Analysis of recent spectrum sharing concepts in policy making: Dissertation

During the last couple of decades a lot of research efforts have been spent on developing different spectrum sharing concepts. As the traditional regulatory methods for spectrum allocation are proving inadequate in responding to a growing need for mobile spectrum in a timely manner and finding spectrum for exclusive use is getting increasingly difficult, the political atmosphere is also becoming more and more receptive to new innovative spectrum sharing concepts that increase the efficiency of spectrum use. These concepts also provide regulatory authorities an opportunity to fundamentally change the current major operator driven mobile market and thereby to allow new players and innovative services to surface. However, there is still a gap between the work done by the research community and the work of the regulatory authorities. In this thesis, the aim is to clarify the reasons behind this gap by analysing three prevailing regulatory spectrum sharing concepts: Licensed Shared Access, the three-tier model and TV white space concept. As different stakeholders involved in spectrum sharing - the incumbent user, the entrant user and the regulatory authority - have very diverse roles in spectrum sharing, their incentives and key criteria may vary significantly. In order for a spectrum sharing concept to have a chance in a real life deployment, all these perspectives need to be carefully considered. In fact, a feasible spectrum sharing concept is a delicate balance between the viewpoints of different stakeholders, not necessarily the one offering the most efficient spectrum utilization. This thesis analyses spectrum sharing concepts from all these perspectives and as a consequence unveils the common process model for implementing a spectrum sharing concept in real life, highlighting the distinct roles of different stakeholders in its phases.