Spectrum Management in the Global Village 
Introduction 
1. Competition; 
2. Maximum flexibility; 
3. Public interest; 
4. Constructive licensing and fee policies; 
5. Administrative certainty with minimum delay; and 
What Is Spectrum Management? 
William A. Luther 
Federal Communications Commission 
Washington, D.C. 20554 
e-mail: wluther@fcc.gov U.S.A. 
Abstract: Spectrum management is examined, starting from a 
fundamental basis, drawing on principles, then advancing to 
current, accepted national and international practices and 
procedures in electromagnetic spectrum management that enable 
viable, global compatibility among the radio services. Attention is 
given to services that are both licensed {e.g., broadcast (sound and 
television), land mobile, maritime mobile, aeronautical mobile, 
mobile satellite, fixed satellite, etc.} and unlicensed (e.g., ultrawideband, 
wireless local area networks, radio frequency 
identification, etc.). This paper relies on recent experiences at the 
Federal Communications Commission in the United States, 
indicating both the successful results obtained, and the failures 
which have consequently modified spectrum management 
philosophy. 
Keywords: spectrum management, principles, regulations, 
compatibility, best practices 
This first element in spectrum management must provide the basis “Global village” is an accurate appellation that applies to spectrum 
management. Electromagnetic energy knows no international in a nation’s laws for the use and regulation of 
boundary. Electromagnetic compatibility is a public trust for uses radiocommunications, and establish concepts, authorities, broad 
of the spectrum in every country, state, province, city, and village. objectives, and responsibilities. The element should recognize that 
the spectrum is a resource available to all, and governance of it is It is more than incumbent upon a country to ensure that the duties 
always in the public interest. of its telecommunications regulatory authority take into account 
other countries, their needs, and their responsibilities. It is for this Spectrum Planning and Allocation 
reason that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the 
oldest agency of the United Nations, exists and is responsible for Spectrum planning and allocation is the process of deciding 
the regulation, standardization, and development of distribution of radio frequency spectrum among different radio 
telecommunications worldwide, including international services on either an exclusive or shared basis. The international 
management of the radio frequency spectrum and satellite orbits. treaty governing global and regional spectrum allocations is known 
The ITU provides a forum in which its 189 Member States and 
almost 700 Sector Members can co-operate for the improvement 
and rational use of telecommunications to the village level. 
The Six Principles Of Spectrum Management 
There are six principles of spectrum management to be 
recommended for the global village. These will be discussed in 
some detail in this paper. They are: 
6. Taking national decisions in a global market context. 
Spectrum management in the largest sense has a number of Frequency Coordination and Notification 
elements, and the degree to which a nation adopts these as part of 
its national infrastructure will vary depending on need. All of the 
elements may be understood by referring to Figure 1. number of users can be accommodated or the highest public 
Legal and 
Regulatory 
Foundation 
Spectrum Planning 
and Allocation 
Spectrum 
Engineering 
Regulations 
and 
Standards 
Legal and Regulatory Foundation 
as the ITU Radio Regulations, updated every few years at a World 
Radiocommunication Conference (WRC). Based on a WRC’s 
international frequency decisions, countries are able to establish a 
national frequency allocation table which allows for use of the 
spectrum by specific systems and licensees. 
Spectrum Engineering 
Spectrum management involves decisions pertaining to technology 
and engineering. Though social, economic, and political 
considerations enter into such decisions, many of the issues can be 
analyzed, and decisions made, based on engineering and technical 
factors. 
Regulati ons and Standards 
The ITU has established general rules and regulations regarding 
international spectrum allocation and spectrum management. 
Taking into account these treaty provisions, each Member State 
may create its own legislation with relevant rules and regulations to 
accommodate its national infrastructure. 
