COMPLETION REPORT
Comparative study on the Development of TV White Space Management Practices(COST-Wise-MAP) in Japan, the Philippines, and Singapore
Lawrence Yasay Materum(+1)
Associate Professor
ECE Department,
De La Salle University
Television White Space (TVWS) is a temporally and spatially unused spectrum of television (TV)broadcasting frequency channels. TVWS is generally unlicensed, so access to it could be free. It is also
globally harmonized since TV channels are standard worldwide. Using TVWS makes long-range andexcellent in-building penetration of wireless signals possible. Thus, enormous TVWS wirelessconnectivity becomes possible, like bringing down the digital divide between urban and rural areas inaccessing the Internet, and broader sensing of environmental and societal data for monitoring, safety, anddisaster-risk reduction and response. Generally, the entrant or secondary spectrum user's white space(WS) devices in TVWS communications systems utilize relatively low output power, strict adjacentchannel emissions, and frequent access to a database to obtain channel allocation when an incumbent or
primary spectrum user frees it up. Aside from the global harmonization of spectrum for TVWS, othertargets yet to be harmonized include per-country regulations, geo-databases, and propagation models.
Such harmonization is necessary to achieve worldwide adoption of TVWS communications andinternational commercial success. Otherwise, a small market for TVWS communications due toinoperability and high WS device cost due to low demand would be a consequence. Engineering-wise,interference and coexistence issues are significant considerations among the regulatory bodies and theindustries they interact with within the technical realm. The development of TVWS managementpractices then is thus essential.
Human forces among TVWS stakeholders, namely those from the regulatory, industry (incumbent andentrant spectrum users; standardization bodies), and the market, are prominent in bringing TVWS
communications systems towards success or failure. While, indeed, TVWS stakeholders in each nation
could adopt or develop their TVWS regulation and usage based on a TVWS standard, future WS devices
are envisioned to manage how to utilize the spectrum and available resources best. Nevertheless, given
the significant investments in existing TV broadcasting equipment and its growing industry, future
TVWS communications systems would not happen so soon and become widespread. However, atransition to such is expected to happen, but how?
By performing a comparative study of the development of TVWS management in Japan, the Philippines,and Singapore, the results indicate that technical harmonization is in place among these countries,including the United States and the United Kingdom. Moreover, the outcomes point to similar purposes,philosophy, and policy-making processes, though not entirely disjointed. In an optimal setting, thetransition to a better TVWS system in terms of its technology prowess, equitable regulation, and mutuallyintangible and economic welfare to its stakeholders best happens sustainably. Achieving that transition
in a scenario with differing national regulations and other stakeholder interests for spectrum andtelecommunications management could result in disharmony, delayed adoption of the TVWS system,
and a cycle toward bureaucracy. Thus a transition scheme tool that considers TVWS stakeholders for
future TVWS systems was developed.

Publication of the Results of Research Project:
Verbal Presentation (Date, Venue, Name of Conference, Title of Presentation, Presenter, etc.)

Thesis (Name of Journal and its Date, Title and Author of Thesis, etc.)"Development of a material for gauging sustainable transitions towards adoption and implementation oftelevision white space communications systems," H.A. Calinao, L. Materum, J. Takada, E. Trinidad, K.
Homma, K. Ota, S.A. Mazlan, & S. Rambat, International Journal ofEmerging Technology andAdvanced Engineering, pp. 39—57, vol. 11, no. 12, 2021.
"A survey and comparison of TV white space implementations in Japan, The Philippines, Singapore,
The United Kingdom, and The United States," M.G. Ante, J.A. Molina, E. Trinidad, & L. Materum,
International Journal ofAdvanced Technology and Engineering Exploration, pp. 780-796, vol. 8, no. 80,Jul. 2021
Book (Publisher and Date of the Book, Title and Author of the Book, etc.)