Yesterday I commented that our fortunes in the bands of greatest
interest for mobile wireless broadband are intertwined with those of the
US military. An indicator of the pressure on Federal spectrum users
including the military, and indeed on all incumbent users of spectrum
between 400 MHz and 6 GHz, is today's Presidential Memorandum,
"Expanding America's Leadership in Wireless Innovation."
Dave K1ZZ
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
June 14, 2013
Presidential Memorandum -- Expanding America's Leadership in Wireless
Innovation
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
SUBJECT: Expanding America's Leadership in Wireless Innovation
A combination of American entrepreneurship and innovation, private
investment, and smart policy has positioned the United States as the
global leader in wireless broadband technologies. Expanding the
availability of spectrum for innovative and flexible commercial uses,
including for broadband services, will further promote our Nation's
economic development by providing citizens and businesses with greater
speed and availability of coverage, encourage further development of
cutting-edge wireless technologies, applications, and services, and help
reduce usage charges for households and businesses. We must continue to
make additional spectrum available as promptly as possible for the
benefit of consumers and businesses. At the same time, we must ensure
that Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial governments are able
to maintain mission critical capabilities that depend on spectrum today,
as well as effectively and efficiently meet future requirements.
In my memorandum of June 28, 2010 (Unleashing the Wireless Broadband
Revolution), I directed the Secretary of Commerce, working through the
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), to
collaborate with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make 500
MHz of Federal and nonfederal spectrum available for wireless broadband
use within 10 years. Executive departments and agencies (agencies),
including NTIA, have done an excellent job of pursuing the twin goals of
advancing their agency missions and promoting innovation and economic
growth. Although existing efforts will almost double the amount of
spectrum available for wireless broadband, we must make available even
more spectrum and create new avenues for wireless innovation. One means
of doing so is by allowing and encouraging shared access to spectrum
that is currently allocated exclusively for Federal use. Where
technically and economically feasible, sharing can and should be used to
enhance efficiency among all users and expedite commercial access to
additional spectrum bands, subject to adequate interference protection
for Federal users, especially users with national security, law
enforcement, and safety-of-life responsibilities. In order to meet
growing Federal spectrum requirements, we should also seek to eliminate
restrictions on commercial carriers' ability to negotiate sharing
arrangements with agencies. To further these efforts, while still
safeguarding protected incumbent systems that are vital to Federal
interests and economic growth, this memorandum directs agencies and
offices to take a number of additional actions to accelerate shared
access to spectrum.
Therefore, by the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the
Federal Property and Administrative Services Act, 40 U.S.C. 101 et seq.,
and in order to promote economy and efficiency in Federal procurement, I
hereby direct the following:
Section 1. Spectrum Policy Team. (a) The Chief Technology Officer and
the Director of the National Economic Council, or their designees, shall
co-chair a Spectrum Policy Team that shall include representatives from
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the National Security Staff,
and the Council of Economic Advisers. The Spectrum Policy Team shall
work with NTIA to implement this memorandum. The Spectrum Policy Team
may invite the FCC to provide advice and assistance.
(b) The Spectrum Policy Team shall monitor and support advances in
spectrum sharing policies and technologies. Within 1 year of the date of
this memorandum, the Spectrum Policy Team shall publish a report
describing how NTIA and FCC are incorporating spectrum sharing into
their spectrum management practices. The report shall include
recommendations that enable more productive uses of spectrum throughout
our economy and society and protect the current and future mission
capabilities of agencies. The Spectrum Policy Team shall also assess
national security, law enforcement, safety-of-life, economic,
scientific, social, international, and other policy considerations
related to licensed and unlicensed spectrum use, including
standardization as well as the extent to which the revenue potential of
spectrum auctions affects spectrum policy.
Sec. 2. Collaboration on Spectrum Sharing. (a) The Secretary of
Commerce, working through NTIA, has been facilitating discussions
between agencies and nonfederal entities that have produced an
unprecedented level of information-sharing and collaboration to identify
opportunities for agencies to relinquish or share spectrum, currently
focusing on the 1695-1710 MHz band, the 1755-1850 MHz band, and the
5350-5470 and 5850-5925 MHz bands. The NTIA shall continue to facilitate
these discussions and the sharing of data to expedite commercial entry
into these bands where possible, provided that the mission capabilities
of Federal systems designed to operate in these bands are maintained and
protected, including through relocation, either to alternative spectrum
or non-spectrum dependent systems, or through acceptable sharing
arrangements. These discussions shall also be expanded to encompass more
spectrum bands that may be candidates for shared access, specifically
those in the range below 6 GHz, subject to the protection of the
capabilities of Federal systems designed to operate in those bands.
