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 Remarks  of  Jonathan  S.  Adelstein 
 Commissioner,  Federal  Communications  Commission 
 WISPs:  Providing  Opportunities  for  Rural  America  through  Access  to  Broadband 
 WISPCON  VII  The  Bolger  Center 
 Potomac,  Maryland 
 March  21,  2005  [As  prepared  for  delivery] 

 Thank  you  Mike  for  the  kind  introduction.  I  am  so  pleased  to  have  this  opportunity  to  address  this  audience  of  Wireless  Internet  Service  Providers. 
 Broadband  access  is  the  key  to  development  and  growth  in  this  digital  information  age.  Its  a  key  that  can  open  the  educational  and  economic  opportunities  of  the  world  to  rural  communities 
 across  America,  enabling  people  to  enrich  and  enable  themselves.  That  is  why  facilitating  access  to  broadband  is  one  of  the  core  policy  goals  of  the  FCC. 

 For  those  of  you  who  do  not  know,  I  grew  up  in  Rapid  City,  South  Dakota.  South  Dakota  has  one  of  the  lowest  population  densities  of  any  of  the  states  in  the  United  States.  In  part,  I  think 
 that  the  states  vast  expanses  of  undeveloped  country,  including  places  of  spectacular  beauty  like  the  Badlands,  make  it  such  a  great  place  to  call  home. 

 At  the  same  time,  though,  low  population  density  and  large  rural  areas  can  reduce  the  incentives  for  commercial  service  providers  to  provide  access  to  broadband.  And  that  is  where  you  all 
 come  in.  Because  wireless  networks  require  relatively  less  infrastructure  and  because  access  to  unlicensed  spectrum  is  free,  WISPs  are  making  a  go  of  it  in  small  communities  across  America. 
 And,  of  course    as  I  have  seen  first  hand    WISPs  are  making  a  go  of  it  in  small  communities  across  South  Dakota. 

 You  are  pioneers  for  digital  progress.  You  are  ensuring  that  rural  America  is  part  of  the  digital  communications  revolution.  For  that  I  am  personally  grateful,  and  all  of  us  at  the  FCC  are 
 cheering  you  on. 
 My  goal  has  been  to  push  as  much  data  and  information  as  possible  over  the  airwaves.  With  the  rise  of  VOIP,  your  services  are  more  crucial  then  ever,  and  will  experience  more  demand. 

 Over  the  course  of  this  conference,  you  will  be  hearing  about  some  of  the  FCCs  efforts  to  facilitate  access  to  broadband.  The  Wireless  Broadband  Access  Task  Force  recently  concluded  a 
 top-  to-  bottom  study  of  the  current  state  of  technologies  and  deployment  of  wireless  broadband.  Based  on  that  review,  the  Task  Force  just  recently  provided  the  Commission  with  some  solid 
 food-  for-  thought  on  ways  to  further  promote  these  services.  Lauren  Van  Wazer,  Co-  Director  of  the  Task  Force,  will  be  discussing  their  findings  and  recommendations  with  you  tomorrow 
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 morning.  Later  tomorrow,  you  will  also  hear  from  a  panel  of  the  FCCs  in-  house  subject  matter  experts    like  Julie  Knapp  and  Jim  Schlichting    on  some  of  our  recent  rulemakings  that  are 
 important  for  WISPs. 
 I  would  like  to  take  a  moment  to  highlight  some  of  these  recent  actions.  Earlier  this  month,  we  adopted  rules  to  make  50  MHz  of  spectrum  in  the  3650  MHz  band  available  for  wireless 
 broadband  services.  To  promote  interest  in  the  band,  we  adopted  an  innovative  hybrid  approach  for  spectrum  access,  by  making  the  spectrum  available  on  a  licensed,  but  non-  exclusive,  basis. 
 In  many  respects,  this  is  a  bold  decision.  Based  on  some  circumstances  unique  to  the  band,  our  decision  bucks  conventional  wisdom.  Anyone  can  obtain  a  nationwide  license,  and  need  only 
 register  their  high-  power  fixed  sites,  therefore  making  it  available  for  multiple  users  to  share  spectrum  in  the  same  geographic  area.  While  not  a  traditional  unlicensed  model,  we  have 
 taken  appropriate  steps  to  significantly  lower  barriers  to  entry.  This  approach  should  make  it  much  easier  for  this  spectrum  to  get  in  the  hands  of  people  who  are  ready  and  willing  to  use  it. 

 This  follows  in  the  footsteps  of  our  decision  in  the  70/  80/  90  GHz  proceeding  that  also  broke  new  ground  in  our  approach  to  spectrum  licensing  in  making  spectrum  available  for  enterprise  use. 
 While  you  may  not  be  familiar  with  this  spectrum  block,  it  can  be  used  to  connect  buildings  with  multi-  gigabit-  speed  wireless  point-  to  point  links  for  a  mile  or  more. 

