DOD Promises to Work With Industry, Make Military Use of Spectrum More Efficient
The Department of Defense Thursday released its revised spectrum strategy at a Pentagon press conference, which calls for the U.S. military to be more agile and spectrally efficient, starting with the purchase of new systems. Teri Takai, DOD chief information officer, stressed that while the department will work with industry on sharing, spectrum is more critical than ever to the U.S. military. Takai said it remains unclear how much of the spectrum used by the military can be shared with carriers.
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"DOD will explore promising technologies, assess the technologies’ military utility, and include the most promising in key acquisition programs,” the revised strategy states (http://1.usa.gov/MEyvcW). “DOD will also continue to adopt new tools and techniques to manage the spectrum more effectively, making our spectrum operations more agile. Finally, DOD must improve its understanding and assessment of proposed regulatory and policy changes, and the associated impacts, to arrive at informed decisions that balance national defense and security with economic interests."
"All of our joint functions, our ability to fight, our movement, and maneuver, fires, command and control, intelligence, protection, and sustainment are accomplished with systems that depend on spectrum,” Takai told reporters. “The safety and security of U.S. citizens, the effectiveness of our U.S. combat forces and the lives of our U.S. military members, our allies, and noncombatants depend on spectrum access more than ever."
A key goal of the military is using spectrum more efficiently, Takai said. “By becoming more efficient, flexible and adaptable, our systems will be better prepared to meet the demands of modern war fighting,” she said. “This creates opportunities to utilize spectrum that is less congested, adopt commercial services and technologies where suitable, and implement spectrum-sharing technologies where feasible.” DOD also must adjust as the spectrum world changes, Takai said. “For DOD, operational agility begins with the acquisition process. As a result, in the early planning stages for a new system, spectrum management considerations, both domestically and internationally, must be taken into account.”
DOD also plans to play a very active role as spectrum policy discussions unfold, Takai said. “We believe it’s critical that we enhance our participation in the policy discussions up front,” she said. “Spectrum regulatory and policy changes greatly impact DOD spectrum access, both domestically and internationally.” But Takai made clear DOD is not saying it needs less spectrum and its needs will continue to grow.
Maj. Gen. Robert Wheeler, Takai’s deputy, said there is a continuing “dance” with industry over spectrum. “I would argue that so far, and honestly, we've worked very hard with industry,” he said. “I think the balance has been struck. I think that we have been able to maintain our operational requirements. ... We have to figure out where we're going in the future, to make sure that we have this right, and we'll do that in conjunction with industry.” Wheeler cited unmanned aerial vehicles as an example of how the military’s use of spectrum can be more efficient. DOD had 167 UAVs in operation in 2002 compared with 7,500 by its latest count, but the latest versions use less bandwidth and are more spectrally efficient to operate, he said.
"The longer-term spectrum needs for government agencies and industry alike can only be met through spectrum sharing,” said Karl Nebbia, associate NTIA administrator, also at the press conference. “We are looking for a top-to-bottom commitment from all stakeholders to make it happen. We greatly appreciate DOD’s commitment to that end."
"We agree with the DOD’s conclusion that its systems must become more spectrally efficient, flexible and adaptable,” said CTIA President Steve Largent. “In fact, these are good goals for all federal users, and CTIA looks forward to engaging with the DOD, NTIA and the whole federal user community to see how the wireless industry can help them achieve their mission objectives while ensuring that commercial users have access to the spectrum our members need to meet consumer demand and drive economic growth and innovation."
"We are pleased to see DOD release a proactive spectrum strategy that recognizes the benefits of being more efficient and flexible in its use of spectrum and the need to adopt new technologies that will both strengthen DoD’s capabilities and increase opportunities for commercial access to spectrum,” said Steve Sharkey, director-engineering and technology policy at T-Mobile.
NTIA released a statement lauding the plan. “Recognizing the important role spectrum plays in continued innovation, job creation, and economic growth, the Administration is moving aggressively to enhance spectrum efficiency and enable access to more spectrum for consumer services and applications,” NTIA said (http://1.usa.gov/1oWUkmX). “The long-term spectrum needs for government agencies and industry alike will be met primarily through sharing, and NTIA is asking for a top-to-bottom commitment from all stakeholders to make it happen.”