Google's new open

Through its lobbying of the FCC in 2007, Google ensured that at least one mobile operator would have an open access network on the 700 MHz band. Its advocacy of the Android platform has pushed many operators to adopt their first open-source operating systems and open application distribution platforms. But Google is pushing for one more type of open: open spectrum.

Vint Cerf, Google's chief Internet evangelist, is advocating a policy of spectrum sharing among operators. At the Open Mobile Summit, Cerf said that new modulation schemes in wireless would allow for the simultaneous occupation of the same spectrum by multiple parties, making the notion of a single operator/single license obsolete. For instance, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing access, which is the basis for WiMax and long-term evolution, abandons the notion of a single wide channel and instead splits a band into multiple sub-channels or tones, which could be used to dynamically create channels of varying widths. By tweaking the technologies already in development today for multiple entities, the industry could make a huge leap forward in more efficiently utilizing public spectrum resources, Cerf said.

“The technology is at a point where we should allow multiple parties to occupy the same spectral space,” Cerf said. “We can make a lot better use of the spectrum than we are today.” Cerf added he wasn't blind to the plight of the carriers that have invested billions at auction acquiring single-user licenses — arguably their most valuable assets today along with their networks. But he said some accommodation is necessary to change the way spectrum is allotted and paid for if the industry wants to take full advantage of the potential of what is very limited broadband resource.

Read more about another aspect of the “open” debate in telecom in “NSN: TV must be open to be cool” at our service delivery one-stop. ▸ TelephonyOnline.com/service_delivery