As the world goes wireless, access to the airwaves is becoming the oil of the information age -- with existing licenses valued at over $750 billion and steadily rising. Citizen access to the airwaves -- and the emerging technologies of wireless communication -- increasingly cuts across a variety of critical mass media, broadband, civic and intellectual property issues. As wireless broadband networking becomes ubiquitous, control of the medium will put an indelible stamp on the content of America’s media, democracy, culture and economic equity.
Under the guise of “deregulation,” industry interests and activists have increasingly sought to capture this spectrum windfall as private profit, while terminating the public interest obligations in the process. This widespread privatization of the airwaves not only extinguishes the traditional concept of public interest obligations -- such as diversity, localism, civic access -- but also precludes open, ubiquitous and unmediated citizen access to broadband wireless networking that will soon be possible as Wi-Fi and other “smart” radio technologies mature.
Among the Wireless Future Program’s central goals are to reverse this ongoing privatization of the public airwaves and to expand citizen access to an unlicensed spectrum “commons,” thereby facilitating public access to the airwaves, nonprofit community and municipal wireless networks and ubiquitous wireless Internet access. The Program seeks to not only maintain democratic control over the airwaves -- as a public resource -- but also ultimately make wireless communication over the radiofrequency spectrum as free as communications over the acoustic spectrum (speech) and the visible light spectrum (sight and color). While spectrum licensing persists, we advocate that commercial users pay fees for exclusive licenses, with the revenue earmarked to finance unfulfilled public interest obligations.
There is no doubt that consumer demand for mobile data applications is exploding worldwide. As Smartphones with PC capabilities and broadband aircards gain access to faster 4G networks beginning next year, total wireless data consumption will increase geometrically. Cisco’s annual projection of global Internet traffic predicts a 129% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for mobile data over the next five years in North America (through 2013).
Meeting consumer demand for mobile data will require some combination of four strategies:
Wireless is the most cost-effective and rapid means to bring broadband access to under-served rural and urban residents. Even after high-capacity Internet access becomes universal, wireless remains as the complementary infrastructure needed to achieve the larger goal of pervasive connectivity. Within a few short years, most Americans are likely to spend more hours each week on mobile than on wired Internet connections. Demand for spectrum will outpace availability under current spectrum man-management policies. Meanwhile, in every… more
Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) Systems are one of the most promising technologies available to increase the range and efficiency of spectrum dependent services. DSA systems locate unused spectrum, and organize their users to operate within the spectrum they have identified. DSA systems ensure no interference to other users by scanning and sensing the environment, as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) NeXt Generation spectrum sharing field tests have established, or through pre-existing knowledge, such as the geolocation database… more
As the U.S. economy and society becomes more and more information-centric and mobile, wireless systems are becoming a major factor in the efficient functioning of our society. Radio spectrum is a key economic input into wireless systems that power our information society and economy and enhance public safety and national security. Since the earliest days of radio regulation in the United States; federal government use of spectrum has been handled independently of other users’ access to spectrum. … more
The time has arrived for the unmet potentials of federal white spaces to receive some well-deserved attention. While many policy analysts have focused on the fate of the 700 MHz auctions, the digital TV transition, and the promise of television white space devices, the best available data suggests that the majority of federal spectrum capacity is left unused (McHenry, 2003; McHenry, 2004) – a situation that has gone largely unexamined. Strategic reuse of this spectrum could help obviate the need… more
From
September 22 to 24, the New America Foundations Open Technology Initiative
hosted Beyond Broadband Access: Data
Based Information Policy for a New Administration. An experts workshop, Beyond Broadband Access created an
opportunity for small group of highly skilled experts from around the world to
seek breakthrough insights which can be applied to current policy
challenges.
As the FCC begins its year-long process to recommend a National
Broadband Plan, one starting point is to unlock publicly-owned assets
that can facilitate ubiquitous, affordable broadband access. Wireless
spectrum remains the most cost-effective and rapid means to deliver
broadband access to rural and unserved urban residents. But as mobile
broadband use continues to increase exponentially, demand for spectrum
will rapidly outpace availability under current spectrum management
policies.
Both President-Elect Barack Obama
and Congressional leaders have discussed including government support to promote
high-speed broadband access as part of the upcoming economic stimulus package.
This has prompted a flood of proposals and ideas from advocates of all sides of
the broadband debate. Economic stimulus should be timely, temporary and
targeted. But who should this stimulus target and how can we spur investments
that will create both short-term economic growth and long-term economic
prosperity in the 21st century?
In an unprecedented
display of consensus, a broad and diverse array of groups concerned about
America's broadband future
released a Call to Action that provides President-elect Obama and the incoming
Congress a policy framework for a comprehensive national broadband
strategy.
Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Google, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the New America Foundation, and a member of President-Elect Barack Obama's Transition Economic Advisory Board, addressed a packed auditorium at the Ronald Reagan Building on Tuesday, November 18th.
Schmidt provided insight into the junction of technology and government, stressing that solid infrastructure is the key to an efficient and… more
The Wireless Future Program, along with allies in the public interest and high-tech communities, frequently submits comments in Federal Communications Commission proceedings of relevance to spectrum policy.
