The U.S. government is really in to “spectrum sharing,” which is just a fancy term meaning individuals can access specific data owned by organizations — such as the U.S. military and TV broadcasters — over the Internet.
In fact, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) likes spectrum sharing so much that it wants to create a “model city” where spectrum sharing is practiced, so the federal government can determine whether or not it would be a good idea.
In a statement, the FCC and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) requested for “public comment” on “recommendation that the Secretary of Commerce establish a public-private partnership to facilitate the creation of an urban test city that would support rapid experimentation and development of policies, underlying technologies, and system capabilities for advanced, dynamic spectrum sharing.”
The FCC wants to experiment on a city, the statement says, because the experiment needs to evaluate both private and federal spectrum sharing and how the two overlap and complement one another.
“The test services (referenced herein as a “Model City”) for demonstrating and evaluating advanced spectrum technologies could include large-scale sustainable facilities for systems-level testing in real-world environments across multiple frequency brands, including public safety and selected federal brands,” the FCC said.
Despite the FCC’s bold plan to run an enormous experiment over an entire city, some of the details are a little vague, according to the Verge.
“The government itself isn’t even quite sure how the model city would be run — by the FCC and NTIA, by the city itself, or by private companies in connection with local government — which is partially why it’s opening the floor for public comments through the end of August,” the Verge reported.
Cool? Creepy? You can submit comments with suggestions or concerns about this new plan here.
