FCC Approves Changes to Experimental Licensing Rules Despite Carrier Concerns
The FCC Thursday adopted by a 5-0 vote rules designed to streamline the commission’s experimental licensing program, including rules for new medical devices that will allow the industry to set up testbeds and share their results. One of the most contentious issues was whether the FCC would require licensees to provide more than 10 days notice before making changes in an experiment (CD Jan 25 p4). The agency did not change the notification period, in response to complaints from carriers, led by Verizon Wireless, officials said.
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"You have to put this in the context of all of the other safeguards that are in place,” said Julius Knapp, chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology. A second FCC official said the notification period didn’t change but the order contains extra safeguards to protect public safety and Commercial Mobile Radio Service. Verizon had asked for a period of at least 30 days. The order specifies in both cases carriers or public safety agencies must get an actual phone call from the experimental licensee about any new experiments or change in an experiment, the official said. Also built into the order is that each holder of an experimental license must provide a point of contact: Someone who can abruptly halt an experiment if interference issues arise.
"The Experimental Radio Service has been extremely successful over the years in providing opportunities for innovators to test new ideas and shepherd their development to the marketplace,” Knapp said. “Many of the devices and services that are so popular today [had] a beginning in the Experimental Licensing Program. Cellphones, Wi-Fi technology and medical devices are just a few examples.” The FCC posted online the report and order (http://xrl.us/bodxr7).
The order merges all of the rules related to experimentation into a single, consolidated set of rules, officials said. It also establishes three new types of licenses: program experimental licenses, medical testing licenses and compliance testing licenses offering licenses more flexibility to conduct experiments without seeking a new license for every modification of an experiment.
"The report and order would ensure that critical services ... are protected by requiring each experimenter to give prior notice to such licensees and to develop a specific plan to avoid harmful interference to those operations,” said Ira Keltz, deputy chief of OET. Licensees would have to file details of the experiment using a Web-based registration system allowing interested parties to monitor the experiments and raise interference concerns, Keltz said. “By providing these safeguards to incumbent operations along with the new flexibility to experimenters, we believe we will create an environment where innovation can thrive and existing operations will continue to function free from interference."
Commissioner Ajit Pai stressed the safeguards built into the new rules. “Licensees must be able to manage their spectrum without impingement, and consumers who rely on licensed services should not be subject to harmful interference,” Pai said. “The common sense safeguards embedded throughout the order protect these interests.” Chairman Julius Genachowski said that the “new licensing regime will transform the FCC’s experimental program into a more modern structure, and ensure that experimental licensees have greater freedom to develop new products and services more rapidly and efficiently, while protecting incumbent services against harmful interference."
"New technologies do not arrive on the scene without exhaustive study,” said Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. “In practice, what does all of this mean? It means more power to explore at research laboratories and universities, more ability to play with power levels, and more opportunity to dream big and create. Already we have seen what experimental licenses have produced systems to support rocket launches, development of patient monitoring equipment, and new robotic technology for the armed forces."
"Our actions today will help ensure that the U.S. remains the world leader in the wireless sector, as we have always been,” said Commissioner Robert McDowell. “Among the many actions we take today, our order simplifies and harmonizes the FCC’s rules for experimental licensing by moving all of the Commission’s rules into one section. The ability to locate all of these rules in one place to provide clear and consistent guidance to innovators is the least we could do in the pursuit of government best practices."
On a related issue, commissioners also got an update from OET on how FCC actions have helped advanced healthcare (http://xrl.us/bodxnc). The Georgia Telehealth Partnership also showed, via the Internet, a simulated patient exam live from the Coffee Regional Medical Center in Bacon County, Ga., one of the participants in the FCC’s Rural Health Care Pilot Program.
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn noted that by some accounts the U.S. trails many nations in healthcare system performance. “When the Department of Veterans Affairs implemented a national home telehealth program, it found that this coordination in patient care demonstrated a 25 percent reduction in the number of days of bed care and a 19 percent reduction in hospital admissions,” she said. “TeleNor, a mobile telecommunications provider, estimated that mHealth can reduce the costs of medical care for the elderly by 25 percent by reducing the number of face to-face consultations needed and allowing seniors to live independently.”