[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 135 (Tuesday, July 15, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41262-41264]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-16529]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

[Docket Number: 140708559-4559-01]
RIN 0660-XC011

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[Docket Number: ET Docket No. 14-99]


Model City for Demonstrating and Evaluating Advanced Spectrum 
Sharing Technologies

AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, and the Office of Engineering and 
Technology, Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
(NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Office of 
Engineering and Technology (OET) issue this Joint Public Notice to seek 
public comment on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and 
Technology (PCAST) recommendation that the Secretary of Commerce 
establish a public-private partnership to facilitate the creation of an 
urban test city that would support rapid experimentation and 
development of policies, underlying technologies, and system 
capabilities for advanced, dynamic spectrum sharing. The test services 
(referenced herein as a ``Model City'') for demonstrating and 
evaluating advanced spectrum sharing technologies could include large-
scale sustainable facilities for systems-level testing in real-world 
environments across multiple frequency bands, including public safety 
and selected federal bands. Through this Joint Public Notice, NTIA and 
OET seek to promote the Model City concept in conjunction with: (1) The 
new Center for Advanced Communications established by NTIA and the 
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and (2) the FCC's 
existing experimental licensing program.

DATES: Comments are due on or before August 29, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Parties must file one copy of their written comments with 
the FCC, using one of the following addresses:
     U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority 
mail must be sent to: Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications 
Commission, 445 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554. ET Docket No. 
14-99.
     Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service 
Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to: 9300 East Hampton 
Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743.
    Parties must also file one copy with the FCC's copy contractor, 
Best Copy and Printing, Inc. (BCPI), Portals II, 445 12th Street SW., 
Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554, (202) 488-5300, or via email to 
[email protected].
    Comments may also be submitted electronically by email to 
[email protected] or by mail to: National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW., Room 4096, Washington, DC 20230, Attn: Rangam 
Subramanian, Office of Spectrum Management. Written comments should be 
in standard Word or Adobe PDF format if submitted electronically.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rangam Subramanian, NTIA, at (202) 
482-4399 or [email protected], or Matthew Hussey, OET, at (202) 418-
3619 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    In July 2012, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and 
Technology (PCAST) released a set of recommendations to the President 
on how to realize the full potential of government-held spectrum to 
spur economic growth by facilitating spectrum sharing as a mainline 
approach to spectrum management.\1\ This report (herein PCAST Report) 
concluded that clearing and reallocation of federal spectrum is no 
longer a sustainable basis for spectrum policy due to the high cost, 
lengthy time to

[[Page 41263]]

