DSA Newsletter | Q1 2015 www.dynamicspectrumalliance.org events, future plans, news and more
In this issue.....
Keeping you updated about our activities! Here we highlight our latest work and focus on areas where we are empowering the next wave of spectrum access.
TV White Space (TVWS) regulations have witnessed a promising start to the year with a host of exciting global developments taking place. Globally, we have worked with regulators and just recently the majority of Dynamic Spectrum Alliance Board members met in person in California. It was a valuable opportunity for some of our newest Board members to meet their fellow Directors and discuss key Alliance activities face-to-face. We thank Facebook for graciously hosting this meeting. I have also visited the US West Coast where I not only met with the Board as noted, but also held several meetings with prospect members and spoke at several key events in the area including Wincomm 2015 in San Diego and at a Lunch Executive Seminar in Silicon Valley. It was a most fruitful trip for me and the Alliance – not only due to the fact that I got to meet several Board members in person – but also because of the outreach of the Alliance to the West Coast of the USA. Indeed, I visited and had the time to in person many companies, both new prospect members and visiting the labs/offices and Executives of some of our member companies.
In summary, the key outcomes were (i) great DSA outreach to the West Coast of the USA where key innovative dynamic spectrum access companies reside (ii) meeting several new prospect members and I am hopeful some would join the DSA soon partly as a result of my visit (iii) important face to face Board meeting on the West Coast (iv) providing face to face updates to executives of several member companies which is always important (v) and finally doing my best to influence West Coast companies on the importance of the emergence of an ecosystem to back up DSA’s regulatory successes in various countries like the USA, UK, Canada, Ghana, Singapore, etc.
Monumental activity is underway - Industry Canada’s release of its TVWS regulations for rural and near-urban internet access was swiftly followed by Ofcom’s decision to implement TVWS regulations, enabling access to the unused parts of radio spectrum in the 470 to 790 MHz frequency band. These activities should be truly celebrated as they signify a real milestone for dynamic spectrum access across the world, highlighting its growing momentum. They should also signal to and spur other regulators to move faster on dynamic spectrum access regulations. As of February 2015, the United States and Canada have implemented regulations for TVWS and in 2015 the regulatory processes in United Kingdom, Singapore, South Africa, Malawi and possibly the Philippines are likely to conclude..
With this in mind we look forward to our third Global Summit which takes place in Manila, Philippines on May 6-8, 2015. 2015’s Summit location has been purposely selected to take place in South Asia, where the majority of the unconnected are located, encapsulating countries such as Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia. With an emphasis on the exploration of dynamic spectrum access technologies, business models and regulations, the 3-day Summit will bring together experts with first-hand experience to discuss, debate, and demonstrate how dynamic spectrum access technologies can help governments, businesses, and communities reduce the cost of wireless bandwidth and deliver affordable access in the busiest cities and most remote regions.
The Summit will not only place a spotlight on the work that is already underway in Asia, but it will also shine a torch on the rest of the world. In the last three years, we have seen significant regulatory developments in countries as diverse as Malawi, South Africa, Ghana, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Philippines and Singapore. Likewise, the ITU Radiocommunications and Development sectors have been gathering and developing technical, regulatory, and socio-economic best practices from across the globe. Attendees will hear from the following regulators:
Ira Keltz, Deputy Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology, Federal Communication Commission (FCC), United States
Rachel Clark, Director of Spectrum Policy, Ofcom, United Kingdom
Edgardo R. Cabarios, Director, Regulation Branch, National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), Republic of the Philippines
Bu Woro Indah Widiastuti, Senior Technology Advisory, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT), Indonesia
Bathopi Luke, Director Technical Services, Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA), Botswana
Lloyd Momba, Director of Telecommunication, Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), Malawi
Henry Kanor, Director of Engineering, National Communication Authority (NCA), Ghana
Henry Foo, Assistant Director, Infocomm Development Authority, Singapore<
Additional speakers:
Cristian Gomez, Spectrum Regulation and Policy Officer, Radiocommunication Bureau, International Telecommunication Union
Tracey Webb, Managing Director, Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)
Rob Henley, Partner, Prescient
Sibesh Bhattacharya, ICT Specialist, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Dr. Basheerhamad Shadrach, Asia Regional Coordinator, Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI)
Arno Hart, TVWS Program Manager, Tertiary Education and Research Network of South Africa (TENET)
Steve Song, Wireless Spectrum Research Associate, Network Start-up Resource Centre (NSRC)
Dr. Ntsibane Ntlatlapa, Manager, Networks and Media, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa
Dr. Chomora Mikeka, University of Malawi
Dr. Oh Ser Wah, Head, Strategic Planning Office, Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), Singapore
Chris Weasler, Head of Global Connectivity, Facebook, USA
Aparna Sridhar, Co-Chair of the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance Regulatory Affairs Working Group, Google, USA
Frank McCosker, General Manager, Affordable Access & Smart Financing, Microsoft, USA
View the full schedule and online agenda here.                  

