2016),"How incumbents can shape technological choice and market structure -the case of fixed broadband in Europe", info, Vol. 18 Iss 2 pp. 1-16 http://dx.If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possibility to replace radio equipment compliance requirements based on equipment parameters with a set of simple metrics that accurately reflects spectrum utilization and spectrum-sharing efficiency. Design/methodology/approach -The approach taken is to go back to the basic factors that determine radio system behavior in a shared spectrum environment: radio frequency power, duty cycle and frequency occupation. By normalizing these parameters, device specificity is avoided and a statistical perspective on spectrum utilization and sharing becomes possible. Findings -The analysis shows that two technology-neutral metrics would be adequate to govern spectrum utilization and sharing: a spectrum utilization metric and a spectrum-sharing efficiency metric. These metrics form the core of regulatory requirements for shared frequency bands. Each shared frequency band could be assigned criteria based on these metrics that take into account the types of applications for which that band will be used. Research limitations/implications -This work is a first step that identifies the main factors that affect shared spectrum usage from a statistical point of view. More work is needed on the relationship between real-world interference and its abstraction in the spectrum-sharing rules.Practical implications -The metrics proposed could be considered as the basis for a new approach to the regulation of the license-exempt spectrum, and, by extension, as the basis for generic compliance criteria. Their use would facilitate the compliance assessment of software-defined radio technology. Social implications -This work has no direct social implications. Originality/value -This paper combines new work on spectrum utilization criteria with extensions of previous work on spectrum-sharing efficiency into a comprehensive proposal for a new approach to the regulation of the license-exempt spectrum.

Purpose Spectrum regulations have major impact on the development and deployment of innovative technologies. Current regulations for license-exempt radio spectrum generally are given in terms of technology-related criteria. This paper aims to propose a set of metrics that can be used to define technology-agnostic spectrum regulations which encourage rather than restrict technology innovation. Design/methodology/approach This paper builds on and expands two other papers on regulatory criteria for license-exempt spectrum which define metrics for spectrum loading and spectrum sharing efficiency. Here, we add metrics for Block Edge Masks and for medium access adaptivity. This gives a complete toolset for the management of radio spectrum. Findings Because of the diversity of use of license-exempt spectrum, performance criteria must be formulated in terms that abstract from the details of equipment properties. Instead, they must be formulated in terms of spectrum utilization dimensions: RF power, time and frequency occupation. The result is a concise set of metrics that can be applied to the regulation or management of shared spectrum. Research limitations/implications The mathematics used in this paper deal with high-level parameters and may ignore factors that are important in certain cases and may require refinement. Practical implications The implications of the proposed metrics include an increase emphasis on the objectives of spectrum policy and on measures to assure efficient spectrum utilization both within frequency bands and between adjacent bands. Social implications There are no social implications the authors are aware of. Originality/value The originality of this work lies in recognizing that the extreme variety of devices and mode of operation deployed in license-exempt spectrum calls for spectrum management criteria that are technology agnostic.