To kick off USTTI’s 2024 webinars, we are excited to announce trainings addressing Regulatory Best Practices and 5G. The sessions will look at the role of a regulator in creating an enabling marketplace for communications services and also the spectrum needs to enable the deployment and use of 5G.

 March 18th – Regulatory Principles, instructed by Andy Haire

The Communications sector – as broadly defined as anything that connects – is fast becoming the most consequential economic sector in every economy, region, and continent, not just in its direct impact on respective GDPs, but the indirect impact and consequence it has on society.  The existence of a fair arbitrator has become ever more essential as the influence of the sector rises.

This session will examine two sides of this responsibility: what are the principles of an organization with such a role, and how should they be used?

The session’s agenda follows examination of key topics discussed but is designed to be interactive, within the practicalities of an online course – the hope remains that specific concerns of participants can also work its way into the interactions, time permitting.

The course, originated by the USTTI in 2012 with good response, has been moderated and taught by a former regulator, Andrew Haire. Mr. Haire  was responsible for developing an innovative marketplace framework, and then  for managing it.  This training looks at the framework he developed addressed competition, policy, technical and operational elements of the sector for a newly created Authority, and how it has been used  over the subsequent decades.

Date and Time: March 18^th, 2024; 10am EST U.S.

Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tfvGV2ckRCaHjYZqoHee1w

March 20th, 21st, and 22nd – 5G Training, sponsored by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Description: The FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology, in partnership with USTTI, will lead a three-day, 5G webinar from March 20th to 22nd, 2024 focusing on spectrum allocations, unlicensed operations, the FCC’s equipment authorization and experimental licensing programs, and 5G research and development activities.

March 20^th, 2024, Day 1:  10:00am-1:00pm (Module 1, Module 2)

March 21^st, 2024, Day 2: 10:00am-1:00pm (Module 3, Module 4)

March 22^nd, 2024, Day 3: 10:00am-1:00pm (Module 5, Module 6)

Module 1: Spectrum Allocation and Regulatory Models: The Commission has been very active in making spectrum available for wireless broadband deployments in Low-, Mid-, and High-band frequency ranges.  This module provides an overview of the specific frequency bands that have been made available to support 5G wireless broadband. It will cover several regulatory approaches  to spectrum management and describe the various technical aspects relating to spectrum allocations, services rules, and authorizations.

Module 2: Geographic area, Site-based Licensing and Shared Spectrum Access, including Use Case Analysis:The Exclusive use spectrum model refers to a licensing model in which a licensee has rights that are exclusive, flexible, and transferable, and has specific responsibilities that come with this interest.  This module will describe the FCC’s approach to authorizing spectrum for exclusive use and site-based licensing to support 5G deployments and cover the technical and operational aspects leading to coexistence with incumbent operations and operations in adjacent allocations.  

Module 3: Unlicensed Operations, including Use Case Analysis: Unlicensed (or license exempt operations) is another approach the FCC uses to make spectrum available for new wireless access technologies.  This module provides an overview of unlicensed operations more broadly, under Part 15 regulations in various frequency ranges including above 95 GHz.  The Commission has historically employed the use of database-controlled frequency coordination in addition to technical conditions to protect incumbent operations from harmful interference. This module will include a use case analysis on the FCC’s recent approaches to unlicensed spectrum access.

Module 4: Equipment Authorization, Standards, and Interoperability: Equipment that is sold and operated in the U.S. must receive an equipment authorization demonstrating that the equipment complies with the FCC’s technical rules.  This module provides an overview of the FCC Equipment Authorization Program, approval procedures, and compliance testing and verification methods.  It will review OET’s role in developing novel compliance test procedures and examples of OET guidance documents published to assist testing laboratories .  This module will also cover FCC’s role in standards participation including: (1) ensuring that the developed standards fit within its regulatory framework, and (2) tracking technological progress and adjusting its technical rules as appropriate.  It will focus on recent standards efforts including dynamic spectrum access architectures and the underlying propagation models which determine whether spectrum use is warranted at a specific location. 

Module 5: Experimental Licensing, External Research and Development:The FCC’s experimental licensing program fosters technological innovation through research and development.  This module will summarize the FCC’s rules, policies, and procedures for experimental licensing, including the types of licenses available, eligibility, and the processes involved.  It will also cover recent FCC initiatives to build on experimental licensing endeavors to support Innovation Zones at research institutions   Although the FCC is not research institution, the entities it regulates are constantly pushing the boundaries to offer cutting edge technology and to deliver new services to the public.  This module will cover the ways in which the FCC partners and collaborates with other agencies and institutions to foster innovation: facilitating advanced technology R&D efforts, including 5G and beyond, and promoting efficient use of spectrum.

Module 6: Broadband Availability and Infrastructure Deployment:  An accurate map helps identify the unserved and underserved communities where broadband service is and is not available.  The National Broadband Map provides accurate information about the fixed and mobile broadband availability across the United States as reported by ISPs and wireless carriers for the FCC’s Broadband Data Collection (BDC) program.  Consumers, state, local and Tribal government entities, and other stakeholders help verify the accuracy of the availability data on the National Broadband Map.  This module will provide an overview of the BDC program and key applications used in making the broadband availability information in the National Broadband Map as accurate as possible.

Date and Time: March 20th, 21st, and 22nd, 2024; 10am EST U.S.

Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eEUtJmSoTlqzvGoPgvyhbA

Regards,
The USTTI