Spectrum Bridge Will Handle
Radio Bandwidth Barter
Spectrum Bridge
has launched a company and a web site to help those with excess or
unused wireless spectrum to trade/barter it off to those who need
it. The company claims to be the first such online site, and is
developing tools that guide spectrum holders through the process of
creating secondary spectrum offerings to what it believes is a large
base of anxious users.
�There�s an
ecosystem of players to make this happen,� said Rick Rotundo, chief
marketing officer at Spectrum Bridge. �The FCC allows 5.5 GHz of
spectrum to be tradable on a secondary market and additionally
allows spectrum holders to disaggregate their spectrum on frequency,
time and domains.�
That secondary
market includes spectrum from about 200 MHz to 5 GHz and �at any
give time and place about 80% to 96% goes unused,� Rotundo
said.
While the
carriers are generally viewed as the most prominent spectrum
holders, others such as private non-profit institutions like the
Catholic Church, universities and private equity funds, that
purchased the spectrum on spec have air to barter.
On the
receiving end, large enterprises like ports, airports, logging
enterprises, petrochemical concerns and �even the big box stores
that are having issues with Wi-Fi in their facilities� are looking
for licensed bandwidth because the normal unlicensed bands don�t
seem to be working.
Of course
equipment manufacturers also have to be on board to make this all a
reality. While an increasing number of products are built with
frequency agility, getting the right equipment to run within certain
licensed frequency ranges can still be a challenge, Rotundo
admitted.
�The equipment
manufacturers are going to have to look at that and figure it may be
worthwhile to add that frequency to their WiMAX capabilities so they
can sell into this mass market for licensed spectrum,� he said.
While no one
really �owns� spectrum�it�s just being borrowed from the FCC for a
price�those with licenses and limited needs can share it with those
who have more specific needs. Bringing the two together, and then
brokering the transaction is what Spectrum Bridge hopes to be all
about.
�When a
transaction happens, we have a software certificate that gets
generated into these new WiMAX systems that automatically configures
them to take advantage of the spectrum that was just transacted,�
Rotundo said. �The end user doesn�t have to worry about how to set
up the system.�
And the
spectrum holder doesn�t have to worry about what the end user is
doing with the spectrum, including going beyond the agreed-upon
lease period. Spectrum Bridge will primarily earn its money as the
middleman.
For more
information go to
http://www.spectrumbridge.com.