implement, and disruption to the federal mission.\2\ Based on this 
finding, the PCAST called for a new spectrum architecture premised on 
spectrum sharing rather than exclusive use. To bridge the gap from 
today's spectrum use model to such a new regime, one of the PCAST's 
recommendations was to create an urban test city in a major U.S city to 
support realistic, rapid experimentation in spectrum management 
technology and practice.
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    \1\ See Report to the President: Realizing the Full Potential of 
Government-Held Spectrum to Spur Economic Growth, at 49-50 (July 
2012), available at http://go.usa.gov/k27R (PCAST Report).
    \2\ See id. at vi.
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    Before and after the release of the PCAST Report, the 
Administration, NTIA, and the FCC launched several initiatives to 
facilitate research, development, testing, and evaluation of spectrum-
sharing technologies. The 2010 Presidential Memorandum on ``Unleashing 
the Wireless Broadband Revolution'' directed the Secretary of Commerce, 
working through NTIA in consultation with NIST, the National Science 
Foundation (NSF), the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, 
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and other agencies 
as appropriate, to create and implement a plan to facilitate research, 
development, experimentation, and testing by researchers to explore 
innovative spectrum-sharing technologies.\3\ NTIA, NIST, and NSF, with 
support from the National Information Technology Research and 
Development (NITRD) program, formed the Wireless Spectrum R&D (WSRD) 
Senior Steering Group (SSG) to coordinate spectrum-related research and 
development activities across the federal government, private sector, 
and academia.
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    \3\ See Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and 
Agencies, Unleashing the Wireless Broadband Revolution (rel. June 
28, 2010), published at 75 FR 38387 (July 1, 2010), available at 
http://go.usa.gov/8nr3.
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    The 2013 Presidential Memorandum on ``Expanding America's 
Leadership in Wireless Innovation'' directed the Secretary of Commerce, 
working through NTIA, to continue to facilitate greater discussions 
between government and commercial stakeholders on spectrum sharing.\4\ 
Pursuant to this memorandum, the NITRD WSRD SSG, on behalf of NTIA and 
NIST, published a comprehensive inventory of federal and non-federal 
test facilities.\5\ NTIA and NIST also created a new Center for 
Advanced Communications (CAC) to promote interdisciplinary research, 
development, and testing in several areas, including spectrum sharing 
and advanced technologies for broadband and public safety.\6\ The CAC 
will develop multiuser testbeds that allow government and industry 
researchers to measure and evaluate the performance of new advanced 
spectrum-sharing technologies.
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    \4\ See Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and 
Agencies, Expanding America's Leadership in Wireless Innovation 
(rel. June 14, 2013), published at 78 FR 37431 (June 20, 2013), 
available at http://go.usa.gov/8nr3 (2013 Presidential Memorandum).
    \5\ See WSRD SSG National Wireless Testbed Information Portal, 
available at http://go.usa.gov/8ngh.
    \6\ See NIST and NTIA Announce Plans to Establish New Center for 
Advanced Communications, Press Release (June 14, 2013), available at 
http://go.usa.gov/DTdG.
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    The 2013 Presidential Memorandum also directed NTIA to design and 
conduct a pilot program to monitor spectrum usage in real time in 
selected communities throughout the country to determine whether a 
comprehensive monitoring program in major metropolitan areas could 
disclose opportunities for more efficient spectrum access, including 
via sharing.\7\ In August 2013, NTIA published a Notice of Inquiry on 
the spectrum monitoring pilot program to solicit input from 
stakeholders, and has used some of the information collected from that 
inquiry to begin implementation of the pilot.\8\
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    \7\ See 2013 Presidential Memorandum.
    \8\ See NTIA, Spectrum Monitoring Pilot Program, Notice of 
Inquiry, 78 FR 50399 (Aug. 19, 2013), available at http://go.usa.gov/DWQw.
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    The FCC recently modified its experimental licensing rules to 
provide a more flexible framework to keep pace with the speed of modern 
technological change, including advanced spectrum sharing concepts.\9\ 
The revised rules permit institutions to move from concept to 
experimentation to finished product as rapidly as possible using a new 
program experimental license that gives licensees more flexibility to 
conduct multiple experiments in certain locations without filing 
separate applications. Program licensees can also conduct specific 
types of experiments without individual authorizations in designated 
``innovation zones.'' In March 2014, the FCC's Technological Advisory 
Council (TAC) created a working group to study advanced sharing of 
federal and non-federal spectrum bands and enabling wireless 
technologies.\10\ This working group is developing key recommendations 
to support the creation of a Model City including scope, logistics, 
locations, frequency bands, and other operational issues and 
objectives.
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    \9\ See FCC, Promoting Expanded Opportunities for Radio 
Experimentation and Market Trials Under Part 5 of the Commission's 
Rules and Streamlining Other Related Rules, ET Docket No. 10-236, 
Report and Order, 28 FCC Rcd. 758 (Feb. 2013), available at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-13-15A1_Rcd.pdf.
    \10\ See TAC, Summary of Meeting at 36 (Mar. 10, 2014), 
available at http://transition.fcc.gov/bureaus/oet/tac/tacdocs/meeting31014/TACSummary3-10-14.pdf.
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Discussion

    The purpose of this Joint Public Notice is to build upon the PCAST 
recommendations on test services necessary to demonstrate and evaluate 
advanced spectrum sharing technologies through the potential 
establishment of a Model City program. This program, if established, 
could facilitate large-scale sustainable facilities for systems level 
testing in real-world environments across multiple frequency bands, 
potentially including selected federal and non-federal frequency bands. 
NTIA and the FCC would work together in accordance with their 
respective areas of authority. The responses to this Joint Public 
Notice will help determine whether NTIA and/or the FCC may need to 
undertake additional actions or initiate formal proceedings.
    Through this Joint Public Notice, NTIA and OET seek comment on the 
PCAST recommendation and on ways to establish, fund, and conduct the 
Model City program. We also welcome stakeholder input on other measures 
that NTIA and the FCC could employ to promote the program, for example, 
through independent public-private partnerships among federal and local 
government stakeholders and commercial interests. We are soliciting 
ideas on how to move the PCAST recommendation forward and therefore 
seek comment on the next steps that NTIA and the FCC could take to 
develop specific approaches for effectively demonstrating and 
evaluating sharing technologies in real-world environments. NTIA and 
OET also seek comment on the types of spectrum sharing innovations and 
supported applications that would be good initial candidates for such 
evaluations, including their potential benefits, recommended spectrum 
bands for sharing, and appropriate operational requirements.
    NTIA and OET seek comment on the extent to which the Model City can 
and should be a largely self-organizing effort to establish independent 
public-private partnerships by industry, municipalities (or other 
political subdivisions), and other non-federal stakeholders. 
Particularly in light of the recent modifications to the FCC's 
experimental licensing rules, how could the Model City take advantage 
of these rule changes without having to establish or fund a new federal 
program? What type of formal or informal agreements or arrangements 
among the non-federal

