… Ahead Of Alliance 2020 Global Summit

By Clifford Agugoesi, Editor-in-Chief

As Telecommunications, Media and Technology(TMT) regulators look for  more ingenious ways of overcoming the perennial challenge of allocating scarce spectrum resources, to advance the digital economy in their jurisdictions, those among them who have shown grit have suddenly become highly sought-afters, by their peers.  Chief Regulator at the  Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC), Profesor Umar Garba Danbatta belongs to this class.

Prof. Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer(EVC/CEO) at the NCC, is one of the eggheads among regulators being pitched to present at a webinar mulled by the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance(DSA), that is specifically dedicated to television white spaces otherwise known within industry circles as first digital dividends.

Cyber Era(https://www.cyberera.com.ng) can confirm authoritatively DSA has not been able to reach Prof. Danbatta, but NCC inside sources say the erudite professor is not likely to turn down the offer, since it the virtual event is widely seen as a veritable opportunity for the Commission to pick some vital lessons offshore to firm up the anticipated policy on the fifth generation(5G) Technology.

Another reason we gathered why Danbatta will honour the invite is that the webinar is a foretaste to the Alliance 2020 Global Summit campaign aimed at baiting global industry stakeholders, especially from the regulatory community.

Under the theme: Latest Developments On Regulatory Frameworks Worldwide, Ecosystem, Commercial Development Status and Social Impact, this session will provide attendees with a global view of the most recent regulatory and technological changes in the TVWS Ecosystem, with updates on the latest deployments.  In both specific and generic terms, the virtual event will review:

•             Dynamic Spectrum Sharing Information

•             Dynamic Spectrum Sharing – Driving 5G to Scale

•             OT/IT Convergence in the 5G Era

•             What’s the status of 5G globally?

•             Spectrum, deployments and customer trends

•             Spectrum Sharing Beyond CBRS

•             Assuring the Future of RAN

•             Network Automation: Getting to Zero-Touch

The virtual workshop is built for Wednesday July 1, 2020 from  8:00 am – 9:30 am EDT and will be powered by Microsoft Teams.

The detailed agenda for the webinar  is provided below:

08:00 – 08:05 am            Welcome and Introduction

Martha Suárez, President, Dynamic Spectrum Alliance

08:05 – 08:20 am             Presentation of the Airband Initiative

Vickie Robinson, Senior Director of Airband Initiative USA, Microsoft

08:20 – 08:50 am             Regulatory panel – Discussion and Q&A

Moisés Queiroz Moreira, Commissioner, ANATEL, Brazil

Mercy Wanjau, General Director, Communications Authority, Kenya

Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Chief Executive Officer, NCC, Nigeria (TBC)

Michael O’Rielly, Commissioner, FCC, USA

Moderator: Martha Suárez, President, Dynamic Spectrum Alliance

08:50 – 09:20 am            TVWS Networks Deployments – Discussion and Q&A

Sylvia Jaramillo, General Manager, Anditel

Bryan Kariuki, Chief Commercial Officer, Mawingu Networks

Jalel Sager, CEO, New Sun Road

Greg Jarman, Chief Development Officer, Watch Communications

Moderator: Lydia Payne Carroon, Business Operations Manager, Microsoft

09:20 – 09:30 am     Closing remarks

Telecommunications experts hold that a common challenge that should be addressed by the TMT or broadcasting and mobile industries is the availability of suitable radio spectrum.  In particular, the ultra high frequency(UHF) band allocated to TV broadcasting(470-790MHz)is held o be extremely valuable due to is favourable propagation characteristics.  It is this attribute of this frequency spectrum that has excited extensive studies on the alternative use of geographically underutilised TV spectrums, so called TVWS over the course of the past few years, even as it holds an attraction for regulators as 5G beckons.