If you are not already registered to attend, then I encourage you to do so by following this link. Or please contact admin@dynamicspectrumalliance.org directly.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Prof. H Nwana, Executive Director


Welcome to our latest members!

We’d like to take this opportunity to welcome our new members:

  • Spectrum Bridge
  • Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Co Ltd (ASTRI)
  • Ateneo de Manila University

TVWS Commercial Deployments, Pilots, and Trials
We have continued to add new TVWS Commercial Deployments, Pilots, and Trials from around the world to the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance website. Exciting new developments include:
Telemedicine in Botswana receives a boost
The Botswana Innovation Hub, in collaboration with Microsoft, the Botswana-UPenn Partnership (BUP), Global Broadband Solutions, Vista Life Sciences, BoFiNet, Adaptrum and USAID-NetHope, launched a TV White Space (TVWS) pilot project to provide internet connectivity and telemedicine services to local hospitals and clinics. The project, known as Project Kgolagano, will enable access to specialised medicine in Gaborone and other locations around the world.
Project Kgolagano, which means ‘to be connected or networked’, has a specific focus on providing access to specialised maternal medicine, which will improve the livelihoods of women located in small towns and rural areas. Telemedicine experts and doctors providing medical expertise for referred patients are being provided by BUP.
Project Kgolagano is made possible under an authorisation from the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA) to transmit using TV white spaces. It is also operating with the support of the Botswana Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Infrastructure, Science and Technology.
Giant spectrum leap for Nigeria and Africa
The Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) release of Eband spectrum band is a win for shared spectrum in Nigeria for industry stakeholders as well as citizens. Nigeria is the first country in Africa to make the Eband frequency available, with WaveTek beginning the quest several years ago. As Executive Director of the Alliance, H Nwana joined the petition and played a pivotal role in the NCC releasing the spectrum quicker than anticipated.
This is a strategic win for the Alliance, highlighting the fact that shared spectrum, although not TVWS, can be managed appropriately and that auction or restrictive use of spectrum is not the only method of utilizing spectrum for the economic growth of a country. NCC, after thorough research and analysis, adapted the Alliance’s suggestion to create a Shared Spectrum Policy and Light Licensing. This demonstrates that Nigeria has taken an important stance on a spectrum sharing policy that can lead to greater broadband proliferation. This is the first time NCC has ever lightly licensed a spectrum and is the lowest price for a spectrum license ever in Nigeria.  This was evident by the applause of over 250 persons at the stakeholders forum. Hopefully this will carry over to the TVWS spectrum and it can leverage E-band shared spectrum success in Nigeria across Africa and influence similar policy towards TVWS and other potential shared spectra.
TVWS for disaster planning
Gigabit Libraries Network and Chief Officers of State Library Agencies plan to explore the use of portable TVWS broadband equipment in community disaster planning. The reality is that after a catastrophic event, the public communications infrastructure will be down for 2 – 5 days on average, and the community will need temporary connectivity until the public utilities are restored. A TVWS network can help bridge the communications gap by allowing temporary Internet hotspots to be deployed around the community at much greater distances than traditional Wi-Fi currently allows. The trial of TVWS for disaster planning will be funded, in part, by a grant from the Knight News Challenge on Libraries, which explores how libraries can be a platform to build more knowledgeable communities.
A printable copy of the entire list of Commercial Deployments, Pilots, and Trials is available on our website here. Please feel free to share this information with your fellow contacts, associates, and business partners. We will continue to update this list with new locations, and ask our members to submit any new projects to admin@dynamicspectrumalliance.com.