(b) Within 3 months of the date of this memorandum, the Secretary of
Commerce, working through NTIA and the National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST), and building on the results from the Networking
and Information Technology Research and Development Program, shall
publish an inventory and description of Federal test facilities
available to commercial and other stakeholders engaged in research,
development, testing, and evaluation of technologies to enhance spectrum
sharing and other spectrum-related efficiencies. To maximize the
productive use of these facilities and to facilitate greater
collaboration among agencies and nonfederal stakeholders, the Secretary
of Commerce, working through NTIA, NIST, and other appropriate agencies,
shall, within 6 months of the date of this memorandum, establish a plan
for the development and promulgation of standard policies, best
practices, and templates governing the following: research, development,
testing, and evaluation of spectrum sharing technologies by and among
commercial, Government, and academic stakeholders at Federal facilities.
(c) All policies, practices, and templates shall be subject to
safeguards reasonably necessary to protect classified, sensitive, and
proprietary data. Within 6 months of the date of this memorandum, the
Spectrum Policy Team, in consultation with the Department of Justice,
the National Archives and Records Administration, the Office of the
Director of National Intelligence, and other appropriate agencies,
shall, consistent with applicable law, including 5 U.S.C. 552, as
amended by Public Law 107-306 and Public Law 11-175, and Executive Order
13526 of December 29, 2009 (Classified National Security Information),
implement policies for the sharing with authorized nonfederal parties of
classified, sensitive, or proprietary data regarding assignments,
utilization of spectrum, system configurations, business plans, and
other information.
Sec. 3. Agency Usage of Spectrum. (a) The NTIA, in consultation with the
Spectrum Policy Team and appropriate agencies, shall include in its
Fourth Interim Report required by section 1(d) of my memorandum of June
28, 2010, a plan directing applicable agencies to provide quantitative
assessments of the actual usage of spectrum in those spectrum bands that
NTIA previously identified and prioritized in its Third Interim Report
and such other bands as NTIA and the Spectrum Policy Team determine have
the greatest potential to be shared with nonfederal users. Each agency's
assessment shall be prepared according to such metrics and other
parameters as are reasonably necessary to determine the extent to which
spectrum assigned to the agency could potentially be made available for
sharing with or release to commercial users, particularly in major
metropolitan areas, without adversely affecting agencies' missions,
especially those related to national security, law enforcement, and
safety of life. Each assessment shall also include a discussion of
projected increases in spectrum usage and needs and shall identify where
access to nonfederal spectrum could aid in fulfilling agency missions.
The plan shall further require each agency to submit its assessments to
NTIA and the Spectrum Policy Team within 12 months of the plan's
release. In identifying spectrum bands with the greatest potential to be
shared, NTIA and the Spectrum Policy Team shall consider the number and
nature of Federal and nonfederal systems in a band, the technical
suitability of the band for shared use, international implications, any
potential for relocating Federal systems to comparable spectrum or
otherwise enabling comparable capabilities, and other factors NTIA and
the Spectrum Policy Team deem relevant based on consultation with
agencies and other stakeholders. A band shall be identified as a
candidate for shared access under this subsection only if it has been
likewise identified under section 2(a) of this memorandum.
(b) The reporting of information under this section shall be subject to
existing safeguards protecting classified, sensitive, and proprietary
data. The NTIA shall release a summary of the assessments publicly to
the extent consistent with law. The NTIA and the Spectrum Policy Team
shall make any appropriate recommendations regarding the possible
availability of spectrum in the subject bands for innovative and
flexible commercial uses, including broadband, taking into account
factors such as the nature of the Federal systems in the bands and the
extent to which those systems occupy and use the bands.
(c) The NTIA shall 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. The NTIA shall work with
agencies to ensure the program will not reveal sensitive or classified
information. The NTIA shall consult with each agency to determine the
correct technical parameters to monitor usage.
(d) Within 6 months of the date of this memorandum, NTIA shall take such
actions as are necessary to require that each agency's regular reviews
of its frequency assignments include a quantitative assessment of its
actual usage of spectrum under such assignments.
