About the Wireless Future Program

Overview

Each economic era has a resource that drives wealth creation. In the agricultural era it was land; in the industrial era, it was energy. Today the American people collectively own the most valuable resource of the emerging information economy: the airwaves, also known as the radio frequency spectrum. As the world goes wireless, access to the airwaves is the oil of the information age; indeed, economists estimate the commercial value of existing licenses in the U.S. at over $750 billion.

Unfortunately, our nation's antiquated spectrum policies have created the worst possible situation: an artificial spectrum scarcity that reduces innovation and competition, inhibits the rapid deployment of universal wireless broadband services, sacrifices many billions of dollars in public revenue, constrains citizen access to the airwaves, and steadily erodes the civic, educational, and other public interest obligations of broadcasters and other licensees.

The purpose of New America's Wireless Future Program is to promote a more fair and efficient use of the airwaves in order to unlock the full potential of the new wireless era.

Spectrum Policy Reform

A more efficient and equitable spectrum policy would have an enormously positive impact on our nation's economy, media and democracy. New America develops and promotes a range of market-based policies that ensure that all commercial users compensate the public for their exclusive and limited-term licenses to the airwaves. Flexible but temporary new licenses can be leased for fixed terms, placing all companies on a level playing field and generating substantial revenues for public investment. At the same time, the Program has led the movement to open more of the spectrum to unlicensed sharing by individuals, firms and municipalities using Wi-Fi and new 'smart' devices.

New America also seeks to preserve, update, and expand the public interest obligations of our nation's communications infrastructure for the digital age. A significant share of spectrum revenues could be earmarked for a "digital opportunity fund" to help finance the future of public service media, as well as the educational content and innovative software needed to make meaningful the federal E-Rate program that has wired the nation's public schools and libraries. The Program also supports expanded "public interest obligations" requiring broadcasters to provide their communities a minimum of local civic affairs, electoral coverage, and candidate access to the airwaves in return for their highly valuable DTV licenses.

Universal Broadband

Since 2001, the U.S. has fallen from 3rd to 16th in worldwide broadband adoption, an alarming trend that seriously threatens American competitiveness in the digital age. No question, America lacks a national broadband policy. New America believes that wireless broadband is the most promising way to extend affordable, high-speed Internet connections to all Americans, particularly in under-served rural and low-income areas. Accordingly, New America advocates the reallocation of underutilized spectrum for unlicensed citizen access-an "open spectrum" policy that can speed the deployment of ubiquitous and affordable wireless broadband networks, as well as bolster the Internet's non-discriminatory, end-to-end architecture.

A Citizen's Guide to the Airwaves

Spectrum politics is a classic case of special interest politics. Rights to use spectrum are worth hundreds of billions of dollars and have a huge impact on American competitiveness, yet the press, public, and even most lawmakers have only a vague understanding of how spectrum allocation policy works. Most policymakers do not even understand the tremendous "opportunity loss" resulting from the current mismanagement of the airwaves. To remedy this problem, New America, working with leading graphic designers, published a "Citizen's Guide to the Airwaves" that graphically illustrates the most important dimensions of spectrum policy and allocation.

Policy Impact

Since its inception in 2001, New America's Wireless Future Program has influenced and reframed the national debate over spectrum policy in vital ways. For example, the DTV transition legislation now pending in Congress is modeled on New America's proposal, as is the pending FCC rulemaking that proposes to free unused TV channels in every market for wireless broadband on an open, unlicensed basis. Program Director Michael Calabrese is regularly invited to testify before Congress, the FCC, and the Commerce Department on a range of spectrum-related issues. The Program has produced two major books, a dozen major regulatory filings at the FCC, more than three dozen reports, working papers, and issue briefs; published numerous articles in the mainstream press; and organized over 70 high-profile public events.