IHT on purchase of RF Spectrum

Tue Apr 10 22:36:55 CDT 2007

  International Herald Tribune <http://www.iht.com>
Silicon Valley moneymen in a race for spectrum
By John Markoff
Monday, April 9, 2007
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*SAN FRANCISCO:* Some of the Silicon Valley's most powerful venture 
capitalists and technology investors have joined an investment group 
that is preparing to challenge cellphone carriers, cable and satellite 
companies for valuable radio spectrum that will be freed when television 
broadcasters convert to digital signals.

The government mandated the transition to digital, to be completed by 
Feb. 19, 2009, so that it could reclaim a broad swath of radio spectrum 
and reallocate the frequencies to public-safety organizations and 
commercial broadband networks.

The venture capitalists L. John Doerr and James Barksdale have joined an 
investment group that is promoting a plan that would open a portion of 
the radio spectrum for both uses, through technologies flexible enough 
to support both next-generation wireless Internet devices and 
public-safety emergency communications.

The plan is being put forth by Frontline Wireless, formed earlier this 
year by Reed Hundt, a former Federal Communications Commission chairman. 
Frontline Wireless is one of several potential bidders for spectrum in 
the 700-megahertz band, used until now for ultrahigh frequency 
television, that is being opened up by the move to digital.

Hundt said that Frontline had begun building an investor group, which 
would ultimately include large banking partners, to participate in the 
auction. Significantly, the company's first public investor was K. Ram 
Shriram, an early Google investor and a board member and managing 
partner of Sherpalo Ventures.

Cellular carriers and their rivals covet the spectrum because it has 
significant capacity and greater range and can easily penetrate 
buildings and other structures.

But Frontline's backers argue that their plan is unique because it would 
be more accessible than today's commercial wireless networks, which are 
tightly controlled by their licensed operators.

The auction, which will be governed by rules that the FCC is expected to 
issue this month, could generate up to $30 billion in revenue for the 
federal government, by some estimates.

The FCC has a range of options to consider, including breaking the 
spectrum up for regional purchases or creating a single nationwide license.

The rule-making process is being watched closely on all sides because 
those regulations will determine whether several ideas for exploiting 
the spectrum with advanced technologies will be accepted.

The Frontline proposal calls for flexible access by public-safety 
agencies to a wide section of spectrum in the event of emergencies. That 
makes it significant that Vanu Bose, an entrepreneur and technologist, 
is investing in the consortium alongside Barksdale and Doerr, who were 
both involved in the creation of Netscape Communications, the pioneering 
Web browser company.

Bose, son of the audio designer Amar Bose, is pursuing an advanced radio 
technology known as software-defined radio, which controls frequencies 
through software rather than hardware.

In principle, this would permit much more efficient use of radio 
spectrum, allowing the sharing of frequencies through a variety of 
techniques.

Frontline proposes to create a large spectrum block that could be sold 
wholesale to companies that are building services for new portable 
Internet devices for receiving and transmitting voice, video and data. 
In the event of public-safety emergencies, however, the spectrum could 
be reclaimed for use by the police, firefighters or medical emergency 
workers.

Doerr, who is a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a leading 
Silicon Valley venture capital firm, has previously invested in M2Z 
Networks, another technology-based plan for a wireless broadband network 
that is being promoted by Milo Medin, a well-known Silicon Valley 
computer network designer. M2Z Networks is a potential competitor to 
Frontline with a different business strategy.

Along with Barksdale, the two men were partners in AtHome, the early and 
ultimately financially unsuccessful effort to build a nationwide 
Internet-based network in alliance with cable companies.

"I think we're starved for spectrum for digital applications in this 
country," Doerr said. "The idea that we can have one or more great new 
digital networks is very exciting."

He noted that the United States was 12th in the world last year in 
broadband penetration rankings compiled by the Organization for Economic 
Cooperation and Development.

Hundt said that Barksdale was an important addition for the Frontline 
group because he had been working on public-safety issues and because 
his background was in the cellular telephone industry. After Hurricane 
Katrina, Barksdale was appointed by Governor Haley Barbour of 
Mississippi to lead the governor's commission on the recovery, 
rebuilding and renewal of the state.

Having Doerr and Barksdale as a part of his investment group is a bit 
like "a reunion of Shaq and Kobe," said Hundt, referring to the 
basketball stars Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, who once played 
together for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Last week, several trade publications reported that Kevin Martin, the 
FCC chairman, was preparing to include the Frontline proposal, or 
something similar, in setting the guidelines for the auction. If that 
framework is announced this month, the auction could take place as early 
as the fall.

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