 Instead  of  digging  up  streets  to  bring  fiber  to  buildings,  licensees  can  set  up  a  wireless  link  for  a  fraction  of  the  cost.  And  it  is  available  to  licensees  by  just  applying  through  an  on-  line  database. 
 I  think  these  decisions  reflect  a  positive  trend  at  the  Commission.  We  need  to  find  the  right  balance  between  a  licensing  model  for  traditional,  area-  wide  mobile  systems,  and  a  model  for 
 services  such  as  those  proposed  for  the  3650  MHz  band    a  band  that  ultimately  may  serve  a  different  user  group,  one  that  often  is  driven  by  more  localized,  community  based  needs. 

 So  in  3650  MHz,  we  put  in  place  a  regime  that  does  not  rely  on  first  in  time  and  provides  equal  access  to  all.  We  want  to  take  advantage  of  the  WiFi  movement  and  take  it  to  another  level. 

 Of  course,  only  time  will  tell  if  the  novel  decisions  we  make  here  result  in  increased  use  of  this  spectrum  band.  But  I  think  that  given  the  success  of  unlicensed  wireless  networks,  we  are  on  the 
 right  track,  and  our  creative  spectrum  management  approach  is  well  justified. 
 We  also  recently  re-  examined  and  modified  our  equipment  authorization  rules  to  ensure  that  we  are  facilitating  the  deployment  of  new  smart  radio  technologies.  With  this,  we  laid  the 
 foundation  for  implementation  of  these  innovative  technologies    again,  we  hope  that  this  increased  flexibility  will  enable  you  to  offer  even  more  innovative  services. 

 I  have  been  fortunate  to  be  involved  in  our  work  on  cognitive  radio  technologies  since  helping  the  Office  of  Engineering  and  Technology  open  its  workshop  on  cognitive  radio  technologies  in 
 the  spring  of  2003.  I  remarked  then  that  cognitive  radios  could  play  a  key  role  in  shaping  our  spectrum  use  in  the  future.  As  we  see  now,  the  enormous  potential  of  cognitive  radios  is  being 
 realized  increasingly  every  day.  I  very  much  appreciate  the  efforts  of  the  Commission  staff  in  pushing  this  forward    making  sure  our  rules  keep  pace  with  this  cutting  edge  technology. 
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 I  believe  that  cognitive  radios  will  play  an  important  role  in  spectrum  facilitation.  That  means  stripping  away  barriers    regulatory,  economic,  or  technical    to  get  spectrum  into  the  hands  of 
 operators  serving  consumers  at  the  most  local  levels.  Cognitive  radios  can  literally  leapfrog  the  technical  and  legal  problems  that  currently  hamper  many  of  todays  spectrum  access 
 opportunities. 
 These  technologies  should  lead  to  the  advent  of  smarter  unlicensed  devices  that  make  greater  use  of  spectrum  than  is  possible  today.  Cognitive  radios  may  also  provide  licensees  with  innovative 
 ways  to  use  their  current  spectrum  more  efficiently,  and  to  lease  their  spectrum  more  easily  on  the  secondary  market.  I  have  seen  cognitive  radios  up  close  and  am  just  amazed  by  their 
 potential. 
 While  we  did  not  tackle  the  issue  yet,  I  remain  particularly  interested  in  our  proposal  from  the  original  NPRM  to  allow  higher  power  operation  for  unlicensed  devices  operating  in  rural  and 
 other  areas  of  low  spectrum  use.  I  regularly  hear  from  WISPs  across  the  country  that  they  need  improved  access  to  spectrum.  Higher  power  operation  can  drive  broadband  deployment  deeper 
 and  farther  into  all  parts  of  America. 
 Last  May,  I  was  able  to  see  first-  hand  some  of  the  good  work  you  have  done  in  rural  America.  I  participated  in  the  wireless  broadband  outreach  event  in  Rapid  City.  There,  I  heard  from  Mike 
 Anderson  as  well  as  several  other  WISPs,  including  Sioux  Valley  Wireless.  I  particularly  enjoyed  hearing  about  Sioux  Valleys  use  of  both  licensed  and  unlicensed  spectrum  to  offer 
 high-  speed  access    more  than  1  Mbps,  for  those  of  you  keeping  score  at  home. 
 These  broadband  success  stories  are  what  make  me  so  excited  and  enthusiastic  about  what  we  are  doing  at  the  Commission.  I  hope  that  you  take  the  new  broadband  tools  we  have  tried  to 
 provide  and  continue  to  do  more  good  work.  Also,  I  would  like  to  encourage  you  to  speak  up  and  often  about  what  other  actions  the  FCC  can  take  to  facilitate  broadband  in  rural,  and,  indeed, 
 all  of  America.  We  need  to  hear  from  you    you  are  a  strong  and  important  voice  for  the  wireless  broadband  future. 

 Thank  you. 
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