It is necessary to create a mechanism by which frequencies can be 
assigned to particular services and systems whereby the greatest 
Spectrum 
Monitoring Law 
Enforcement 
Database 
Spectrum 
Management 
Inspection of 
Installations 
Licensing, 
Assignment, 
and Billing 
Frequency Coordination 
and Notification 
Figure 1. Spectrum Management interest is served. This is implemented through a frequency Broadband 
coordination process before giving an assignment to a station that 
might conflict internally or with that of another country. This is 
particularly crucial near national borders. 
Licensing, Assignment, and Billing 
Once a telecommunication authority has determined that a 
proposed system complies with the applicable regulations, 
authorization of frequency assignment(s) is granted. A fee for 
processing or for regulatory action may be levied concurrent with 
this activity, based on the regulatory provisions for the level of 
administrative service. 
Inspection of Installations 
Inspection is an effective means of regulating and ensuring more 
efficient use of the spectrum. Inspections may occur on a sampling 
basis for statistical reasons, or in some cases, e.g., broadcast 
stations, in all cases. 
Law Enforcement 
The benefits of spectrum management cannot be realized if the 
users fail to comply with the terms of authorization. The 
regulations should include provisions defining the enforcement 
action that may be taken if there is a finding of infringement. 
Based upon the severity of infringement, penalties could range 
from warnings, to fines, to revocation of license, to seizure of 
equipment, or even to incarceration. 
Spectrum Monitoring 
Spectrum monitoring serves as the eyes and ears of the spectrum 
management process. It is necessary in practice because in the real 
world, authorized use of the spectrum does not ensure that it is 
being used as intended. This may be due to the complexity of the 
equipment, interaction with other equipment, a malfunction of 
equipment, or deliberate misuse. Spectrum monitoring should be 
on a continuous basis if it is to be effective. 
How Do We Achieve Spectrum Management? 
In the spectrum management world, the rational, equitable, 
efficient and economical use of the radio frequency spectrum and 
satellite orbits is achieved by: 
Ø Holding World and Regional Radiocommunication conferences 
to develop and adopt treaties covering the use of the spectrum; 
Ø Establishing global radiocommunication recommendations on identification and location tags. 
the technical characteristics and operational procedures for 
radio services and systems; In the U.S., UWB operation has been authorized since February 
2002 [1]. Furthermore, the U.S. UWB regulatory infrastructure 
Ø Coordinating efforts to eliminate harmful interference between was reaffirmed in February of 2003 while at the same time 
radio stations and networks; 
for those appropriately registered; and 
Ø Providing tools, information, and seminars to assist national 
radio frequency spectrum management. 
Hottest Topics In Spectrum Management Today 
Spectrum Economics 
Ø Maintaining a Master International Frequency Register which It is clear, because of their very low power output, the small size of 
offers protection either through a Plan, or on an agreed basis the devices, and the consumer interest in better and faster 
communication services, that UWB devices will be ubiquitous and 
essentially uncontrolled in their usage. For these reasons the U.S. 
has determined, for its part, that these devices will be unlicensed in 
the usual regulatory sense, and operate on an unprotected 
(secondary) basis, but will have strict limitations on their 
marketing and use. Nevertheless, UWB applications are 
controversial as they develop because of the potential for causing 
harmful interference to almost any service in the spectrum. The 
most vulnerable service is that using the radionavigation satellite 
service (RNSS), i.e., GPS, GLONASS, and potentially, GALILEO. 
For this reason the protection offered to the RNSS is very stringent. 
Currently in the U.S., only about 7 percent of the most valuable 
spectrum (i.e., < 3 GHz), and less in most other countries, is 
available for market allocation. Proposals to reallocate restricted 
spectrum more flexibly, and to modify auction approaches, while 
giving incumbents incentives to participate in “band restructuring,” 
have been made. See section on Spectrum Policy Reform (infra). 
Broadband discussion is driven largely by the Internet and gaining 
faster access to it. Clearly, the Internet is one of the most 
important issues in global village infrastructure today. 
