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U.S. Spectrum Regulatory Structure

Andrew W. CLEGGU.S. National Science Foundation

aclegg@nsf.gov

Third Summer School in Spectrum Management for Radio AstronomyTokyo, Japan – June 2, 2010

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U.S. Telecommunications Authority

• The Communications Act of 1934 provides for regulation of telecommunications in the United States> http://www.fcc.gov/Reports/1934new.pdf

• The Act establishes a dual structure that is unique to the U.S. Federal government radio stations “shall use such

frequencies as shall be assigned to each or to each class by the President.”

All other use of the radio spectrum, including private sector, amateur, and state and local governments, is governed by the Federal Communications Commission

The general and permanent telecommunications laws of the United States are contained in Title 47 of the U.S. Code http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/usc.cgi?ACTION=BROWSE&title=47usc

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U.S. SPECTRUM REGULATORY STRUCTURE

CONGRESS (COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934)

COORDINATION

ADVISORY LIAISON

INTERDEPARTMENT RADIO ADVISORY COMMITTEE (IRAC)

Chaired by NTIA 19+ Federal Gov Departments/Agencies (includes NSF & NASA)

President- Federal government radio spectrum use (includes Federally-funded science operations)- Now delegated to NTIA

All spectrum use except Federal government (includes non-Federally funded science operations)

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Advantages and Problems of US Structure

• Advantage:

Isolates Federal government and non-Federal-government interests and procedures

• Disadvantages:

Commercial interests thrive on innovation and rapid technology development and deployment, while government generally lacks innovation and moves at glacial government/ITU speeds

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The U.S. Non-Federal-Government Spectrum Regulatory Process

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

• Established by the Communications Act of 1934

• Charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable.

> The Act was amended in 1982 to give the FCC authority to regulate intrastate communications

• The FCC’s jurisdiction covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. possessions.

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FCC Functions

• Responsible for managing the radio spectrum to meet the needs of the private sector and state and local governments

• The FCC is one of 50+ U.S. regulatory agencies empowered to create and enforce rules that carry the full force of U.S. law

• Regulatory agencies conduct their business through public rulemaking proceedings that are necessary to implement the general provisions of the enabling legislation> In the case of the FCC, the major enabling legislation is the

Communications Act.

• Rulemaking proceedings are governed generally by rules and processes defined by the Administrative Procedures Act

• Broadly speaking (leaving out many other details):> Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM): Presents proposed

new or modified rules, and requests public comment

> Report & Order: Discusses agency’s response to public comments and its final decisions regarding new and modified rules

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FCC Rules• New and modified rules must be published in a daily

publication of the National Archives and Records Administration, called the Federal Register

> The rules take effect no sooner than 30 days after such publication

• On a regular basis (presently once per year), the director of the Federal Register is required to publish special editions of the Federal Register to present a compact and practical code incorporating all current rule changes

> The special editions constitute the various Titles of the Code of Federal Regulations

• The FCC’s rules are Title 47 (“Telecommunication”) of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)

> Title 47 is normally published in October of each year, and the latest edition is available electronically between October and January.

> Title 47 is broken into 49 different parts that regulate different general areas of telecommunications, as well as the general administrative functioning of the FCC

• CFR resource:> http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html

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The U.S. Federal Government Spectrum Regulatory Process

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Federal Government Spectrum Use

• The Communications Act vests authority in licensing Federal government radio stations to the president

• The president currently delegates this authority to the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)

> NTIA was created in 1978, combing functions of the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy and the Commerce Department’s Office of Telecommunications

• NTIA’s Mission:

> Advises the president on domestic and international communications policy

> Manages the Federal government’s use of the radio frequency spectrum

> Performs research in telecommunications sciences

• Rules for Federal government spectrum use are in the NTIA Manual

> http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/redbook/redbook.html

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The Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC)

• Created “spontaneously through a demand of the interested government agencies,” the IRAC has been in continuous existence since June 1, 1922* (pre-dates both the NTIA and the Communications Act)

• The IRAC is presently structured to advise NTIA’s Office of Spectrum Management on Federal government agencies’ spectrum requirements and related issues

• 19 Federal government agencies are members of the IRAC (including NASA and NSF)

> Three additional agencies are represented through other members

• A representative of the FCC also participates as a liaison between the two regulatory authorities

• Meets approximately every three weeks

• Chaired by the Deputy Assistant Administrator of NTIA’s Office of Spectrum Management

* Webster, E. M., “The Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee”, Proceedings of the I.R.E., August 1945, p. 495.

