Economic Aspects of CR Policy and Regulation

This chapter turns to evaluation of techno-economic aspects of CR development and regulation, considering both the attractiveness of existing regulatory frameworks and the benefits of creating the new ones. This is important since it may be shown that the regulatory framework may have significant impact on economic benefits and viability of CR market adoption. Section 4.1 offers discussion of the potential for new business cases centred on the use of white space spectrum in the context of cellular networks. Section 4.2 is focusing on business scenarios and models for use of GDBs in TV white spaces. The following Sect. 4.3 provides a primer regarding the dynamics of the wireless communication market and how these can strongly influence the success or failure of a new technology. Section 4.4 considers potential business scenarios for spectrum sensing based on a set of parameters—ownership, exclusivity, tradability and neutrality. Section 4.5 looks at the prospects of business case for CR against the uncertainties of the spectrum market and opportunistic spectrum access circumstances. The chapter is concluded with the case study of techno-economic analysis in Sect. 4.6 that contemplates economic value of CR and secondary access. This builds a solid basis for answering the ultimate questions about business viability of CR, including considerations of cost versus capacity, investments, uncertainty and risk.