Radio frequency bandwidth has become a basic resource for the development of the information society. In fact, radio bandwidth is the necessary medium for carrying the communications to customers and a truly worldwide network is dependent on it. Given the market demands for more and more frequencies, means have to be found to share this limited resource most effectively and to continuously improve its efficiency. Radio spectrum management is thus a major demand of the modern world.
This book describes the existing tools for spectrum management with their fundamental technical and legal basis. It outlines the global evolution of radio services in their different application domains and introduces the constituents who contribute to the collective management of the spectrum. It also discusses the main questions these constituents have to deal with and answer in order to design for the future.
Part 1. The Basis of Spectrum Management
1. A bit of History, Physics and Mathematics.
2. Telecommunications.
3. Geography and Radio Communications: Radio Network Engineering.
4. Spectrum Sharing, Bases and Actors.
5. Some Regulated Services.
6. Recent Evolutions of Radio Services.
7. Regulatory Instruments for Spectrum Sharing.
8. Frequency Assignment: A Contract.
9. Spectrum Monitoring.
Part 2. Managers and their Practice
10. New Technical Perspectives and Impact on Spectrum Management.
11. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
12. Regional Bodies.
13. National Spectrum Regulators and Institutional Debates.
14. Major Current European and International Issues to Improve Spectrum Efficiency.
15. Regimes of Radio Spectrum Management: A Synthetic View.
16. Prospects: The Road to More Flexibility in Spectrum Usage and Access.
Jean-Marc Chaduc was put in charge of designing the French "Agence Nationale des Fréquences" in 1996 and was appointed its Director in 1997.
Gérard Pogorel is Professor of Economics and Management at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications (ENST), Paris, France.