Convergence of voice, video, and data is also a major factor in 
seeking broaderband access. Fortunately, the first principle of 
spectrum management applies here as terrestrial radio broadband 
spectrum access competes with satellite delivery, wired television 
cable or fibre, wired telephone networks using DSL, and even 
access over power line mains. 
Software-Defined Radios 
As technology continues to advance in spectrum disciplines, 
software-defined radios offer new opportunities for access to, and 
use of the spectrum. This equipment can sense the spectrum 
environment and commensurately adjust power, frequency, and 
modulation type for optimum information (voice, video or data) 
transfer. 
Terrestrial Sharing with Satellite Networks 
New ideas for terrestrial systems are shaping sharing scenarios 
with existing satellite networks that employ the geostationary orbit 
(GSO). The GSO is used today by about two-hundred satellites in 
the fixed-satellite, mobile-satellite, broadcast-satellite and 
meteorological satellite services. All of the Earth station antennas 
point directly to the GSO, viz., point southerly in the northern 
hemisphere and point northerly in the southern hemisphere. It is 
possible to at least double use of spectrum by appropriately 
positioning terrestrial antennas behind fixed Earth station antennas, 
all of which are usually quite directive. 
Ultra-wideband 
Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology has been in limited use for 
many years by public service, research, and military agencies, 
primarily for imaging and radar. Today, consumer UWB devices 
are being developed for wireless communication, vehicular anticollision 
radar, and other applications. Some specific uses for 
ultra-wideband technology are ground penetrating radars for public 
safety, archeological, civil engineering and earthquake 
applications; through-wall radar for public safety and construction 
purposes; high performance microphones; local area voice, video 
and data networks; security devices; vehicle collision avoidance 
and airbag sensors; fluid level detection; short-range 
communication; long-range military communication; and 
clarifying administrative details. 
The definition of an ultra-wideband transmitter is: An intentional 
radiator that, at any point in time, has a fractional bandwidth equal to or greater than 0.20, or has a UWB bandwidth equal to or greater Chapter 7 – Automation for Spectrum Management Activities 
than 500 MHz, regardless of the fractional bandwidth. UWB 
Chapter 8 – Spectrum Efficiency bandwidth is the frequency band bounded by the points that are 10 
dB below the strongest radiated emission, based on the complete 
transmission system including the antenna. See Figure 2. The 
upper frequency boundary is designated fH and the lower frequency 
boundary is designated f Annex 1 – Spectrum Management Training 
L. The center frequency of a UWB 
emission is then defined as: 
(1) fC = (fH + fL)/2 
The fractional bandwidth, fF, of a UWB emission is defined as: 
(2) fF = 2(fH – fL)/(fH + fL) 
Figure 2. Typical UWB Monocycle Pulse in Time and 
Frequency Domains 
Pulse widths of UWB signals may range from a few picoseconds to 
several nanoseconds, with the choice of time based on the UWB 
application. The pulse width establishes both the center frequency 
and energy distribution of the signal. For example, a 300 
picosecond pulse has a center frequency of: 
(3) fC(300 ?s) = 1/time = (1/300 x 10-12) ˜ 3.3 GHz 
For longer pulse duration, e.g., 600 ?s, the center frequency (apex 
of the spectrum) is about 1.7 GHz. 
Four well known modulation schemes have been visualized for 
UWB systems, viz., on-off keying (OOK), pulse amplitude 
modulation (PAM), binary phase shift keying (BPSK), and pulse 
position modulation (PPM). 
