White House: Strickling -> NTIA

On March 26, the White House announced the "intent to nominate" as follows:


Lawrence E. Strickling, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, Department of Commerce

Lawrence E. Strickling is a technology policy expert with more than two decades of experience in the public and private sectors. As Policy Coordinator for Obama for America, Strickling oversaw two dozen domestic policy committees and was responsible for technology and telecommunications issues. Prior to joining the campaign, Strickling was Chief Regulatory and Chief Compliance Officer at Broadwing Communications for three years. His private sector experience also includes serving in senior roles at Allegiance Telecom and CoreExpress, Inc. and as a member of the Board of Directors of Network Plus. In government, Strickling served at the Federal Communications Commission as Chief of the Common Carrier Bureau from 1998 to 2000. Prior to that, Strickling was Associate General Counsel and Chief of the FCC's Competition Division. 

During his tenure at the FCC, Strickling developed and enforced rules to foster competition and protect consumers in the telecommunications marketplace. Prior to joining the FCC, Strickling was Vice President, Public Policy at Ameritech. Before Ameritech, he was a litigation partner at the Chicago law firm of Kirkland & Ellis. Strickling earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Maryland with a degree in economics. He serves on the Board of Visitors at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, as Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the University of Chicago's Court Theatre, and on the Board of Directors of Music of the Baroque in Chicago.

Results of
World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-08)

The Telecommunication Standardization Sector within the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) held the 2008 World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-08) in Johannesburg, South Africa, over a 10 day period from October 21 to October 30, 2008. The only reference to this meeting on the FCC's website is the following quote from the Fiscal Year 2008 Performance and Accountability Report:

"Commission staff participated in the Americas preparatory meeting for the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA) to develop regional consensus in advance of WTSA-08."

The State Department website doesn't have any information either. While this conference was an ITU-T conference and that organization deals traditionally with wireless telephony, it is clear that it wants more standardization in wireless also. While FCC doesn't want to talk about this meeting, its Japanese counterpart, MIC, views it as a major event. Here is the discussion from the latest MIC newsletter.

The WTSA is an important assembly which determines directions in standardization activities within the ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T), and it holds its meetings once every four years. The Japanese delegation to WTSA-08 consisted of 38 people (7 from MIC and 31 from the private sector), headed by MIC Director-General Kawauchi. In all, there were 770 delegates representing 99 countries and 12 international organizations.

Outline

The WTSA is an important assembly that investigates activity reports as well as proposed recommendations and resolutions submitted by the various study groups (SG) within the ITU-T and the Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG). It also makes decisions on basic directions for ITU-T activities for the next study period (2009 to 2012) by revising operating procedures, reorganizing SGs, allocating study topics and appointing chairmen or vice-chairmen of the SGs and TSAG.

The main results from this assembly are presented below.


(1) The SG structure in the next study period

Principally, study groups have been reorganized with relation to the topics shown below, and the structure for the next study period consists of 10 study groups (see figure).

(a) In conjunction with the sharing of network architecture to address the advances in FMC (convergence of mobile communication networks and fixed communication networks), the SG13 (Next Generation Networks) and SG19 (Mobile telecommunication networks) were merged.

(b) For the overall study of transmission networks, including the installation, maintenance and securing of outside facilities, part of the SG6 (Outside Plant and related indoor installations) was merged with the existing SG15 (Optical and other transport network infrastructures).

(c) Following a request from developing countries, study topics were added to the existing SG11 (Signalling requirements and protocols), consisting of studying the securement of global mutual inter-connectibility of NGN products.

(d) With the growing awareness that standardization activities should not just be centered around technical topics, and that standardization activities that focus on user needs and actual services are also important, SG16 will now be in charge of standardization activities that will develop new services such as ubiquitous applications and home networks.
Figure: Study organization for the next study period

(2) Election of SG chairmen and vice-chairmen for the next study period

As the officer who drives the standardization activities of each study group over a four year period, there were two people standing for election from Japan as study group chairmen and 7 as vice-chairmen, and all were elected (see table). They included Yushi Naito of Mitsubishi Electric (Chairman of SG16 in charge of application development) who became the first person from one of Japan’s integrated electronics manufacturers to assume a post of ITU’s SG chairman.
Table

(3) Selection of new recommendations and resolutions

(a) Resolutions concerning countermeasures to climate change using ICT
With regard to countermeasures to climate change using ICT, proposals from various countries, including a proposal from Japan, were investigated, and resolutions were adopted including that, once the FG (Focus Group) review that is currently taking place is completed, a decision will be made by TSAG on how futures investigations will proceed at ITU-T, and that an approach would be constructed that would include the opinions of experts outside ITU-T members.