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parties would be necessary to effectuate the Model City relationships 
and understandings between, for example, an industry consortium and the 
participating city? Beyond the FCC's formal role in administering the 
experimental licensing process, NTIA and OET seek comment on how it 
could further expedite or streamline the process for Model City 
participants and more effectively ensure compliance with the rules and 
any license conditions.
    In addition to coordinating experimental license applications to 
use bands implicating federal spectrum assignments, to what extent 
should NTIA be involved in particular initiatives to facilitate federal 
agency participation in a Model City program? NTIA and OET seek input 
from commenting parties on whether the Model City program should be 
managed by the federal government or whether the FCC and NTIA could, on 
top of their existing licensing and coordination roles, help initiate 
and facilitate a dialogue between the key stakeholders who will 
directly develop, participate in, and benefit from a successful Model 
City program within the scope of existing rules or other requirements.
    The new CAC established by NTIA and NIST could be a potential 
vehicle to advance the Model City concept. As noted above, a core 
function of the CAC is to promote interdisciplinary research, 
development, and testing in radio frequency technology and spectrum 
sharing. NTIA and OET seek comment on the potential role of the CAC in 
managing the activities within one or more Model Cities, such as 
working directly with NTIA and the FCC to coordinate the interests of 
incumbent spectrum users to avoid harmful interference, while ensuring 
that innovators have access to adequate spectrum resources and other 
facilities in cooperation with city officials. While we would expect 
private sector stakeholders to drive the design and development of 
innovative wireless technologies and business models that could be 
tested in a Model City, NTIA and OET seek comment on how the CAC could 
work as an impartial facilitator with the federal and non-federal 
stakeholders and local governments to develop feasible test plans, 
minimize regulatory issues and constraints, monitor experimental 
deployments, and evaluate and report the test results.
    The FCC's experimental licensing program makes spectrum available 
to any non-federal party interested in experimenting with new radio 
technologies, equipment designs, radio wave propagation 
characteristics, and innovative service concepts (including market 
trials), especially in new innovation zones. NTIA and OET seek comment 
on how this program can be effectively used as a platform for the 
establishment of the Model City. For example, how can the FCC and NTIA 
facilitate stakeholder deployment of innovation zones in one or more 
Model Cities?
    NTIA and OET invite commenters to suggest opportunities for 
collaboration among wireless service providers, hardware vendors, 
academia, federal agencies, and other researchers and developers. How 
would such collaboration in a Model City better facilitate more rapid 
experimentation of advanced spectrum sharing techniques between new 
commercial systems and incumbent or new federal systems? How would such 
collaborative use within Model City innovation zones enhance 
stakeholders' ability to try various sharing concepts? For example, 
what kind of flexibility would stakeholders need to make adjustments as 
needed when developing sharing protocols under real-world scenarios 
while ensuring protection of other services and operations?
    The host community for a Model City could play a crucial and 
collaborative role by expediting access to rights-of-way and other 
facilities (e.g., fiber, conduits, poles, towers, buildings, rooftops, 
park spaces, tunnels, etc.) for short- and long-term wireless 
infrastructure and monitoring deployments. The PCAST Report suggests 
that regional clusters of local industry associations, government, and 
academia could develop proposals to host the Model City in their 
particular regions to leverage their own innovation investments, local 
suppliers, terrain characteristics, nearby federal installations, and 
other unique features and benefits.\11\ NTIA and OET seek comment on 
the most appropriate approach for soliciting or identifying eligible 
cities interested in hosting Model City deployments. What particular 
factors, accommodations, commitments, or benefits would be important? 
For example, how should local permitting processes, accessibility to 
city lands and facilities, or incentives be considered? What features 
of a Model City would be most attractive for candidate cities to 
participate in the program?
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    \11\ See PCAST Report at 71.
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    Finally, NTIA and OET seek input on the potential funding 
mechanisms and other processes for establishing and maintaining one or 
more Model City deployments in a manner that facilitates potentially 
resource-intensive collaborative efforts among a wide range of 
stakeholders while minimizing expenditure of taxpayer (both federal and 
local) dollars. How should funding be addressed in Model City proposals 
and what minimal commitments should be required for such proposals to 
go forward? How would existing mechanisms, such as federal Cooperative 
Research and Development Agreements, be used to expand opportunities 
for private stakeholder funding, collaboration, and information 
protection, and what other alternative methods could be used to 
formalize the parties' roles and responsibilities, including funding? 
What incentives might be provided, and by whom, to increase 
participation in a Model City program? What other factors should be 
considered in a process to solicit interest in and successfully 
initiate Model City proposals?

    Dated: July 10, 2014.
Milton Brown,
Deputy Chief Counsel, National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration.

    Dated: July 10, 2014.
Julius P. Knapp,
Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology, Federal Communications 
Commission.
[FR Doc. 2014-16529 Filed 7-14-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-60-P