Don’t buy spectrum, share the 3.5 GHz band
DALLAS, Texas – Google’s principal wireless architect, Preston Marshall, on Monday laid out the benefits of sharing, not buying, access to the 3.5 GHz spectrum band.
The 3.5 GHz band, primarily allocated for use by the U.S. military, is referred to as the innovation band by the Federal Communications Commission. Earlier this year the FCC adopted rules applicable to the 3.5 GHz band that consider shared, not exclusive, access.
Marshall said during a technical session at the Small Cells Americas trade show that “all spectrum should be usable to somebody. Every bit of spectrum in this band should be usable by somebody somewhere.”
Spectrum sharing comes with a number of concerns, the most topical being the ongoing debate around LTE-U, which would move cellular into the unlicensed bands currently occupied by Wi-Fi. Proponents tout a better end-user experience and more efficiency while opponents point to the potential for interference.
Spectrum is also an incredibly valuable resource that carriers and other service providers will pay billions for; the concept of no exclusivity is a natural talking point for a company like Google that has ambitions toward mobility, but hasn’t spent the money major carriers have to create a spectrum portfolio.
Marshall said the regulatory framework in place would make 3.5 GHz spectrum band feel exclusive to the user; he hit on the dynamic nature of the industry, which is in stark contrast to the protracted process that forms spectral policy.
“Highest and best use changes over time,” he said. “This band has continual competition. If you get one of these licenses for protection, after a couple of years it’s not renewable. No one has essentially a forever license to a piece of spectrum. It keeps refreshing what’s highest and best use.
“We’ve fundamentally changed the economics of spectrum,” he continued. “If it’s really worth it – you’re in Times Square in New York – you might want to buy it. If you’re out in Kansas and want to deploy an enterprise network, you probably don’t have to pay for it. We’ve created a whole new sort of gamesmanship. Every year you can rethink your spectrum strategy.”
