WASHINGTON -- A proposal floated last week by two prominent senators to free up a huge swath of broadband wireless spectrum is already creating a stir.
The bill -- the Jumpstart Broadband Act -- won't be introduced by sponsors Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and George Allen (R-Va.) until next year. It would free up at least 255 MHz of unlicensed spectrum below 6 GHz within 180 days of passage.
But experts noted that such a huge allocation in such a short period would be an extreme long shot.
"I think it's outlandish," said Bennett Kobb, a Washington, D.C., independent wireless consultant and author of Wireless Spectrum Finder. "I happen to think it's a great idea to allocate spectrum to the public rather than a middleman, but this is an extremely tall order. It will not be easy to find that amount of spectrum below 6 GHz."
A legislative staffer in Boxer's office said the final bill will target the 5 GHz band, which is in sync with allocations in Europe. The idea is to create economies of scale for vendors that want to develop wireless products for North America and Europe.
The bill's primary goal is to bolster the growing number of companies offering fast wireless Internet access based on the 802.11 standard, known as Wi-Fi. Such Wi-Fi hot spots have already popped up in airports, coffee shops and other public places.
The 255 MHz of spectrum requested in the bill is in line with the amount of spectrum Wi-Fi providers are looking for. "They didn't just pick the number out of the air," said Kevin Werbach, an independent technology analyst. Werbach said freeing up unlicensed spectrum can help cable and DSL providers roll out services faster.
"There's been an increasing amount of desire in Washington to find new ways to promote broadband technology," Werbach said. "Meanwhile, Wi-Fi has been growing like crazy."
But much of the spectrum at 5 GHz is used by the Department of Defense, raising concern that new allocations could interfere with military communications.
"The DOD likes to have that spectrum available, especially when it's going to war," said Robert Rini, a lawyer who focuses on wireless issues at the Washington firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.
In addition, the bill was floated only two weeks after the FCC launched a broad mandate to make new spectrum available for broadband uses -- much of it won from the Defense Department during years of negotiations under both the Clinton and Bush administrations.
"So now let's open another can of worms?" Rini said.
Sources close to the bill pointed to provisions that would carve out special spectrum for the Defense Department, with the FCC handling the logistics.
"We gave this an immense amount of thought," said the Boxer staffer, noting that the Defense Department has yet to say whether it would support or oppose the bill. (A Defense Department representative was not immediately available for comment.)
In addition, the commercial wireless industry, which has spent billions on licensed spectrum in recent years, isn't thrilled about huge amounts of free spectrum hitting the market so soon.
"It took us 10 years to get 90 MHz of spectrum," noted Kimberly Kuo, a spokeswoman at the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association. "Now a new technology comes along, and you want to snap your fingers and give it away? It just brings up a lot of questions."
Kuo said the industry is also concerned about interference with licensed bands, but added that the CTIA would need to review the bill's specifics next year before deciding whether to lobby against it.
But Werbach said many interference concerns are based on old assumptions from the 1920s -- when the FCC first licensed radio bands -- and don't recognize new technologies that allow for more efficient use of spectrum.
