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	<title>Communications Insights: Trends and Cool Stuff &#187; Wireless Communications</title>
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	<link>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff</link>
	<description>The Musings of an Expatriate in European Communications</description>
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		<title>Rethinking the White Spaces decision</title>
		<link>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/09/rethinking-the-white-spaces-decision/</link>
		<comments>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/09/rethinking-the-white-spaces-decision/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 23 Sep 2010 18:33:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kenneth Carter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cool Stuff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TV White Spaces]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wireless Communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Broadband]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FCC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Part 15]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Policy Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spectrum]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/?p=223</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[At the FCC’s monthly agenda meeting it unanimously adopted its Second Memorandum Opinion and Order which will enable unlicensed operation in the TV White Spaces.  The Chairman and Commissioners almost universally stated that the Order would unleash a wave of innovation, broadband access, “Wi-Fi on steroids,” and other Really Cool Stuff What was universally not said was that broadcast TV and wireless microphones are not the future.  Granted, regulators want to provide regulatory certainty and are loathe to picking winners and losers; however, this glaring absence begs the question: if all of the innovation, job growth, and economic development will come from the unlicensed use of the White Spaces, why aren’t we protecting those uses?]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/09/rethinking-the-white-spaces-decision/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Spectrum Auctions in Japan?!</title>
		<link>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/09/spectrum-auctions-in-japan/</link>
		<comments>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/09/spectrum-auctions-in-japan/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:48:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kenneth Carter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Wireless Communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Japan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[next generation spectrum policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Policy Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spectrum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spectrum policy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/?p=212</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Japanese wireless market is well developed, with at least 5 competitors offering some of the lowest priced, highest speed, and most advanced networks of anywhere in the world. Yet, according modern economic theory, this should not be. The Japanese government has never held an auction to assign spectrum licenses. Economic theory suggests that auctions are more efficient assigning spectrum rights to their highest monetary value use than other means such as comparative hearings (currently used in Japan) or lotteries. That may all, change as the government of Japan is considering how it might employ spectrum auctions. The Cabinet might be directing the Ministry of Information and Communications to review how market forces can be employed to rapidly and efficiently reassign radio usage rights. According to my vague understanding of what is suggested, the MIC will pursue a limited use of auctions to reassign spectrum licenses. Auction prices will be limited to the costs of relocating the existing users from the band. The MIC will then auction participant’s bids as part of its analysis in some sort of comparative hearing. License winners will have to pay their bid eventually. I am not sure whether auctions will make the Japanese wireless market more advanced, or whether they will simply screw things up. I will keep you posted.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/09/spectrum-auctions-in-japan/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Back to the Future Station</title>
		<link>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/07/back-to-the-future-station/</link>
		<comments>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/07/back-to-the-future-station/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:28:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kenneth Carter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cool Stuff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wireless Communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Japan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NTT DOCOMO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RCS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Really Cool Stuff!]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/?p=187</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On my recent business trip to Tokyo, I had the opportunity to have lunch with my good friend Hajime Kii and his family.  I know Kii-san when he was a senior executive at NTT America and I was working at CITI at Columbia University.  Kii-san was kind enough to arrange a visit to NTT DOCOMO’s Future Station while I was in town.  The Future Station is where DOCOMO presents a film showcasing its high-concept vision of its product and service offerings for the near-term future.  The Future Station is very cool.  Being there reminded me why I got into telecommunications in the first place – because tomorrow will always a brighter day with bigger (smaller), better, faster and Cooler Stuff.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/07/back-to-the-future-station/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The New Dutch Auction</title>
		<link>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/05/the-new-dutch-auction/</link>
		<comments>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/05/the-new-dutch-auction/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 07 May 2010 19:23:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kenneth Carter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cool Stuff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Optimal Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wireless Communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Policy Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spectrum]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/?p=167</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A week ago, the Dutch telecommunications regulator Agentschap Telecom completed a spectrum auction for licenses in the 2.6 GHz band.  Five bidders spent just over €2.6 million to acquire 130 MHz of the 190 MHz in the band, but they did so in an unusual way.  Agentschap’s auction had two parts.  In the first part, bidders vied for a certain amount of spectrum.  In the second round, the bidders competed for specific 5 MHz blocks, with the option of single 5 MHz blocks of unpaired (TDD) spectrum or 2 x 5 MHz blocks of paired (FDD) spectrum.  This determined the pairing the band.  No FDD spectrum was acquired.

In this way, the auction determined whether the spectrum would be used for cellular type uses (FDD) or for WiMax-type uses (TDD). ]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/05/the-new-dutch-auction/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Spoon</title>
		<link>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/05/the-spoon/</link>
		<comments>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/05/the-spoon/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 May 2010 19:42:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kenneth Carter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Optimal Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wireless Communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FCC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Optimal level of regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Part 15]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Policy Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spectrum]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/?p=163</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Treating radio operations as spectrum or airwaves or property is a false paradigm.  Electromagnetic energy behaves simultaneously like a wave and like a particle, carried by photons.  So, while we are regulating the airwaves, who is regulating the photons?  I raise this issue now because just last week the FCC established the Spectrum Task Force.  Honestly, I am not exactly sure what implications for radio policy of considering the dually of electromagnetic radiation as both a wave and a particle might be; however, going forward perhaps the STF should undertake critical rethinking of this crucial policy area from the basics up.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/05/the-spoon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Uncommon Unlicensed – A Licensed Commons</title>
		<link>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/03/the-uncommon-unlicensed-%e2%80%93-a-licensed-commons/</link>
		<comments>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/03/the-uncommon-unlicensed-%e2%80%93-a-licensed-commons/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 24 Mar 2010 21:00:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kenneth Carter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Optimal Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TV White Spaces]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wireless Communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FCC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kevin Werbach]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Optimal level of regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Part 15]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spectrum policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unlicensed wireless devices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wi-Fi]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/?p=139</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There is a significant challenge to the successful opening up of the TV white spaces. Under the White Spaces order, any unlicensed device which will operate in the band has to query a database and obtain permission before it can start transmitting.  When a white spaces device has to query a database and obtain permission before it can operate, it is, by definition, no longer an unlicensed device.  Rather, the regime is a licensed commons.  This grant of permission is in fact a form of a license, albeit a light one.  

