TPRC47: Research Conference on Communications, Information and Internet Policy

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Abstract

Tensions are emerging ahead of WRC-19. While this conference will determine the identification of IMT in the millimetre bands, several countries have not waited for it to resolve the issue but instead already decided on which bands will be utilised for 5G. The orderly and centralised allocation of spectrum where WRC / ITU plays a central and pivotal role is starting to break down as regions and individual countries allocate spectrum bands to 5G. As this occurs, and the US criticises the role of the ITU, many commentators have expressed their concern that the WRC will be less relevant in future.  

Within this context, this paper focuses on the allocation of bands to 5G and asks whether IMT identification is a condition of 5G deployment. Through adopting a qualitative methodology that focuses on 5G deployment and planning in frequency bands not identified for IMT, a number of cases – L-band, C-band and 26 GHz in CEPT and 28 GHz in the US and South Korea – are explored. Primary data was collected through participant observation of relevant discussions during and after WRC-15, while secondary data was drawn from ITU-R documents and the trade press.

The analysis reveals that IMT identification is necessary for cellular mobile deployment in some countries (e.g., Russia) while for others (e.g., US) mobile service allocation is sufficient. In both cases, these countries operate within the ITU-R framework but interpret it differently and IMT remains critical even when these interpretations differ. This is because operating without IMT identification is associated with uncertainty in terms of protection against interference and the legal status of the allocation. Having said that, there are still benefits of operating outside with IMT identification such as the avoidance of strict sharing conditions that may add to the cost of deployment. 

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Abstract
There have been substantial technical and policy discussions about the spectrum needs of 5G and the necessity of expanding access to higher frequency spectrum, including in the millimeter wave (mmWave) bands from 30 to 300 GHz. The focus, however, has been on bands below 60GHz, or at most 90GHz, which is the current limit of near-future commercial technologies. As wireless markets continue to grow, demand may arise for spectrum in still higher frequency bands above 90GHz, including in the sub-millimeter or Terahertz (THz) bands between 300GHz and 3THz. Although exploiting THz bands is at the frontiers of technical research today and the commercial case for it will depend on further demonstration of the value and constraints, it is worthwhile exploring how THz spectrum might impact wireless network architectures, business/usage cases, and spectrum policy. In this paper, we explore those challenges.

We first explain some of the critical features of THz spectrum that make it both attractive and challenging to use and summarize the current state of our ability to address those challenges by reference to the current engineering research and commercialization progress on exploiting mmWave and higher frequencies. For example, the THz spectrum would offer virtually unbounded capacity (relative to today's demand forecasts) for supporting wide-channels and extremely high data rates, but with demanding Line of Sight (LOS) requirements. THz devices operate in very narrow beams, close to optical wavelengths, and have very limited capability to penetrate materials (e.g., even a sheet of paper is sufficient to block it). Integrating such spectrum into wireless networks will impose important requirements for antenna siting (small cell architectures) and backhaul, posing greater challenges for extending core-network services to edge-networks.

We hypothesize that such spectrum may further empower equipment-based, end-user deployed strategies for deploying wireless networking, with interesting implications for industry structure and regulatory policy. Furthermore, because current spectrum policies are limited to radio frequencies below 300GHz (arguably below 90GHz), THz is the green-field frontier for spectrum policy-making. This offers an opportunity for novel thinking about how best to manage spectrum resources to enable efficient sharing. Moreover, shifting wireless services to THz might free up capacity in the currently scarce lower frequency bands (below 10GHz), with implications for how we should think about spectrum management across all frequency bands. This includes addressing the challenge of the appropriate licensing regime (e.g., exclusive or unlicensed) that should apply for the THz spectrum. A better understanding of the potential uses for the terahertz spectrum is essential for a better understanding of scarcity limits on the lower frequency spectrum. Although the focus of the analysis will be on the THz spectrum, informed by recent technical work being directed by the authors, the applicability of the insights will be more general and applicable to today's efforts to promote spectrum policy reform, wireless network regulation, and realization of the future beyond 5G applications that we are striving to implement. 

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Abstract
This paper predicts the likely outcome of spectrum planning work on fifth generation wireless (“5G”) services at the 2019 World Administrative Conference (“WRC-19”). It considers whether the United States delegation to the conference embraced old lessons about International Telecommunication Union (“ITU”) spectrum management and emerging ones generated by the new technologies and services 5G will offer, as well as growing national security and industrial policy concerns.

