In May 2004, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to allow a new generation of wireless devices to use vacant TV frequencies (so-called “white spaces”) on an unlicensed basis and thereby promote more effective use of the public airwaves. In October 2006, under bipartisan pressure from Congress, the FCC adopted a First Order and Further NPRM that approved unlicensed use of vacant TV channels for “fixed” broadband deployments, but called for further… more
In the late 1980s, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) conducted a series of lotteries to allocate electromagnetic spectrum (popularly known as the “public airwaves”) for mobile telephone service. More than 320,000 lottery tickets were acquired by spectrum speculators, including dentists, lawyers, accountants, and anyone else willing to devote the time and hire the legal talent necessary to fill out the complicated form to acquire a lottery ticket. Many of the lottery tickets were purchased as part of partnerships, whose members… more
In this report, I analyze the competitive effects of recent proposals to reserve a small portion of the upcoming 700 MHz band auction for wholesale, open-access use.[i] Using this license, a wholesale open-access licensee would build out the wireless network, own and operate the cell sites, towers, and radio equipment, and provide transport to the Internet backbone.
Imagine a world with finite spectrum but infinite demand for wireless bandwidth. In such a world, which we shall call the ?wireless ultrabroadband world, what would the wireless telecommunications architecture look like? And what type of property rights regime would accompany it?
No telecommunications architecture following known laws of nature could provide infinite wireless bandwidth. But this paper argues that the architecture that would get closest would be one with very short wireless end user links attached to a wired… more
In the coming weeks, the FCC will set the bidding and service rules for the auction of the 700MHz spectrum freed up by the DTV transition—“beachfront” airwaves ideal for the provision of high-speed wireless broadband services. This last big sale of prime spectrum is expected to raise $10 to $20 billion in federal revenue.