Get the facts on TVWS databases
To promote competition, the FCC allows different companies to operate a database of all TV stations and other protected services, so their signals can be respected by other users. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) wants the FCC to declare an “emergency” and shut down the databases that let small businesses and others deliver broadband over vacant spectrum near television channels. To address this, the Wireless Innovation Alliance has issued a fact sheet to highlight the underlying issues, which can be found here.

Regulatory Affairs Work Group demonstrates the social and economic benefits of spectrum sharing
The Regulatory Affairs Work Group, which was formed in November 2013, continues to develop policy positions for ratification by the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance. The group drafts documents for submission to regulatory agencies while developing higher-level positions on critical issues related to dynamic spectrum sharing.
Since its formation, the Work Group, which is chaired by Aparna Sridhar, has submitted responses to numerous consultations in a variety of jurisdictions.  The goal of these submissions has been to advance policies that enable dynamic spectrum sharing and additional access to spectrum for license-exempt use. These include recent submissions to Ofcom and the European Commission encouraging the adoption of rules that enable meaningful use of shared spectrum in the broadcast bands.  A full list of the submissions is available here
The Work Group supports sharing both among Governmental and non-Governmental users and among different types of commercial users. Another overlapping area of focus is increasing access to spectrum for license-exempt use. There are very few barriers to entry for innovators and entrepreneurs who want to make use of license-exempt frequencies; as a result, these frequency bands tend to be a hot-bed of innovation and experimentation.  As such, enabling unlicensed use in high, medium, and low bands is likely to foster new technical developments in wireless technologies and corresponding economic growth.
Looking to the next quarter, the Work Group will continue to advance these priorities by focusing on demonstrating the social and economic benefits that spectrum sharing and unlicensed access can provide, across a variety of sectors. 
Any Dynamic Spectrum Alliance member can participate in the Regulatory Affairs Work Group, so if you are interested in this area, then please contact admin@dynamicspectrumalliance.org.
Recent regulatory submissions
As a cross-industry organization, the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance works to engage with regulators and government officials to promote the adoption of legal and regulatory frameworks that facilitate dynamic access to radio spectrum. Since the last newsletter, the Alliance has filed the following submissions:
April 2015: Dynamic Spectrum Alliance Response to Ofcom Consultation on manually configurable white space devices
April 2015: Dynamic Spectrum Alliance Response to the European Commission Consultation on the Lamy Report
February 2015: Dynamic Spectrum Alliance Letter on Philippine Memorandum Circular
February 2015: Dynamic Spectrum Alliance Amendment of Part 15 Comment
January 2015: DSA Response to the RSPG consultation on Draft Opinion on a long-term strategy on the future use of the UHF band (470-790 MHz) in the European Union
January 2015: DSA response to the RSPG Consultation on Draft Opinion for Common Policy Objectives for WRC-15

Recent Industry Events

Commonwealth Digital Broadcasting Switchover Forum 2015 (CTO), February 17-19, Johannesburg, South Africa
Held for the tenth consecutive year, the event has been a major contributor to the global effort to migrate analogue broadcasting systems to more spectrum-efficient digital platforms, with discussions focused on challenges faced by Commonwealth countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. H Nwana joined a panel discussion which explored how technology can enable the efficient use of spectrum.