This fact is one of the reasons the unlicensed PCS was never successful.  For unlicensed PCS, the FCC created a regime under which unlicensed users had to get permission from a non-profit firm called UTAM before they could start using their unlicensed PCS devices.  In doing so, the FCC inadvertently delegated to UTAM the power to grant licenses.  

In order for the White Spaces Order to be successful must offer device manufacturer and device users more benefit than they could achieve by using the existing Part 15 rules.  Device manufacturers can make devices to operate under the less restrictive parts of the Part 15 rules (the U-NII and spread spectrum rules).  So, they never made any successful products for U-PCS.   The same will be true for the White Space rules.  In order for the White Space database system to work, it will have to offer greater flexibility, more power, wider tuning ranges, more suitable frequency bands, etc. than the current Part 15 rules allow.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/03/the-uncommon-unlicensed-%e2%80%93-a-licensed-commons/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>9</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Wi-Fi? Wi-Not?</title>
		<link>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/02/wi-fi-wi-not/</link>
		<comments>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/02/wi-fi-wi-not/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:59:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kenneth Carter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Broadband]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cool Stuff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wireless Communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FCC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Part 15]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spectrum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TV White Spaces]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unlicensed wireless devices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wi-Fi]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/?p=135</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the past several weeks, there have been several news articles and blog posts about congested mobile wireless networks and using Wi-Fi to alleviate that congestion.  This is a good idea; however, it is not a new one.  At a conference nearly eight years ago, I suggested that wireless carriers consider incorporating Wi-Fi into their networks.  Complementing existing 3G networks with Wi-Fi would increase carrier profitability. ]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/02/wi-fi-wi-not/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Next Generation Spectrum Regulation</title>
		<link>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2009/12/next-generation-spectrum-regulation/</link>
		<comments>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2009/12/next-generation-spectrum-regulation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:03:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kenneth Carter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Broadband]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cool Stuff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wireless Communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[next generation spectrum policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Optimal level of regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Really Cool Stuff!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spectrum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spectrum policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unlicensed wireless devices]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/?p=122</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I have just completed a major study on next generation spectrum regulation which can serve as the basis for removing certain barriers to spectrum access, allowing more effective sharing and efficient allocations.  I can think of no reason why a properly designed auction could not determine not only who gets the spectrum rights, but what those rights are.

You cannot see, touch, taste, smell, or hear radio spectrum.  Spectrum is not a thing; it is an idea – a legal and engineering construct that explains a physical phenomenon and helps us arrange our behavior accordingly.  That fundamental physical phenomenon is the fact that when electromagnetic waves are: (1) harmonic in frequency; (2) incident in time; and (3) alight on the same reception device, the ability of those waves to be used as information carriers is degraded.  This deleterious effect is known to us as interference.  Without some form of intervention, it is impossible to exclude or limit the use of a common resource such as spectrum. Without exclusion, users consume the spectrum without regard to fact that their usage causes the deleterious effect of interference for other would-be users.  Policies which help to mitigate inference with the least amount of effort will be the most socially beneficial.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2009/12/next-generation-spectrum-regulation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Japan Communications&#8217; New Business Model</title>
		<link>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2009/10/japan-communications-new-business-model/</link>
		<comments>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2009/10/japan-communications-new-business-model/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:16:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kenneth Carter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Broadband]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cool Stuff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Network Neutrality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Optimal Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wireless Communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Japan Communications Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JCI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Optimal level of regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RCS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spectrum policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wholesale Access]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wireles]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/?p=117</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Japan Communications Inc. just launched a new product for Hewlett-Packard. HP will now sell netbooks in Japan which come with 100 minutes of mobile wireless connectivity. Consumers can buy connectivity on a pay-as-you-go basis from Japan Communications, but branded as an HP service. While Japan Communications negotiated with DoCoMo to get on its network, it was only able to do so because the Japanese Ministry for Communications and Information created which rules opened the networks of three largest wireless operators to wholesale.

This created for Japan Communications a really cool new business model with implications for carriers, devices manufacturers, and application service providers around the world. It remains to be seen whether the Europe and the US should follow suit.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2009/10/japan-communications-new-business-model/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>T-Mobile&#8217;s G1 Android and Apple iPhone: market power or just marketing?</title>
		<link>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2009/02/t-mobiles-g1-android-and-apple-iphone-market-power-or-just-marketing/</link>
		<comments>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2009/02/t-mobiles-g1-android-and-apple-iphone-market-power-or-just-marketing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Feb 2009 15:55:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kenneth Carter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cool Stuff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Network Neutrality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wireless Communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[G1 Android]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iPhone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Power]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/?p=67</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It is not necessarily unfair competition for T-Mobile to be the exclusive source for both the G1 and the iPhone in Germany.  The fact that T-Mobile is now marketing phones based on both open and proprietary software suggests that neither approach is the Holy Grail of business models. T-Mobile initially launched the G1 in the US in order to compete with AT&#038;T which is the exclusive sources for the iPhone there. The decision to sell the G1 in Germany probably embraces economies of scope and scale, more then the question of openness.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2009/02/t-mobiles-g1-android-and-apple-iphone-market-power-or-just-marketing/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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