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n Subcommittees of the IRAC• Technical Subcommittee (TSC)

• Oldest standing committee

• Addresses technical issues

• Space Systems Subcommittee (SSS)

• Space system registration, coordination, etc.

• Spectrum Planning Subcommittee (SPS)

• Spectrum availability and technical compliance for new radio systems

• Radio Conference Subcommittee (RCS)

• Government preparations for WRCs

• Frequency Assignment Subcommittee (FAS)

• Coordinates frequency assignments

• Emergency Planning Subcommittee

• Security and emergency preparedness for spectrum-dependent systems

• Various ad-hoc subcommittees (such as WRC implementation, Canada/Mexico coordination, etc.)

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U.S. Spectrum Allocations

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The US Allocation Table

• In the U.S., bands may be allocated to:

> Federal government only, e.g. the 267-322 MHZ band allocated to the Federal fixed and mobile services

> Non-Federal-government only, e.g. the 88-108 MHz FM broadcast band

> Jointly to the Federal government and the non-Federal-government (many bands)

> All radio astronomy bands are shared Federal government & non-Federal-government

NRAO and NAIC (NSF-funded) are considered government operations, while university facilities generally are not

• The National Table of Frequency Allocations is comprised of the Federal government table of frequency allocations and the FCC table of frequency allocations.

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A Page From the U.S. Allocation Table

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U.S. Involvement in theInternational Process

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The International Telecommunications Advisory Committee (ITAC)

• Permanent Advisory Committee to the Dept. of State on telecom matters

> Mirrors the ITU Sector Structure> Operates under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA)> This means that meetings must be open to all

• ITAC-R mirrors the ITU-R Study Group Structure> SG 7 (Science Services) chaired by NASA > WP 7D (Radio Astronomy) chaired by NSF

8-10 meetings/year, accessible by phone

• Documents must be approved by the US National Committee prior to being forwarded to the ITU SGs

> USNC composed of ~ 100 individuals> Documents posted on website for comments, for 10-14 days> In case of disagreement, decision on how to proceed is made jointly

by NTIA, FCC and the State Department> This happens repeatedly with documents of interest to radio

astronomy

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How Does the Dual Track (or Triad) Process Work: WRC Preparations

• Three Track Process:> Government proposals developed within

the Radio Conference Subcommittee (RCS)

of the IRAC with and/or based on Agency (e.g. NSF) inputs

> Private Sector Proposals are developed by the FCC * FCC convenes WRC Advisory Committee (WAC)

to provide non-federal-government input* WAC develops proposals* FCC publishes Notice of Inquiry (NoI) regarding proposals

> FCC and NTIA proposals often differ and have to be reconciled > This is sometimes (usually?) a lengthy and painful process!

> U.S. ITAC SGs, WPs and TGs Develop Technical Input to ITU-R SGs,

Input to CPM Report

• Final Set of U.S. Proposals Developed by NTIA, FCC and DoS

TG 200/300

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How Does the Dual Track Process Work: WRC Implementation

• Govt. Implementation of WRC actions(usually a fairly straightforward process)

> IRAC AH committee considers WRC actions and how to incorporate them into the US Government Table

> Once agreement is reached, proposal forwarded to IRAC for approval

> Upon IRAC approval, NTIA sends package to the FCC

• FCC Implementation> Implementation proposal put together by International

Bureau> Circulated to other Bureaus for coordination and approval> Circulated to Commissioners> Put out for Public comment through a Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking (NPRM) > After public comment, FCC coordinates with NTIA and

adopts changes through a Report & Order

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Inter-American Telecommunication Commission(CITEL)