2015 Sub-Sahara Spectrum Management Conference, February 18-19, Johannesburg, South Africa
The 2015 Sub-Sahara Spectrum Management Conference is the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of Spectrum Management policy conferences. It brought together high-level stakeholders and decision makers from throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond to discuss topical issues relating to the management and co-ordination of spectrum policy across the region. H Nwana joined the conference line-up to provide insight into connecting Africa and how the region can work together to tack the digital divide.

A4AI-Nigeria Coalition meeting, February 23-27, Abuja, Nigeria
The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) brings together prominent players from the private sector, public sector, and civil society to provide a unified voice and coordinated focus in addressing the shared goal of open, affordable access to the Internet in the developing world. H Nwana attended this meeting to join the agenda and explain how dynamic spectrum access can help.

Mobile World Congress, March 2-5, Barcelona, Spain
The annual event provides the planet’s best venue for mobile industry networking, new business opportunities and deal-making. H Nwana attended and joined many spectrum sessions as well as meeting with influential media, including Fierce Markets, Inside Telecom and The Wall Street Journal.

5G and Future Technology, March 12, London, UK
Ofcom hosted an important debate to explore the impact of new mobile and wireless broadband technologies, including those underpinning 5G and spectrum regulation and management. H Nwana joined a panel which addressed delivering spectrum and discussed the relevance of technology developments for different forms of spectrum access, including licence v licence exempt and novel forms of access, such as geolocation databases, variable width carriers and sensing.

5G Radio Technology Seminar, March 17, London, UK
With the implementation of the first 5G networks looking imminent by 2020, H Nwana attended this seminar which was hosted by the IET to look directly at the key strategies involved in bringing this technology to the public domain.

WInn Comm ’15, March 24-26, San Diego, California
Winn Comm is a placefor academics to meet industry leaders to understand their critical problems and to present research ideas to leaders that can implement their ideas. H Nwana and Paul Garnett (Microsoft) joined the speaker line-up to discuss the first commercial deployment of TVWS network and experiences from around the world.

Telecom Council: Developing Markets, March 25, Mountain View, California
Telecom Council's monthly Roundtable Meetings examine and discuss advances, needs, technologies, trends, and policies that are affecting their businesses. H Nwana and Paul Garnett joined the roundtable discussion which focussed on the innovations that we are building for the developing world, and looking at how our technologies may be applied there.

LSI Event: The Cloud and Big Data 2015, April 20, Seattle, WA, North America
H Nwana joined the panel at this conference which addressed access to the Internet: Prerequisite for the Cloud / Opportunities and challenges involved in bringing access to the Internet to new markets by looking at innovative access projects in Tanzania and Ghana, and the partnerships, technology, and regulatory advances that make them possible.

Digital Regulation Forum, April 27-19, London UK
H Nwana and William Webb, CEO of Webb Search, led an interactive workshop which debated, discussed and agreed on the merits, uses and way ahead on the use of shared spectrum access in the management of radio spectrum. 

Upcoming Industry Events

EXPO COMM WIRELESS JAPAN, May 27-29, Tokyo, Japan
CommunicAsia, June 2-5, Singapore
ATU Spectrum Africa 2015, June 3-5, Nairobi, Kenya
Global Symposium for Regulators 2015, GSR15 (ITU), June 9-11, Libreville, Gabon
Commonwealth Broadband Forum, June 16-18, Abuja, Nigeria
Cambridge Wireless: Future of Wireless International Conference, June 23, London UK
The 7th Future of Wireless International Conference, June 24-25, London, UK
5G Summit, July 21-23, London, UK


Get in touch

If you would like more information, or if your company or organization is interested in joining the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance, then please email
admin@dynamicspectrumalliance.org
Alternatively, visit our membership page, which provides a membership level breakdown.

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