Broadband Live

Broadband Breakfast on October 9, 2024 - Democratizing Spectrum Access

With no more “greenfield” spectrum available, stakeholders are closely watching opportunities for sharing in the 3 GHz, 7 GHz, and the 37 GHz bands.

Mary Brown, Dean Bubley, Monisha Ghosh, Drew Clark

Jul 23, 2024 — 5 min read

Congress is weighing its options for maximizing limited U.S. spectrum and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has kicked off a series of multistakeholder meetings to facilitate implementation of the National Spectrum Strategy. With no more “greenfield” spectrum available, stakeholders are closely watching opportunities for sharing in the 3 GHz, 7 GHz, and the 37 GHz bands. Industry, anchor institutions, and consumer groups are pressing for an increasingly competitive ecosystem of local, non-exclusive spectrum rights, which would open new commercial opportunities without displacing military systems. What would licensed and unlicensed spectrum sharing look like in these bands? How would democratizing spectrum access among a diverse array of users impact U.S. geopolitical, commercial, and technological leadership?

Panelists

Mary L. Brown, Executive Director, WifiForward
Dean Bubley, Founder & Director of Disruptive Analysis, London
Dr. Monisha Ghosh, Professor of Electrical Engineering, University of Notre Dame
Drew Clark (moderator), CEO and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast

Mary L. Brown consults for a wide range of spectrum clients at Salt Point Strategies, and currently serves as Executive Director of WifiForward, an organization dedicated to the promotion of Wi-Fi technology. Her expertise in wireless includes two terms on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Commercial Spectrum Management Advisory Council, providing testimony at multiple Congressional hearings, and advocating on spectrum issues before the Federal Communications Commission.

Dean Bubley is the Founder of Disruptive Analysis. He is an independent technology industry analyst, futurist, speaker and advisor, with over 25 years’ experience. He specialises in wireless, telecoms and policy fields. He is one of the leading analysts covering 5G, 6G, Wi-Fi, telco business models & regulation, the future of voice/video, and the emergence of technologies such as quantum networking and AI.

Monisha Ghosh is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. She is also the Policy Outreach Director for SpectrumX, the first NSF Center for Spectrum Innovation and the co-chair of the FCC’s Technological Advisory Council (TAC) Working Group on Advanced Spectrum Sharing. Her research interests are in the development of next generation wireless systems: cellular, Wi-Fi and IoT, with an emphasis on spectrum sharing and coexistence. Prior to joining the University of Notre Dame in 2022, she was the Chief Technology Officer at the Federal Communications Commission, a Program Director at the National Science Foundation, Research Professor at the University of Chicago and spent 24 years in industry research. She is a Fellow of the IEEE.

Breakfast Media LLC CEO Drew Clark has led the Broadband Breakfast community since 2008. An early proponent of better broadband, better lives, he initially founded the Broadband Census crowdsourcing tool to collect and verify broadband data left unpublished by the Federal Communications Commission. As CEO and Publisher, Clark presides over the leading media community advocating for higher-capacity internet everywhere through topical, timely and intelligent coverage. Clark also served as head of the Partnership for a Connected Illinois, a state broadband initiative.