(e) The NTIA shall also take such actions as are necessary to require
that an agency requesting a frequency assignment or spectrum
certification for systems operating between 400 MHz and 6 GHz verify
that it must operate in this critical range, and that it will use the
minimum spectrum reasonably necessary to most effectively meet mission
requirements. The requesting agency shall also verify that it is not
reasonable to satisfy such requirements in some other manner, such as at
higher frequencies, via commercial services, or via a system that is not
spectrum-dependent, whether due to cost, technology, implementation,
performance reasons, international obligations, or other practical or
legal constraints. In the case of system certification requests only,
the requesting agency shall also present with its request a narrative
explaining why its proposed solution will most effectively meet its
mission requirements, in light of potential alternative approaches and
all practical and legal constraints. Further, requesting agencies shall
identify spectrum that will no longer be used by any legacy systems that
are replaced. In implementing this subsection, NTIA shall take all steps
necessary to protect against disclosure of sensitive and classified
information.
Sec. 4. Spectrum Efficiency in Procurements. Agencies shall include
spectrum efficiency when considering procurement of spectrum-dependent
systems and hardware, as a technical requirement, an evaluation
criterion for award, or both. The Director of OMB, in consultation with
NTIA, shall develop and incorporate spectrum efficiency guidelines into
budget and procurement processes. These guidelines shall facilitate, as
appropriate, the design and procurement of systems that increase
flexibility through means such as multiple-band tuning capabilities and
the use of commercial systems. The guidelines also shall require, to the
extent possible, procurements of Federal systems such that emission
levels resulting from reasonable use of adjacent spectrum will not
impair the functioning of such systems, consistent with any applicable
radio receiver performance criteria and international obligations.
Sec. 5. Performance Criteria for Radio Receivers. The FCC is strongly
encouraged, in consultation with NTIA, where appropriate, the industry,
and other stakeholders, to develop to the fullest extent of its legal
authority a program of performance criteria, ratings, and other
measures, including standards, to encourage the design, manufacture, and
sale of radio receivers such that emission levels resulting from
reasonable use of adjacent spectrum will not endanger the functioning of
the receiver or seriously degrade, obstruct, or repeatedly interrupt the
operations of the receiver. In developing such a program, the FCC is
strongly encouraged to give due consideration to existing policies and
prudent investments that have been previously made in systems, including
receivers. In its consultation with the FCC, NTIA shall provide
information regarding Federal receiver standards and agency practices
under those standards.
Sec. 6. Incentives for Agencies. The Spectrum Policy Team shall, within
6 months of the date of this memorandum, publish a report making
recommendations to the President regarding market-based or other
approaches that could give agencies greater incentive to share or
relinquish spectrum, while protecting the mission capabilities of
existing and future systems that rely on spectrum use. The report shall
consider whether the Spectrum Currency and Spectrum Efficiency Fund
proposals made by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and
Technology would be effective. The report shall also analyze the impact
of the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act of 2004 (Title II of Public
Law 108-494), as modified by the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job
Creation Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-96).
Sec. 7. Rapid Deployment of Wireless Broadband. The FCC is strongly
encouraged, in collaboration with NTIA, where appropriate, to expedite
the repurposing of spectrum and otherwise enable innovative and flexible
commercial uses of spectrum, including broadband, to be deployed as
rapidly as possible by:
(a) identifying spectrum allocated for nonfederal uses that can be made
available for licensed and unlicensed wireless broadband services and
devices, and other innovative and flexible uses of spectrum, while
fairly accommodating the rights and reasonable expectations of incumbent
users;
(b) identifying spectrum allocated for nonfederal uses that can be made
available to agencies, on a shared or exclusive basis, particularly
where necessary to accommodate agencies seeking to relocate systems out
of bands that could be made available for licensed services or
unlicensed devices;
(c) promulgating and enforcing rules for licensed services to provide
strong incentives for licensees to put spectrum to use and avoid
spectrum warehousing. Such rules may include build-out requirements or
other licensing conditions as appropriate for the particular
circumstance;
(d) establishing and maintaining conditions that promote a reliable
secondary market for spectrum, including provisions enabling negotiated
access by agencies and uses not addressed in subsection (b) of this
section;
(e) promulgating and enforcing rules for licensed services and
unlicensed devices to share Federal spectrum that accommodate mission
changes and technology updates by both Federal and nonfederal users; and
(f) consulting with the Department of State regarding international
obligations related to spectrum use.
Sec. 8. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this memorandum shall be
construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to any agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of OMB relating to budgetary,
administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to require the
disclosure of classified information, law enforcement sensitive
information, or other information that must be protected in the interest
of national security or public safety.
(c) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law
and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(d) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right
or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity
by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
(e) Independent agencies are strongly encouraged to comply with the
requirements of this memorandum.
(f) The Presidential Memorandum of November 30, 2004 (Improving Spectrum
Management for the 21st Century), is hereby revoked.
(g) The Secretary of Commerce is authorized and directed to publish this
memorandum in the Federal Register.
BARACK OBAMA
