A Timely Book!

Book Review By Deepak Maheshwari

The Dynamics of Spectrum Management authored by Rohit Prasad and V Sridhar, looks at the role of
public policy in using technology for development

Mobile phones have pervaded our cities and villages and become almost ubiquitous in the past couple of decades. Likewise, the Internet is all set to become an inherent part of our daily lives and we are increasingly accessing it on the mobile devices, even if we are standstill, sitting or just lying idly. No wonder, even villages without electricity supply have mobile phones!

Even a layman knows that the mobile phones use spectrum, thanks to the long news cycles in the recent years besides instances of poor signal. However, beyond policymakers and technocrats tasked with its management and professionals directly engaged in its pursuit, few know or bother about the policy conundrum, technology and economics of spectrum. Exceptions include legal luminaries, journalists and a select set of academicians who have probed and studied this subject, either on their own volition and curiosity or thanks to specific assignments and engagements.

While a private person may have absolute property right in a physical asset like land, the airwaves (aka ‘spectrum’) are public property as pronounced by Justice P. B. Sawant and Justice S. Mohan of the Supreme Court in 1995 in a case dealing with broadcasting rights of cricket.

National Frequency Allocation Plan (NFAP) was first developed in India in 1981 but remained a government document and it was thanks to New Telecom Policy (NTP) 1999, that it became a public document to be revised every two years. NFAP 2000 was published on January 1, 2000 and while the second one kept the date on January 1, 2002 the next revisions could take place only in 2008 and 2011, mostly due to contesting demands and the assertion of legacy rights in some of the bands. While mobile telephony is perhaps the most contested case of spectrum usage, it is not the only one by any means.

“The Dynamics of Spectrum Management” is a timely book authored by Rohit Prasad and V Sridhar, both having straddled across industry and academia in their respective careers and as economists, look at the role of public policy in the realm of using technology for development. They both are prolific and much sought after columnists, having published almost three hundred articles – including several dealing with spectrum management. Along with another well-known academician Rekha Jain, the authors were members of the spectrum committee in 2008-09, chaired by Mr. Subodh Kumar, the then additional secretary in the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India.

The recommendations of this committee were instrumental in paving the way forward.  Such experience obviously came in handy in this endeavor and the result is a book that is informative without being authoritative, insightful without being inciting and helps the reader form informed opinion without sounding opinionated. While some part of the electromagnetic spectrum constitutes visible light, the spectrum used for wireless communication remains invisible and shrouded in mystery and this book is a sincere attempt to demystify the issues and put them in perspective.

It begins with the historical account of experiments by Marconi and the Indian scientist JC Bose, the latter known more for proving plant life than for being a pioneer in the field of wireless and tells the story of wireless legislation. The brief narrative around why the SOS messages from The Titanic were ineffective is succinct and how it led to the Radio Act of 1927 in the US.

However, the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933 is conspicuous by its sheer absence through the volume even as the alphabetical soup of acronyms of different types of cellular technologies in the very first chapter is a tad taxing and somewhat overwhelming.

The economic models around spectrum in terms of classification, valuation, auction and competition are indeed commendable, well-researched and analyzed. Unsurprisingly, most discussions are around the mobile telephony in India though admittedly some of the fundamental concepts are indeed universal in nature. However, it would enrich if there were more discussion around the role of the competition authority like the Competition Commission of India (CCI) vis-à-vis that of the sector regulator like the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Issues related to Information & Broadcasting have been dealt in the penultimate chapter but unfortunately, other bands and users (so called ‘captive users’) of spectrum find little mention, if any. All the same, emphasis has been laid on vacation by the armed forces since much of the spectrum sought after by mobile operators is or was with them as a matter of legacy. India’s successful Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) also uses spectrum for Deep Space Communication (DSS). Even licensed telecom services like paging and public mobile radio trunking service (PMRTS) are conspicuous by their sheer absence.

Spectrum commons and de-licensed usage as in the case of wi-fi, Bluetooth and White Spaces have been dealt in considerable detail though the cardinal principles of non-interference, non-protection and nonexclusiveness have not been highlighted to the requisite level.

But for the calibrated de-licensing in the 2.4 GHz band (and, subsequently in several other bands as well) that began in India only in 2003, users of wi-fi and Bluetooth could be put behind the bars!
Concerns around security and privacy are increasing by the day and they are indeed more acute with wireless networks and devices. Hence, it is somewhat disconcerting to see that these have not been addressed even as issues related to network neutrality have been dealt in great length and with aplomb.

New Telecom Policy (NTP) 1999 was the watershed in Indian telecom by offering a transition path to the existing licensees to transition to a revenue-share regime from a fixed license fee regime. However, it was the same policy that allowed a clean license for DoT (BSNL was incorporated only in 2000) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), both in the public sector, to become the third cellular operator.

For anyone who has read “Anytime, Anywhere: Entrepreneurship and the Creation of A Wireless World”, comparison and a sense of déjà vu is inevitable. Besides dealing with the developed markets especially in the US and Europe that book had a lot of personalities and their traits as well as the historical account of how a telecom global conglomerate came into being through a spate of M&A activities. In contrast, this book consciously focuses on roles of institutions and one hardly finds mention of the key individuals who shaped the Indian telecom sector. These include political leaders, bureaucrats, technocrats and industrialists and hence, those looking for the controversial spice may be disappointed.

However, there is enough juice in the book to keep the inquisitive reader hooked and engaged.
Overall, the signal strength is high through the book and the noise level considerably low. Yet, it can do with a little tuning and just like the authors suggest consolidation and re-farming of spectrum, it would be nice to see a revised edition that is easier to read and comprehend. For example, mathematical models, complex equations and even some anecdotes can be easily put in the Appendix, thereby streamlining the flow across chapters that meld into each other like the colours of a rainbow in a continuum and see different hues colours of the rainbow more clearly. Likewise, some of the charts and diagrams would be easier to comprehend through infographics.

Incidentally, sub-title of the book ‘Legacy, Technology and Economics’ can be abbreviated as LTE, (‘Long
Term Evolution’ is a 4G technology)!

(The author, Deepak Maheshwari, is an experienced public policy professional with considerable industry experience, currently working with Symantec as head of government affairs for the India region. Views expressed herein are personal.)