Unfortunately, those writers and news organizations wrote their glowing articles straight from the Broadband Wireless Alliance press release, uncritically, with little or no background research. Some critical facts were overlooked about the BWA and its announcement. It genuinely pains me to say the following, but I feel that I have an obligation to the community and the industry to speak up about such issues.
Wireless Communications Association - The Real Broadband Wireless Internet Access Industry Trade Group The Broadband Wireless Internet Access (the phrase I prefer to use) industry is already quite ably represented to the FCC by a not-for-profit membership organization called the Wireless Communications Association International (WCA). The WCA is a long-established organization based in Washington DC with membership composed of a wide cross-section of Broadband Wireless organizations, vendors, operators, related organizations, and individuals. The statement in the BWA press release "The FCC and Regulatory Issues Committee will be set up to establish a formal mode of communication from WISPs to the FCC and vice versa" is a very skillful piece of spin, implying that there is no such representation at present. Nothing could be further from the truth, as that is the primary mission of the WCA. To more closely focus on the issues of Wireless ISPs (WISPs), the WCA formed a semi-independent group, the License Exempt Alliance (LEA) with its own leadership and agenda. A very recent example of highly effective representation to the FCC by the WCA was the testimony by a number of WCA members as panel members of the FCC's Spectrum Policy Task Force workshops earlier this month.
Broadband Wireless Alliance = Robert Hoskins The Broadband Wireless Alliance is the creation of one person, Robert Hoskins, as an outgrowth of his Broadband Wireless Exchange venture. In the BWA's Articles of Incorporation, Article 6 states: "The initial board of directors shall consist of 5 directors. The names and addresses of the persons who are to serve as the directors until the first annual meeting of the members, or until their successors are elected and qualify are: Robert Hoskins, Gilbert, AZ. The board of directors may at their discretion authorize the officers of the Broadband Wireless Alliance, as defined in the Bylaws of the Broadband Wireless Alliance, to perform the duties of the board of directors, pursuant to ARS §10-3301." Considering that the BWA was founded January 1, 2001, the lack of a board of directors is telling.
WISP Frequency Coordination - Coordinating That Which Cannot Be Coordinated The problem the BWA purports to tackle with its WISP Frequency Coordination Committee is a specious issue. Yes, usage of license-exempt spectrum is chaotic. Yes, coordination should be done when possible. But such chaos is a natural result of rules that are carefully crafted to encourage continual innovation - that no particular mode or usage of license-exempt spectrum is given priority. Coordination is inherently a highly localized issue, and there is no advantage whatsoever involving an entity such as the BWA in such highly localized issues. To illustrate, how would BWA or any other entity "coordinate" the following uses, all totally legal and in widespread use, when they conflict:
- 802.11b, using a static 22 MHz portion of the 2.4 GHz band
- Western Multiplex Tsunami 45 Mbps p-p link, using almost all of the 83.5 MHz of the 2.4 GHz band
- Alvarion BreezeAccess II which uses Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum, 1 MHz channels, required to "hop" on at least 75 MHz of the available 83.5 MHz in the 2.4 GHz band
Answer... BWA cannot, nor can any other entity, effectively coordinate such conflicting uses of license-exempt spectrum. If the equipment in question compliant with FCC rules, all such systems have an equal, legitimate "right" under the FCC Part 15.247 rules to operate, regardless of interference caused to other license-exempt users or equipment. To the casual observer, "coordination" sounds like "the right thing to do". But, if "coordination" was to be given official, legal, weight, what would happen is that the innovation would immediately cease - no new system would be allowed to emerge if there was a possibility that a new system might "interfere" with existing systems.
I know Robert Hoskins, and greatly admire what he has done with Broadband Wireless Exchange, which has proven to be a valuable resource to the Broadband Wireless Internet Access industry. But I feel that his statements about the Broadband Wireless Alliance are misleading, and could easily result in considerable confusion which is precisely what the Broadband Wireless Internet Access industry does not need at this critical juncture.
Disclaimer: Not germane, but it should be stated, that I am a dues-paying Press member of the WCA, and I am a former contributor to the Broadband Wireless Exchange
Steve Stroh
Copyright © 2002-2004 by Steve Stroh. This article originally appeared on my original Broadband Wireless Internet Access Weblog hosted on Radio Userland.
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