• Since the 1980s, regional organizations (CEPT, CITEL, APT, etc.) tend to dominate the ITU, particularly World Radio Conferences

• CITEL is the main telecommunication forum of the Americas – 35 member states

> Comisión Interamericana de TELecomunicaciones

• Permanent Consultative Committee II (PCC II) deals with radiocommunications. See: http://portal.oas.org/Portal/Topic/CITEL/Estructura/CCPII/tabid/463/language/en-US/default.aspx

• Working Group on Conference Preparations

• If possible, proposals to a WRC are submitted by various countries as Inter American Proposals (IAPs)

• Radio astronomers so far have limited participation in CITEL activities

• CITEL countries with radio astronomy interests: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, USA…

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How To Get Involved With ITU-R SGs WPs, and the rest

• In the U.S.:> Membership in US ITAC SGs, WPs, etc. is open, as provided by the

Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), that regulates their functioning

> SG meeting dates and places have to be announced in the Federal Register 30 days in advance of the meeting

WP meetings do not need to be similarly advertised, as they are considered subcommittees of the main group

> If someone desires to participate, he/she needs to:a) contact the chair of the SG/WP or

b) simply show up at the meeting> Membership in CORF is by invitation of the National Academies, but

portions of the meetings are open to all > Membership in WP delegations to the ITU is up to the chair> Membership in SG delegations to the ITU is up to the State Dept.

(hardly anyone has ever been refused!)> Membership in WRC Delegations is determined by the State Dept., acting

on Recommendation of NTIA and/or FCC

• Elsewhere: ?

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TIES Account and how to get one? • What is TIES?

> The ITU Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) is a set of networked information services and resources for the global telecommunications community.

• What can you access? > Study Group documents

> Conference documents

> Recommendations (semi-trial basis)

• What can’t you access?

> ITU documentation that requires payment (Handbooks, Final Acts, etc. )

• Who can have access?

> Government Telecommunication Administrations of Member States and Sector Members

• How to go about getting one?

> In U.S., through NTIA and FCC, WP and SG Chairman

> IUCAF (ask Masatoshi)

> Elsewhere?

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Science in the U.S. Spectrum Regulatory Process

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Radio Astronomy in the US Spectrum Management Process

• Government: NSF Electromagnetic Spectrum Management Unit (established 1974)> Provides Input to NTIA:

Directly, or through IRAC and Subcommittees

• Non- government: Committee on Radio Frequencies (CORF) of the National Academies

Funded by NSF and NASA Chairman and members selected by the National Academies

> Provides input to the FCC through Filings in Response to NPRM, NOI, etc. Advice to NSF and NASA Spectrum Managers

• ITAC-R: US WP 7D> Provides Input through US Documentation submitted to WP

7D meetings

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CORF• Represents the interests of U.S. scientists who use radio

frequencies for research – e.g. radio astronomers and remote sensing in the spectrum management process, primarily through filing comments in FCC proceedings.

> http://sites.nationalacademies.org/BPA/BPA_048819

• Membership divided among radio astronomers, remote sensing, oceanography, atmospheric research, wildlife tracking, etc. communities (~ 50 % of members are radio astronomers)

• Meets twice a year, in the spring and fall

• Drafts FCC filings

• Filings written in collaboration with members, and subject to National Academies’ review process

> Sometimes not compatible with filing deadlines

• CORF meetings can include Canadian and Mexican participation

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U.S. Spectrum Regulatory Structure -- SUMMARY

• The U.S. maintains a unique structure in which management and regulation of Federal government radio spectrum is mostly separate from the management and regulation of non-Federal-government spectrum

• Science use is represented by both Federal government (NSF) and non-Federal-government (CORF, etc.) inputs to the U.S. process

• The U.S. is active in regional (CITEL) and international (ITU) coordination efforts