At the 19th General Meeting of the SDR Forum held in June 2000 in Seattle, Dale Hatfield, then Chief of the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology, delivered a keynote address entitled "Software Defined Radio: a Regulator's Perspective" (prepared text available at http://www.fcc.gov/oet/speeches/sdrforumsph.html). In his speech, Professor Hatfield (who is now at the University of Colorado at Boulder) discussed the high level of interest in SDR technology at the FCC because of its potential impact on how the Commission manages the spectrum resource "in the public interest," especially in dealing with the predicted "spectrum drought" as a result of the "exploding demand" for access to that resource that could constrain the future growth in wireless services. He went on to describe the "idea" of secondary spectrum markets and how SDR could play a major role in enabling secondary markets by providing flexibility and reducing the cost and time of deploying radio equipment on underutilized spectrum.
Much has happened on the regulatory front and in the technology arena since Professor Hatfield and the FCC launched the SDR and secondary markets proceedings more than seven years ago. Thanks to these and other initiatives, including the cognitive radio proceeding and the Spectrum Policy Task Force, as well as significant investment in R&D, so-called "smart radios" will soon be able to provide relief to endemic spectrum management and spectrum access problems. In this talk, from the perspective of a "former regulator" who worked with Dale Hatfield and Chairman Powell at the FCC on these matters, we will examine how the impending, near-term introduction of software-defined, smart radio technologies and short-term spectrum leasing represents the next important policy step pursuant to recent regulatory trends and actions. However, as Professor Hatfield admonished those attending the SDR Forum meeting, "The rest is up to you and the marketplace."
Prior to joining SSC in February 2006, Peter was at the Federal Communications Commission for 15½ years, where he held several positions including Acting Deputy Bureau Chief in the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Director of the Spectrum Policy Task Force, Senior Legal Advisor to Chairman Michael Powell, Special Counsel to then-General Counsel Bill Kennard and staff attorney in the Mass Media Bureau. At the FCC, he had important substantive and leadership roles in a wide range of cutting edge wireless and spectrum policy matters, including the development of Personal Communications Services (PCS), implementation and oversight of the spectrum auction program, the approval of Ultra-wideband (UWB) and Software Defined Radio (SDR) technologies, the removal of barriers to secondary spectrum markets and the release of the groundbreaking report of the FCC's Spectrum Policy Task Force. Before joining the Commission, Mr. Tenhula served as a legal intern with U.S. Representative Michael G. Oxley and the National Association of Broadcasters. He received his undergraduate degree in Telecommunications (with a Business minor) from Indiana University, Bloomington, and earned a law degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Peter, his wife and three young children live in Alexandria, Virginia.