(b) Recommendation concerning the externality of networks
With regard to recommendation concerning premiums (the topping up of charges for developing countries with regard to connection charges from developed countries where the network installation is plentiful to developing countries) based on the externality of networks, recommendation was adopted, despite the opposition of Japan, the United States and Europe, that there is a need to investigate different methods for setting charges. Japan suspended the recommendation in order that it would not be applied.

(c) Resolutions in advance of the introduction of an ITU mark system (action ahead of standards certification and the confirmation of mutual connectibility)

It was confirmed that, rather than simply creating standards, it is important to ascertain mutual connectibillity based on standards, and that ahead of the introduction of the ITU mark system (testing for standards certification and mutual connectibility for products that conform to ITU-T recommendations), recommendations for mutual connectibility testing should be made as soon as possible. In addition, a resolution was taken that an investigation should take place, with regard to ITU-T, on the overall effect with regard to the ITU and manufacturers as well as compliance with the laws of individual countries of both domestic and international standards, with the results of the investigation being reported to the 2009 ITU Council.

(d) Others

As a way of dealing with the information gap between developed and developing countries, actions to correct discrepancies in standardization and regional group activities were focused on, and resolutions were taken to vitalize these further in the future. Also, resolutions were taken to promote the participation of university researchers in ITU-T.
Conclusion

As has been outlined above, this year’s WTSA-08 put a spotlight on users and services, and focused on securing mutual connetibility, offering support to developing countries and regional activities, as well as expectations on academic researchers, showing the new roles that ITU-T should fulfill and what kind of approach is needed to achieve this.

Taking into consideration these results from WTSA-08, we will continue to make efforts towards the development of Japan's telecommunications system and strengthening our international competitiveness, as well as continuing to make positive contributions to the ITU so that international standardization activities can occur smoothly.

Comm. Adelstein:
FCC → RUS

On Friday, Reuters reported,

WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) - Jonathan Adelstein, a two-term commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), was nominated by the White House on Friday to an Agriculture Department agency that will play a major role in high-speed Internet expansion.

The Obama administration wants Adelstein to run the Rural Utilities Service, which is receiving economic stimulus money to issue grants and loans to increase the availability of broadband in rural areas.

The service also provides financing for water, waste, electric and other telecommunications projects.

Adelstein, a Democrat, has been a member of the FCC since 2002. His second term formally expired in June.

From the White House press release:

Jonathan S. Adelstein, Nominee for Administrator for the Rural Utilities Service, United States Department of Agriculture

Jonathan S. Adelstein is currently a Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, where he has served since 2002, and was confirmed to a second term in 2004, where he led efforts to improve rural telecommunications and broadband. Previously, he served for fifteen years as a staff member in the US Senate, including his final seven years with Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), advising him on telecommunications, financial services, housing, transportation and other key issues. Prior to that, he served as Professional Staff Member to Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman David Pryor (D-AR), including an assignment as a special liaison to Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), and earlier as a Legislative Assistant to Senator Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (D-MI). Before his service in the Senate, he was a Teaching Fellow in the Department of History, Harvard University, while studying at the Kennedy School of Government, and a Teaching Assistant in the Department of History, Stanford University, and as a Communications Consultant to the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He received an M.A. in History and a B.A. with Distinction in Political Science from Stanford University. Born and raised in Rapid City, South Dakota, he and his wife, Karen, have two children, Adam and Lexi.

