the other telecoms in their initial interventions, including that a licence-renewal consultation for specific spectrum bands is not the right venue to discuss such a fundamental change to spectrum management and licensing. “This issue should only be considered when industry direction on opportunistic access becomes clear and only in the context of a standalone proceeding where the implications of introducing opportunistic access can be considered in a comprehensive manner,” it said. Shaw also noted that it agreed with comments made by other companies that opportunistic access could be particularly harmful for new entrants “who have significantly less — and significantly less diverse — spectrum the incumbents.” In its intervention, Xplornet Communications Inc. cautioned ISED that the “mere emergence of equipment capable of this functionality does not necessarily mean that a fundamental change in spectrum planning and usage is in the public interest or is otherwise justified.” — With reporting Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca

Providers cautious as ISED eyes opportunistic spectrum access

News | September 5, 2017

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Providers cautious as ISED eyes opportunistic spectrum access

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