[infowar.de] Kampf ums elektromagnetische Spektrum

[Ralf Bendrath <bendrath -! - zedat - fu-berlin - de>]

Infowar.de - http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~bendrath/liste.html

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Zur Erinnerung: Ein zentraler Teil der US-Militär-Visionen ist "full
spectrum dominance". ;-) Ralf

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0701/071601td.htm

July 16, 2001 

Education, Defense squabble over spectrum use 

By Teri Rucker, National Journal's Technology Daily 

The Defense Department and the education community on Friday each
flaunted their political trump card in a discussion on making
telecommunications spectrum available for commercial, third-generation
(3G) wireless uses. 

The debate at a New America Foundation seminar revealed the politically
charged and prickly nature of the issue. Michigan Republican Fred Upton,
the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Telecommunications and the
Internet Subcommittee, has scheduled a July 24 hearing on 3G. 

"National security can't be measured in dollars," said Rear Adm. Robert
Nutwell, deputy assistant secretary at the Defense Department. The
wireless industry is making a run at spectrum used by the department.
The industry is arguing that unless it gains access to more spectrum,
the United States could fall behind other countries in technological
developments and the technology industry subsequently could suffer. 

The U.S. wireless industry is angling for the 1755MHz to 1850 MHz band
of spectrum. Asia and Europe have identified that band for their
commercial wireless services, and there is a push for globally
harmonized spectrum usage. 

Sharing the spectrum is not feasible, according to Nutwell, and unless
comparable spectrum is found, Defense will not be able to relinquish its
piece of the spectrum pie.

As the military upgrades and integrates technology advances into its
operations, it will need more and more spectrum, he added. "From a
political standpoint, Congress won't jeopardize lives" in favor of
commercial use, Nutwell said. 

The other spectrum being considered for commercial use is in the 2500
MHz to 2690
MHz block. Schools use that band for distance education and rent some of
it for fixed wireless broadband services called multi-channel,
multi-point, distribution-service (MMDS) technology, which is offered by
companies like Sprint and WorldCom. 

Jay Keithley, vice president of federal regulatory affairs for Sprint,
noted that his company is using the spectrum "as Congress wanted it to
be used. ... We are helping to bridge the 'digital divide.'" 

Finding a way to ensure that high-speed Internet access is available to
all Americans is a priority, according to many lawmakers. Moving schools
out of that spectrum would deprive thousands of Americans of educational
opportunities and hinder broadband deployment, Keithley said. 

But there are other ways to free spectrum besides getting into the
reallocation fight, said Dale Hatfield, director of the
interdisciplinary telecommunications program at the University of
Colorado at Boulder. Engineers need to make better use of the spectrum,
he said, noting that there is a lot of interesting technology available.

"Fighting for more spectrum won't solve the problem long term" because
spectrum
needs continue to grow, he said. 

But Thomas Hazlett, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise
Institute, sees no
spectrum shortage. Some 402 MHz of spectrum currently occupied by analog
television stations is just waiting to be used, he said, because
Congress has mandated the migration from analog to digital television
broadcasting. 

Hazlett outlined a plan to allow all television programming to be
provided over cable and satellite systems that transmit to analog and
digital televisions.


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