Well before WRC-19, carriers in many nations have begun to offer wireless services using the 5G label. These carriers have acted in advance of finalized spectrum allocation decisions and risk rolling out services on frequencies that may not match a future global consensus. This paper identifies opportunities and benefits in an expedited, unilateral approach, but also notes the potential for significant threats and costs, particularly in light of known, but apparently ignored, or forgotten lessons about global and national spectrum planning.

At WRC-15, the United States largely failed to secure consensus support for expanding global spectrum allocations to include more bandwidth near existing allocations in the Ultra High Frequency band and at extremely high, single and double digit GigaHertz frequencies. This paper considers whether changes in WRC-19 preparations by the United States delegation and in the attitudes of delegations from other nations will support expedited consideration of 5G frequency allocations throughout the usable radio spectrum.

The paper concludes that determining whether the United States achieved success depends in large part on one’s understanding of the pace, nature, procedures and goals of the ITU spectrum planning process. Observers, including FCC commissioners of both political parties, have complained about flaws in the ITU administrative process that contributed to the absence of efforts to expedite rollout of 5G services and other national objectives. Proponents of the process support the ITU as methodical, thorough, consensus driven and conflict avoiding. WRC-19 will likely generate the same inconsistent evaluations.

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Abstract
The emergence of new technologies forces policy makers to decide whether the existing legal and regulatory framework is appropriate or whether a different approach might better realize their potential benefits for society. While there is broad agreement on the desirability of competition in future 5G markets, national and regional models differ widely regarding the envisioned role of policy and regulation. This paper explores the rationales, strengths, and weaknesses of specific policies that are currently debated, including the regulation of backhaul services, network rollout targets, MVNO obligations, network neutrality rules, and open platform safeguards. It assesses the effects of these regulatory options on investment and innovation in a theoretical framework that considers the strong interdependencies and complementarities between players in the 5G value system explicitly. This reveals the presence of traditional forms of market failure and the possibility of new ones related to coordination requirements of advanced wireless technologies. The analysis suggests that multiple policy equilibria exist, each corresponding to a specific constellation of 5G policy, that are associated with different innovation and investment trajectories of the sector.

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Abstract:

Wireless technologies offer potential advantages for extending broadband to rural regions because they do not require costly extension of optical fiber that requires trenching through difficult terrain that could include mountains, deserts, roadless expanses, and/or permafrost in the far North. Also usage is shifting from fixed to mobile, even in rural areas, as smart phones and other “smart” devices are becoming increasingly popular, and operators strive to provide additional bandwidth to cope with demand.

Wireless 5G (fifth generation) is currently considered the most promising technology to address the explosive growth in demand not only for consumer services but for public safety, remote monitoring, logistics, and other applications. Mobile 5G technology promises greatly increased bandwidth for mobile devices and potentially for other broadband services. Yet 5G presents challenges that may not only make it difficult to offer in rural areas, but may hinder the availability of other more cost-effective wireless solutions.

This paper examines the challenges of extending broadband to rural and remote regions, particularly as posed by 5G technology in terms of installation cost, availability of spectrum, and other factors that may influence availability and affordability of broadband in rural regions. It reviews proposals to transfer spectrum currently used for fixed terrestrial and satellite broadband to 5G, and implications for service availability, quality, and pricing. It also examines implications for existing community and rural WISPs (wireless internet service providers) and other entrepreneurs and organizations that may want to offer broadband in rural areas.

These issues are addressed through analysis of policy drivers to expedite investment in 5G (e.g. to keep up with other countries implementing 5G and to take advantage of purported economic benefits of 5G) and the resulting rush to reallocate spectrum for 5G. It includes a case study of current Canadian government efforts to reallocate spectrum for 5G from fixed satellite services, still critical for provision of communication services in the far North, as an example of how 5G spectrum policies may affect rural communities and small service providers.

The paper proposes criteria for reallocating rural spectrum that would not endanger current broadband delivery to rural and remote regions. It concludes with lessons from the case study and recommendations for policy makers facing the challenges of formulating policies for 5G within a context of commitments to provide universal access to broadband, including in rural unserved and underserved regions.

