Department of Defense to Release ‘Proactive’ Electromagnetic Spectrum Strategy on Thursday
The Department of Defense plans to roll out its revised spectrum strategy Thursday, which will articulate a more “proactive” approach to DOD’s future handling of spectrum issues, said Maj. Gen. Robert Wheeler, deputy chief information officer-command, control, communications and computers. DOD reached an agreement with NAB in November that allowed the department to move ahead with plans to partially vacate the 1755-1780 MHz band and move those operations to the 2025-2110 MHz band, where it will share spectrum with broadcasters (CD Nov 26 p1). That deal is a “very good marriage of industry needs and DOD and federal users’ needs,” which is “the right plan at this particular time,” Wheeler said Tuesday at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event. DOD has been too reactive in its past spectrum strategic efforts and must “think about how to do this better next time,” he said.
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The strategy set for release Thursday is only a “visionary piece” meant to get the entire military “on the same sheet of music,” with DOD planning to release a final version in six months, Wheeler said. Once DOD can release a final consensus version of the strategy, it will develop an implementation plan to articulate that vision into specific goals, he said. Improving DOD’s spectral efficiency will require the department to have flexible spectrum access, Wheeler said. DOD is still working through existing technological and regulatory hurdles on spectrum access, he said. DOD will “need to think through how we do business in the future if we are going to use every single piece of that spectrum correctly,” Wheeler said. DOD will also need to allow for more spectrally agile technology, with future satellites and other systems being able to operate on “multiple capabilities and frequencies,” he said.
The Pentagon will need to take into account technology expected in the next five years that will allow DOD to use its spectrum more efficiently, Wheeler said. More spectrally efficient technology will require a “new way of thinking,” said Stacey Black, AT&T vice president-federal regulatory. If DOD moves away from application-specific devices toward procuring commercial off-the-shelf systems, it will present a new set of economic challenges, but the department will be “going the right way,” he said.
DOD is assuming it will share more of its spectrum with commercial users in the future, which will affect future technology deployments and policies, Wheeler said. The strategy will require a “systemic culture change” within federal agencies and industry, he said. For DOD, “this is more problematic” but “makes us more capable if we do it right,” Wheeler said. Spectrum sharing between agencies and industry “should be a two-way street,” said Julius Knapp, chief of the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology. “It also needs to be providing the benefits to agencies of sharing space elsewhere on the spectrum where they may not currently have an allocation.”
The strategy will depend on DOD maintaining and growing its public-private partnerships, with Defense seeking a possible set of cooperative testbeds that will allow the government and industry to validate results, Wheeler said. John Hunter, T-Mobile US director-spectrum policy, said collaboration presents challenges for federal agencies and industry, but “it’s going to be collaboration and working with the agencies that’s going to make this whole thing work for both sides."
NTIA is also reexamining its spectrum strategy, which “aligns tightly” with DOD’s efforts, said Peter Tenhula, NTIA senior adviser. “It really should center on technology and innovation, but also collaboration,” he said: “It’s continuing what we've doing in the sense of bringing the agencies to the table, seeing how they can work together” on bands like the 1755 MHz band. Several agencies are “very interested” in participating in the NTIA strategy review, Tenhula said.