National Spectrum Management Handbook 
The International Telecommunication Union is in the process of 
preparing a new Handbook on National Spectrum Management 
scheduled to be completed in 2003. The Handbook is designed to 
give guidance and recommendations to the world’s spectrum 
managers that, if followed, would mean a range of convergence to 
more simple approaches to spectrum management and greater 
compatibility among the many services. Convergence among 
services and technologies would lead to greater economies of scale 
and certainly, greater compatibility. To illustrate the value of the 
Handbook, the chapters that will be included are: 
Chapter 1 – Spectrum Management Fundamentals 
Chapter 2 – Spectrum Planning 
Chapter 3 – Frequency Assignment and Licensing 
Chapter 4 – Spectrum Monitoring, Spectrum Inspection and 
Investigation 
Chapter 5 – Spectrum Engineering Techniques 
Chapter 6 – Spectrum Economics 
Chapter 9 – Spectrum Management Information Available on the 
ITU-R Website 
Annex 2 – Spectrum Best Practices 
Spectrum Management Best Practices 
The standards world is converging on a set of Best Practices for 
use in spectrum management. The draft set has been considered by 
the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) 
Radiocommunication Study Group 1 (Spectrum Management) and 
improvements, intended to make the set more universal and 
practical on a national basis, have been incorporated. These 
Practices will have been approved in final version by the 
international group of the ITU at its meeting in France in April 
2003. The Handbook on National Spectrum Management will be 
published in paper and electronic form by the ITU later this year in 
English, French, and Spanish languages. 
Best Practices 
Following is the set of national spectrum management Best 
Practices as it currently exists. Because this set has been iterated 
several times at international meetings of spectrum managers, it 
may be considered definitive: 
1. Establishing and maintaining a national spectrum management 
entity responsible for managing the radio spectrum in the 
public interest; 
2. Promoting transparent, fair, economically efficient, and 
effective spectrum management policies; 
3. Maintaining a stable decision-making process that permits 
consideration of the public interest in managing the radio 
frequency spectrum; 
4. Providing in special cases, where adequately justified, for 
exceptions to spectrum management decisions; 
5. Having a process to seek reclama for spectrum management 
decisions; 
6. Minimizing regulations to the extent practicable; 
7. Encouraging radiocommunication liberalization policies; 
8. Assuring open and fair competition in the marketplaces for 
equipment and services, and removing any barriers that arise to 
open and fair competition; 
9. Harmonizing, as far as practicable, effective domestic and 
international spectrum policies, including of radio frequency 
use and, for space services, for any associated orbital position 
in the geostationary-satellite orbit or for any associated 
characteristics of satellites in other orbits; 
10. Allocating frequencies and making assignment for flexible use 
to the extent practicable to allow for the evolution of services 
and technologies; 
11. Working in collaboration with regional and other international 
colleagues to develop simplified regulatory practices; 
12. Encouraging free circulation and global roaming of mobile 
terminal and radiocommunication equipment; 
13. Using internationally recommended data formats and data 
elements for exchange of data and coordination purposes, e.g., 
as in the Radiocommunication Data Dictionary [2] and in the 
Radio Regulations Appendix 4 [3]; 14. Using project management procedures to monitor and control 
lengthy radiocommunication system implementation; 
15. Using auctions for the assignment of commercial terrestrial and 
domestic satellite service licenses; 
16. Adopting decisions that are technologically neutral and which 
allow for evolution to new services; 
17. Facilitating timely introduction of appropriate new services and 
technology while protecting existing services from radio 
frequency interference including, when appropriate, the 
provision of a mechanism to allow compensation for systems 
that must redeploy to accommodate new spectrum uses; 
18. Fostering backwards compatibility of new equipment and 
services, whenever practicable; 
19. Promoting spectrum sharing using available techniques 
(frequency, temporal, spatial, and modulation - - coding and 
processing), including using interference mitigation techniques 
and economic incentives, to the extent practicable; 
20. Using enforcement mechanisms, as appropriate, under relevant 
judicial processes; 
21. Utilizing regional and international standards whenever 
possible in lieu of specific national standards; and 
22. Relying on voluntary industry standards in lieu of government 
mandates, to the extent practicable. 
Spectrum Policy Reform 
Europe and the United States 
It is understood both in Europe by the European Union, and in the 
U.S. by the FCC and the U.S. Department of Commerce that 
spectrum policy is not perfect and must be adjusted from time-totime 
to accommodate changing circumstances, i.e., technology, the 
market, and new services. 