Acting Chmn. Copps' statement,

I congratulate my friend and colleague Jonathan Adelstein on the announcement that President Obama intends to nominate him for the critically important post of Administrator for the Rural Utilities Service. Jonathan will, upon his confirmation, bring a depth of knowledge, experience and commitment to the job that will enable him to make a huge contribution to advancing the well-being of rural America. He knows the issues and challenges inside-out and will be able to hit the ground running, which is exactly what's needed since RUS has been given such extraordinary responsibilities by the recently enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Simply put, Jonathan’s years at the FCC have been dedicated to advancing the public interest across the wide gamut of telecommunications and media issues. He's been a true leader, an eloquent spokesman, and a delight to work with. I look forward to continuing to work with him on the issues we both believe in and to continuing the friendship that we and our families share.

When will the move take place? No official word. But it may be a while since his departure would leave FCC without a quorum - although NRC functioned without a quorum a decade ago by delegating its power to the Chairman in consultation with the 1 remaining commissioner. The RUS job needs Senate confirmation, presumably not difficult for a former Senate staffer. But the departure might have to wait for several other dominoes to fall into place.


Comm. Adelstein will be missed at FCC.

The Challenge of Wireless Infrastructure:
Time to “Think Outside the Box”

Wireless systems, almost by definition, need antennas. In recent years local zoning and permitting issues have been a major barrier to the rollout of new wireless services and limiting factor in many cases for quality of service and size of service area. Thus while FCC keeps creating new bands for both mobile service and fixed wireless access (FWA) that each require new antennas spaced throughout their service areas, little has been done to facilitate installation of new antennas in the real world.

What are long term needs for wireless antennas? We know there are the following CMRS spectrum blocks: the original 2 cellular blocks at 800 MHz, 6 blocks for broadband PCS at around 1900 MHz, and 6 for AWS-1 at 1700/2100 MHz. That makes 14 although in practice there are fewer independent systems in a given area due to licensees holding adjacent blocks. To this one must add other CMRS spectrum such as the BRS/EBS systems that are replacing MDS/ITFS, the new 700 MHz licenses, etc. Now larger Part 90 systems are also going to cellular architecture to get the spectral efficiency associated with it so it is likely that there will be a need for some Part 90 antennas on a cellular like grid throughout suburbia also. I am guessing that the long term need in suburbia will be in the range of 20-30 independent mobile and fixed antennas located on a grid of about a mile.

The antenna problem is basically a suburban one. In urban areas there are usually buildings around to mount antennas that can blend in reasonably well. In rural areas there are few antennas needed and they generally can be away from any neighbors. But in suburbia we get the need for a lot of antennas with neighbors. Let’s face it, the majority of suburban antenna installations look like “they were designed by engineers”. Now a few antennas are camouflaged to look like trees, but this is a very expensive process and it is not clear if it can be expanded to meet long term antennas needs.

The main action of the wireless industry and FCC has been to try to fine tune local preemption issues. But it is clear that there is little political appetite in this country for federal preemption of local zoning – not matter how appealing it is to the wireless industry. After all, FCC Chairman Ferris’ mentor was “Tip” O’Neill, famous for the phrase “all politics are local”.

I don’t know how far preemption will go, but I doubt it will go far enough to get enough antennas built quickly enough. The vast majority of suburban antennas built today are of the “endoskeleton” variety with a central tower, multiple platforms leased to different operators, and antennas one each platform mounted to optimize the cell plan of that operator. The visual impact is terrible and it appears that no one is in charge – no wonder the neighbors wage zoning battles.

The B-2 stealth bomber and F-117 stealth fighters were both designed by teams of aeronautical engineers and electromagnetic engineers who through out conventional design practices to design a plane that flew well and has virtual no radar reflections. I believe there is an urgent need to try a similar approach to suburban antenna design to help break the log jam that threatens the growth of our industry. The tower and antenna elements in current manufacturers catalogs are not the only designs that can be built! Indeed, most antenna elements sold are much more massive than they need to be because each is built for an “endoskeleton” system where it is assumed that it must be able to cope with stresses from wind and precipitation. We need to find ways to get architects/urban planners to collaborate with electromagnetic experts to explore new design approaches that will allow large numbers of systems to cover suburbia efficiently with less visual impact on their neighbors.

