Page 1 of 11 The 700 MHz Band: Recent Developments and Future Plans Adam LaMore, [email protected] (A survey paper written under guidance of Prof. Raj Jain) Download Abstract In the United States, terrestrial television broadcasters will switch from analog to digital by 17 February 2009. When this occurs, the lower bandwidth costs of digital television will free up 108 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum for other uses. This portion of spectrum, from 698 to 806 MHz, is collectively known as the 700 MHz band. This paper discusses the process by which licenses to use the soon-to-be vacated band are being auctioned off as well as currently announced plans for their future use. Keywords 700 MHz, 700 megahertz, spectrum auction, auction 73, federal communications commission, FCC, public safety, digital television, UHF, long term evolution, LTE Table of Contents • 1. Introduction • 2. Background o 2.1 Technical Merits o 2.2 Digital TV Changeover • 3. FCC Licenses and Auctions o 3.1 Bands and Blocks ! 3.1.1 Lower 700 MHz Band ! 3.1.2 Upper 700 MHz Band o 3.2 Openness Requirements o 3.3 Auctions and Results ! 3.3.1 Verizon Wireless ! 3.3.2 AT&T ! 3.3.3 Qualcomm ! 3.3.4 Google ! 3.3.5 OtherPage 2 of 11 • 4. Future Plans and Uses o 4.1 Public Safety o 4.2 Mobile Internet o 4.3 Streaming Media • 5. Summary • References • List of Acronyms and Abbreviations 1. Introduction The biggest news in mobile networking lately has been the 700 megahertz (MHz) spectrum auction. But what is the auction? What is the 700 MHz band? The 700 MHz band is actually the set of frequencies between 698 and 806 MHz, which puts them in the Ultra High Frequency, or UHF, range of radio frequencies. In the United States, these were and are still used as television channels 52 through 69. On 17 February 2009, however, that will change as the long-used analog television channels go dark and are replaced with new digital ones. Because of the advantages gained from the switch to digital, channels 52-69 will no longer be needed and can be reused for other purposes. More technical details on the band itself as well as the changeover to digital television are discussed in section 2 of this paper. One of the congressional directives during the formulation of this plan was that some of the freed space would be allocated for use by public safety agencies such as police departments, fire departments, and ambulance districts. Right now, these agencies use a myriad of frequencies with systems that are incompatible from region to region. The freed spectrum in the 700 MHz band will allow for the creation of a national broadband public safety network to enhance communication between agencies at all levels of government. The frequencies that are not being used by public safety are nearly finished being auctioned off to companies for their use. Most of these companies plan to drastically improve their mobile Internet and media capabilities by installing next generation networks for use in the 700 MHz band. The auction process and plans for the spectrum are discussed further in sections 3 and 4. Back to Table of Contents 2. Background 2.1 Technical Merits The spectrum in the 700 MHz band is very highly desired, in particular because of the electromagnetic properties of its frequencies. In general, the frequencies in the band, between 698 and 806 MHz, travel farther and pass through walls and other obstacles much better than existing cell phone networks do, leading to a lower required number of cells to provide the samePage 3 of 11 amount of coverage. In addition, because of the lower frequency, it would require less power to run a mobile phone/Internet cell on the 700 MHz band than on the other common bands, which are at higher frequencies. Since the upper TV channels are moving lower on the spectrum, they too will use less power than before. The exact details for use of the spectrum, including range, power, and data speeds, will require more time to become known because many of the planned new networks on this band will use technologies that are still in development [Rast05]. 2.2 Digital TV Changeover The Public Safety Wireless Advisory Committee (PSWAC) was established by the United States Congress in 1993 to investigate the spectrum requirements of public safety groups and recommend future actions to make improvements if necessary [Doumi06]. At the end of 1996, they recommended augmenting the amount of spectrum devoted to public safety by approximately 100 MHz. One part of the spectrum with a lot of wasted space was UHF, the section with all television channels 13 and above. In particular, the high end of UHF was very sparsely populated. The introduction of the Advanced Television Systems Committee's (ATSC's) digital television standard in 1998 provided an opportunity for change. Digital ATSC channels use approximately one-sixth the bandwidth as their analog National Television System Committee (NTSC) counterparts for a picture of similar resolution. Digital television will use higher resolution images, however, so the advantage will be slightly lessened. Because digital signals inherently interfere with each other less than analog signals, the channels can be closer together [Rast05]. The channels that were spread out between 2 and 69 will instead be compressed into the space currently occupied by channels 2 through 51. In addition, by auctioning off the newly freed spectrum, which would come to be known as the 700 MHz band, the federal government could make several billion dollars to go towards balancing the federal budget or reducing the national debt [Doumi06]. Congress originally set a transition date for the end of 2006, meaning that by the end of the year, all stations would switch off their analog broadcasts. The one caveat to this date was that 85% of U.S. households in each market had to have at least one television with an ATSC digital tuner, required to read the new digital broadcasts. By 2005, Congress realized that this was not going to happen - the adoption rate was still hovering around 1%. The transition date was then changed to 17 February 2009 [Report07]. After this date, the entire 700 MHz band will be available for use. Back to Table of Contents 3. FCC Licenses and Auctions In the United States, the right to transmit on communications frequencies is restricted (with few exceptions) to those organizations that hold a broadcast license from the Federal Communications
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