The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA) will hold its Seventh Annual Global Summit in Washington D.C. on 27 June 2019, and this will be my first time attending a DSA Global Summit as its President.

Continuing the work of the DSA around the rest of the year, the Global Summit will bring together people from across the industry to discuss and debate spectrum sharing methods and models, with a focus on the future and how dynamic spectrum sharing can be utilised effectively.

With representatives from across the industry, including the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), regulators, policy makers and academia, we have put together the DSA Global Summit agenda to explore new developments in the spectrum industry. It is an exciting time for spectrum sharing, with recent progress including the bidding for spectrum earmarked for 5G, the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) proposed rulemaking on the 6 GHz band, the Mid-band sharing opportunities with CBRS and beyond, the deployment of TV White Space (TVWS) technology and hybrid fix wireless networks for rural connectivity and the unlicensed possibilities at the milli-metre waves. Using these developments and use cases, speakers at the DSA Global Summit will explore future advances utilising dynamic spectrum methods and mechanisms, like databases.

The 2019 DSA Global Summit is in its seventh year, following many successful previous events. The 2018 DSA Global Summit brought together representatives from 22 different regulatory bodies around the world and had a particular focus on challenges that was facing shared spectrum at the time. The outcome of the 2018 event has shaped the way the DSA has approached shared spectrum developments throughout the past year and has allowed us to target specific areas for further work that will be explored in this year’s agenda.

Opening the Global Summit, speakers will join the first panel ‘6 GHz –Shared Spectrum to Enable Next Gen Wi-Fi and Other Technologies Leveraging Non-Exclusive Unlicensed Spectrum Access’. Following recent FCC rulings, the DSA has continued to show its support for the unlicensed use of the 6GHz band. As surmised in the DSA reply comments to these rulings, the 6 GHz band presents a golden opportunity to increase the use of the band, address increasing demand form unlicensed spectrum and protect incumbents.

Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) is an alternative technology supported by the DSA that is seeing a rise in popularity and discussion around the world. CBRS provides the opportunity to share the 3.5 GHz band, and it has recently been announced that a 5G-specific sharing standard is under development with 5G services planned to commence on the band in 2020. The panel ‘3.5-3.7 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) Roll-outs: Use Cases and Marketplace Opportunities’ will further delve into these discussions.

Beyond CBRS, there are many ways in which a three tier spectrum licensing framework can be utilised to protect incumbent services, provide the regulatory assurance necessary to attract investment in new technologies and applications and support innovation. Six industry experts will explore this spectrum sharing method on the panel ‘3.7 – 4.2 GHz – Application of Three Tier Spectrum Sharing Beyond CBRS’.

Many countries have taken the next step in the evolution of spectrum policy, through the license-exempt use of TVWS. On a panel dedicated to TVWS, speakers will explore the wide range of applications of TVWS that are particularly useful for providing internet access in rural locations, as these radio waves can travel further and are able to penetrate walls and other obstructions more easily.

The final panel of the DSA Global Summit will explore ‘The Use of Hybrid Fixed Wireless Networks to Close the Digital Divide in Unserved Communities’. The DSA continues to work hard to close the digital divide, primarily through engaging with regulators and government officials to promote and adopt suitable frameworks that will facilitate dynamic access to radio spectrum.

I am honoured to lead the DSA in their ongoing work towards dynamic spectrum access around the world. The DSA Global Summit is truly a platform for the industry to come together and collaborate to encourage progress and development, and the DSA is proud to be a host of this opportunity.

The DSA Global Summit full agenda and further details can be found here.