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Abstract

The near-future rollout of the 5G cellular network will create new issues in how land is used for the placement of telecommunications equipment and infrastructure. As opposed to the large and widely-spaced antenna towers for previous networks, 5G will require hundreds of thousands of smaller transceivers, closely spaced together and placed on telephone poles, buildings, trees, and other possibly intrusive places.

In the United States, some localities have begun to resist the near-future proliferation of such facilities, and questions have arisen about conflicts with federal laws on environmental and historic preservation. In 2018, the Federal Communications Commission declared proactively that its own statutory responsibilities for rapid and unfettered development of networks will be applied to the 5G rollout, and all or most land use restrictions that may slow down the rollout will be preempted by telecommunications law.

This paper conducts a critical policy analysis of the FCC’s current policies toward the 5G rollout and any possible land use restrictions on the construction of 5G facilities, combined with traditional legal research on past jurisprudence on land use by telecommunications firms and how precedents can be applied to the near-future 5G rollout. The paper concludes that the current legal environment is stacked in favor of rapid rollout, and those who disfavor that rollout for environmental, safety, or aesthetic reasons will have little recourse with the FCC or the courts. 

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Wireless towers with big antennas and large equipment shelters are decreasing as the primary type of wireless infrastructure in favor of more diversified designs, varying in size, network architecture, and capacity. The definitional boundary between typical macro sites of the 1990s and increasingly popular small cell networks are slowly blending as the backend architecture and the equipment on a site are designed to meet a greater variety of capacity and coverage needs through heterogeneous networks.  

As the design of wireless network architecture is changing, so are their appearance in our surrounding environment. As a result, municipal authorities are increasingly under pressure by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) and wireless carriers to adapt and evolve their siting and permitting practices to accommodate a variety of different types of facilities. This paper will evaluate how innovation in LTE and 5G equipment is changing the design of physical wireless networks, establish an understanding of ‘contextual appropriateness’ in the blending of new small cells with the previously built environment, and prescribe aesthetic design guidelines for improving people’s experience with new urban wireless facilities. 

The methodology will include identifying technological trajectories and possibilities in wireless small cell designs, categorization of existing available assets for their deployment, an analysis of contextual appropriateness, and the development of objective design principles that will facilitate structured guidelines for network deployment. First, the paper will consider how wireless network equipment is evolving in different types of network topologies. Second, as small cells are typically placed on poles, these deployments will be categorized based on commonly available vertical assets in the Rights of Way, types of street furniture available for small cell integration opportunities, and other types of design ideas that leverage existing structures. Third, the definition of contextual appropriateness will be examined through city planning and architectural integration principles and typical constraints within the urban landscape. This paper will heavily utilize visual examples of previously deployed designs to analyze their technological components, design elements, and methods of construction and composition. Many of these visual examples are available in FCC docket filings relating to the recent relevant proceedings (WT Docket 17-79 and related), as well as in many articles and online government resources. Fourth, this research will contribute to a systematic method of evaluating the quality of small cell designs on a methodical basis, replacing the existing common practice of relying on subjective, improvised, and often contradictory aesthetic preferences.  

The resulting design recommendations and architectural best practices will facilitate many local efforts to develop preferential guidelines that achieve long-term compromise between preserving the character of their community and advancing to the smart cities of the future. The guidelines will also promote a more positive public perception and a more welcoming attitude toward the widespread integration of wireless facilities. The way that wireless technology will become deployed in the future of a given urban neighborhood will become its history, its character, and its legacy for advanced technological systems yet to come.

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Industry observers have raised the possibility that European network neutrality regulations may obstruct the deployment of 5G. To assess those claims, this Chapter describes the key technologies likely to be incorporated into 5G, including millimeter wave band radios, massive multiple input/multiple output (MIMO), ultra-densification, multiple radio access technologies (multi-RAT), and support for device-to-device (D2D) and machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity. It then reviews the business models likely to be associated with 5G, including network management through biasing and blanking, an emphasis on business-to-business (B2B) communications, and network function virtualization/network slicing. It then lays out the network neutrality regulations created by the EU in 2015 as well as the nonbinding interpretive guidelines issued by the Body of Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communication (BEREC) in 2016 and assesses how they will be applied to 5G. Network neutrality’s impact on 5G will likely to be determined by the way that the exceptions for reasonable traffic management and specialised services are interpreted. A broad interpretation should accommodate network slicing and other new business models needed to support the deployment of 5G, while a narrow interpretation could restrict innovation and investment.