A consensus is forming that the current process of allocating radio 
spectrum by administrative decision-making is in serious need of 
reform. In a recent press conference, the Chairman of the Federal 
Communications Commission said, “Put simply, our Nation’s 
[U.S.] approach to spectrum allocation is seriously fractured… .” 
Billions of dollars of cumulative loss to the U.S. economy have 
been attributed to inefficient spectrum allocations under the current 
system of administrative allocation. It has been estimated that the 
lost consumer welfare from a 10-year delay in cellular service in 
the U.S. is at $86 billion [4]. Another economist estimated lost 
consumer welfare at about $34 billion [5]. The solution, according 
to most economists, is to replace the current administrative 
allocation process with a spectrum market. 
Spectrum Policy Task Force 
In a recent study, the FCC’s Spectrum Policy Task Force found The author holds BSEE and MSEE degrees from Drexel 
that (1) spectrum access is a much more significant problem than University, Philadelphia. He has worked at the FCC for 43 years 
spectrum scarcity and, (2) that technology is allowing systems to as a field engineer, inspector, investigator, Engineering Division 
be much more tolerant to interference than in the past [6]. The Chief, International Advisor, and Chief of International 
Task Force consequently recommended that the FCC migrate from Radiococommunication Policy. He has fifty-eight publications. 
its current “command and control” model to a more marketoriented 
model with more emphasis on time sharing and allowing 
unlicensed devices to operate in common frequency bands. To 
respond to rising consumer demands, consideration should be 
given to permitting low-power users, possessing smart radios, to The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do 
operate just above the ambient noise floor but below the levels of not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Communications 
signals used by others, levels that change as a function of 
geography. This latter approach requires a quantification of 
acceptable levels of interference, a quantification that is being 
studied with expectation of future practical application. 
Conclusions 
The world must approach spectrum management as one village! 
Electromagnetic energy knows no international boundary. The 
world’s strength is its diversity. Though we are of different tribes 
and tongues, we must remember that we are the same people. 
Telecommunications tie us to the past, connect us in the present, 
and link us for the future. It is not enough that we learn to live 
together. We must visualize and learn together to appreciate other 
means and ways. Harmonization of spectrum management will 
help in providing mankind with a means to work together more 
effectively as the globe continues to become smaller. People have 
come to Istanbul for this Symposium from all over the world, 
bringing new energy, new dreams, and new ideas. Each person at 
the Symposium has a story to tell. Every story enriches and 
invigorates us. Let us carry the stories and apply them as we all 
need. 
References 
[1] First Report and Order, “In the matter of Revision of Part 15 of 
the Commission’s Rules Regarding Ultra-Wideband 
Transmission Systems,” ET Docket 98-153, Federal 
Communications Commission 02-48, adopted February 14, 
2002. 
[2] Recommendation ITU-R SM.1413, “Radiocommunication 
Data Dictionary for notification and coordination purposes,” 
International Telecommunication Union, Geneva, Switzerland. 
[3] Appendix 4, Radio Regulations, “Consolidated list and table of 
characteristics for use in the application of the procedures of 
coordination, notification and recording of frequency 
assignments and Plan modifications, International 
Telecommunication Union, Geneva, Switzerland, ISBN: 92- 
61-09351-5. 
[4] Charles Jackson, Tracey Kelly, and Jeffrey Rohlfs, “Estimate 
of the Loss to the United States Caused by the FCC’s Delay in 
Licensing Cellular Telecommunications,” National Economic 
Research Associates, 1991. 
[5] Jerry Hausman, “Valuing the Effect of Regulation on New 
Services in Telecommunications,” Brookings Papers on 
Economic Activity: Microeconomics: 1-38, 1997. 
[6] Spectrum Policy Task Force Report, ET Docket No. 02-125, 
Federal Communications Commission, Washington, D.C., 
November 2002. 
Biographical Notes 
Endnote 
Commission.