The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) might use blockchain in the near future to track and manage wireless spectrums to aid in the increasing requirements of the Internet of Things (IoT). The news reported by IT and fintech magazine ComputerWorld on May 6.
Past week, in one speech at MIT Business of Blockchain conference, commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel mentioned that the technology might help to organize and reduce the cost involved in dealing with so-called wireless spectrum organization.
With Junior Research forecasting that there will be 50 billion connected IoT devices and sensors by 2022, the bureau is excited to find a way to organize the needed radio frequencies more efficiently and transparently.
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel also told that a future world with more IoT devices will require a "real-time market" instead of today's “clunky” licensing system.
She added:
“We have this registry from all of these licenses, but on a day-to-day basis, we don’t actually know with great clarity what’s being used and what’s not being used. So if you put this on a public blockchain you’d have this record of where demand is for what airwaves.”
Presently, Spectrums are auctioned off one at a time in a process which is very slow, complex to handle and expensive, as per the commissioner. Spectrums are limited, with one option to share with them, the FCC is controlling its rights to use different bands at different levels of priority. One idea which is promoted in the last few years is to develop a marketplace which would provide permissions dynamically using AI, as per Computerworld.
If the agency is able to solve this, it will provide new efficiencies and instantly shift the system from scarcity to one which can manage relative abundance. The agency is presently investigating how blockchain will help to solve the problem via "thoughtful experiment" she stated.
The FCC has sought to reverse the present status quo for some years, championing options such as frequency sharing among clients to stop available capacity lying dormant.
In the present situation, tracking usage data also offers less-than-perfect insight into the market, something which blockchain might help to transform.
While Blockchain is not only the thing which is being tested, but traditional databases are also being tested for the purpose. She said that Blockchain will not be required for the next 10 years.
As per the post, she stated that tech can help various nations, which might have to organize growing demands on their wireless frequencies and might have no agency to manage them.
She stated, "The power of making those airways work for connectivity is something that can change economies, it can change agriculture, it can change healthcare."
