Pervasive Connectivity Conference

What do hundreds of truck stops, thousands of public schools, millions of residences and countless businesses have in common? They all rely on a commonly owned, public resource to receive and distribute broadband connectivity to citizens, employees, industry processes, and innumerable future applications.

The unlicensed spectrum bands are no longer the sole domain of radio hobbyists -- nor are they the "junk bands" for scores of everyday, consumer devices. They are now the preferred spectrum of local governments providing high-speed access to residents and public safety agencies -- They are the chosen bands for local-area industry applications (such as RFID in Wal-Mart's inventory management) -- They are the only affordable option for many rural and underserved communities in need of last-mile, broadband Internet access -- And, they are the source of astounding innovations in a previously stagnant telecom industry. Not since the birth of the Internet has there been such an explosion of entrepreneurial innovation.

So what are policymakers to learn from all of this innovation in the air? Should the lessons of unlicensed spectrum regulation (spectrum sharing under low-power limits) be applied to the dead air bands held by low-frequency Television incumbents? Should emerging intelligent radios (laptops, PDAs, cell phones, and next-generation 802.x devices) operating on the expanding edges of the wireless world be allowed to use their smarts to manage and share bandwidth dynamically? Or should last-century's technologies be granted rights to treat spectrum like property and dole out access to citizens for a fee?

Expert Panels of:

• Industry & Commercial Users of Unlicensed Spectrum
• WISPs & Broadband Equipment Manufacturers
• Community & Municipal Broadband Providers
• Policymakers & Telecom Economists

Participants