In Europe, Nokia sponsored a university design contest in this area a few years ago. In 2007 Ericsson unveiled its innovative “Tower Tube” design concept based on a sculptural “exoskeleton” made with an exotic dielectric concrete that would have antenna elements mounted on its inside surface. But in the US, carriers, trade associations and FCC seem to focus on almost solely on preemption as the solution to getting new towers built quickly, probably not realizing that the problem is accelerating due to new services that will add to the required number of antennas in suburbia.

While exoskeleton antenna designs are promising, they are not the only alternative to the current endoskeleton concept. Going back to technical basics, the radiation pattern of an antenna system is the 3-D Fourier transform of the currents in all the antenna elements. There are a lot of alternative current distributions that could yield the desired coverage. However, a natural limit that comes from the Fourier relationship is that antenna designs that are small in the horizontal plane, e.g. come from a modest diameter antenna system, will have less effective beam patterns and hence will require more sites to cover an area. Similarly, antennas that are limited in vertical length will have less control over their elevation pattern and are likely to have nearby “hot spots” – something that Motorola showed was an issue in the 800 MHz Nextel/public safety problem.

All the key players need to take a bigger look at the problem and start to understand design alternatives and the tradeoffs. I urge FCC to start making estimates of long term antenna requirements as it makes new allocations and changes service rules. I urge industry to start sponsoring innovative design contests for architect/electromagnetic engineer teams to start fleshing out more innovative design concepts for multiple systems. Identifying new antenna design as a key research area could also lead to federal R&D funding in this area. Finally industry might want to fund an academic study of fundamentally new alternatives to antenna system design.

[This post was originally written as for a new guest column in RCR Wireless' website and was scheduled for publication this week. Unfortunately with the demise of RCR it was never published there.]

Obama: "Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my Administration on a wide range of issues"

There is a lot of press coverage about yesterday's White House action on stem cell research, but a key part received less attention. Included in the action was a presidential memorandum that directs the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to "develop a strategy for restoring scientific integrity to government decision-making." President Obama outlined the goals of his new policy:

To ensure that in this new Administration, we base our public policies on the soundest science; that we appoint scientific advisers based on their credentials and experience, not their politics or ideology; and that we are open and honest with the American people about the science behind our decisions. That is how we will harness the power of science to achieve our goals -- to preserve our environment and protect our national security; to create the jobs of the future, and live longer, healthier lives.

The memorandum, is entitled " Scientific Integrity". Some key quotes:

"Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my Administration on a wide range of issues, including improvement of public health, protection of the environment, increased efficiency in the use of energy and other resources, mitigation of the threat of climate change, and protection of national security.

The public must be able to trust the science and scientific process informing public policy decisions. Political officials should not suppress or alter scientific or technological findings and conclusions. If scientific and technological information is developed and used by the Federal Government, it should ordinarily be made available to the public. To the extent permitted by law, there should be transparency in the preparation, identification, and use of scientific and technological information in policymaking. The selection of scientists and technology professionals for positions in the executive branch should be based on their scientific and technological knowledge, credentials, experience, and integrity.

...

1. Within 120 days from the date of this memorandum, the Director shall develop recommendations for Presidential action designed to guarantee scientific integrity throughout the executive branch, based on the following principles:

(a) The selection and retention of candidates for science and technology positions in the executive branch should be based on the candidate's knowledge, credentials, experience, and integrity;

(b) Each agency should have appropriate rules and procedures to ensure the integrity of the scientific process within the agency;

(c) When scientific or technological information is considered in policy decisions, the information should be subject to well-established scientific processes, including peer review where appropriate, and each agency should appropriately and accurately reflect that information in complying with and applying relevant statutory standards;

(d) Except for information that is properly restricted from disclosure under procedures established in accordance with statute, regulation, Executive Order, or Presidential Memorandum, each agency should make available to the public the scientific or technological findings or conclusions considered or relied on in policy decisions;

(e) Each agency should have in place procedures to identify and address instances in which the scientific process or the integrity of scientific and technological information may be compromised; and

(f) Each agency should adopt such additional procedures, including any appropriate whistleblower protections, as are necessary to ensure the integrity of scientific and technological information and processes on which the agency relies in its decisionmaking or otherwise uses or prepares."

As an independent agency, FCC is not automatically subject to this new policy. However, I urge Chairman Designate Genachowski to embrace this policy and integrate it into FCC practice. Presumably the memorandum applies to NTIA since it is an Executive branch agency.

Technical issues are never the sole issues in public policy. The NY Times today has the following quote from Alan I. Lesher, chief executive of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS): “We’re not dumb — we know that policy is made on the basis of facts and values." But by asserting “the centrality of science to every issue of modern life,” Dr. Lesher said, Mr. Obama is suggesting that science rather than ideology will be the foundation for his decision making. “What you are seeing now is both a response to the last eight years, and a genuine reaction to President Obama’s enthusiasm for science,” he said.

Let's bring technical issues back into their proper role at FCC. The nadir reached in the ARRL v. FCC court case, where the court found numerous apparently politically motivated flaws with FCC's technical analysis, should never be repeated.

The road map offered in IEEE-USA's unanswered letter to Chairman Martin would be a good place to start.

After more than 25 years,

RCR Wireless News closes
"We bid you all a fond farewell"

The following appeared on the RCR Wireless website Monday March 3 2009 - 4:21 pm ET

"RCR Wireless News has suspended publication of its print and online products immediately and is closing operations. Unfortunately, the market for RCR's products has been hit particularly hard by the global financial meltdown.

"RCR Wireless News was passionately run by first-class people and it pains us to make this move but the economy gives us no other choice," said Crain Communications Chairman Keith E. Crain. To contact Crain, e-mail Colleen Robar at crobar@crain.com"

We would like to express our concerns to Jeff Silva, RCR's DC-based writer who has done an outstanding job covering spectrum issues at FCC and wish him success in his search for alternatives.

RCR and especially Jeff's writing has been a source of key information in the many spectrum policy deliberations in the past 2 decades. It will be missed.

Tribute from FierceWireless

Tribute from paidcontent.org

Tribute from dailyWireless.org

Washington Post:
"The Digital Transition, TV's Long-Running Horror Show"

In today's Post, Rob Pegoraro has the above titled article about the DTV transition.

In the paragraph entitled "DTV or HDTV?" he garbled the history of DTV somewhat and the Brinkley book, Defining Vision, is more accurate. DTV started as analog HDTV - an NAB attempt to kill off increased land mobile sharing of TV spectrum by using technology NHK of Japan had developed. Then several US techie renegades, including MIT my alma mater, showed DTV was feasible for HDTV. Then some mainstream broadcasters started salivating on extra capacity not HDTV and pressed for the flexibility to make consumers pay for new electronics but not necessarily get significantly improved pictures - but more versions of Laverne and Shirley. The final rules struck a better balance.

Some interesting quotes from the article:

"-- Late, not-so-great converter boxes: One remedy was supposed to be a flood of cheap converter boxes that could bring any old TV into the digital era. But these boxes didn't land in stores until spring 2008. They had to pass government-run performance tests, but no such attention was paid to their usability -- leaving buyers to puzzle through different arrangements of antenna jacks and video inputs and outputs.

...

-- Guessing games with local signals: The best digital tuner won't help if a nearby station airs a digital signal at partial strength or under some other temporary impairment. But viewers have few easy ways to check for those problems or to see whether a station's reception will clear up after its signal moves to a different frequency after the analog shutoff.

...

The FCC collects a wealth of technical detail from broadcasters but hides it behind one of the worst-organized, least-helpful sites in all of government. Until that agency began providing a more accessible site earlier this year (http://dtv.gov/fixreception.html), your best source might have been a volunteer-run site, http://rabbitears.info. [Emphasis added.]

...

-- Cable's botched digital transition: Viewers who subscribe to cable TV haven't had to worry about these issues. But the digital upgrades cable operators have made to their networks inflicted pain of their own.

Those companies cut analog service that worked on "cable-ready" TVs without establishing a standard for digital-cable reception that would let viewers continue to opt out of cable boxes. They made a total mess of their first big attempt at a standard link between digital-cable services and digital TVs, the CableCard, and have taken so long with their second, Tru2Way, that it won't hit the mass market until well after analog TV's death"