Subject: [NEXTEL-1] SPECTRUM POLICY PROGRAM- www.spectrumpolicy.org

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 07:57:18 -0400

SPECTRUM POLICY PROGRAM

In the emerging information economy, the most valuable
publicly owned asset may well be the electromagnetic
spectrum – or the “airwaves.” Indeed, recent auctions suggest
that the spectrum has a market value exceeding $500 billion.
Yet our nation’s antiquated spectrum policies sacrifice
significant public revenues and inhibit the rapid deployment of
wireless broadband access.

To promote a more fair and efficient allocation of the airwaves,
New America’s Spectrum Policy Program advocates requiring
commercial licensees to pay fair market value for their use of
the spectrum, and opposes efforts to privatize the airwaves.
The revenues from such auctions can best be used to meet
civic and educational needs. The Program also promotes
greater shared citizen access to the airwaves – particularly for
wireless broadband networking with unlicensed consumer
devices – and the protection of the Internet’s open and
unmediated end-to-end architecture. In these and other ways,
New America seeks to help preserve, update, and expand the
public interest obligations of our nation’s communications
infrastructure in the digital era.

New America’s Spectrum Policy Program currently has three
primary components:

Spectrum Policy Reform. Our nation’s current spectrum
allocation policies – based on rigid regulation and zero-cost
use by most incumbent license holders – have created the
worst possible situation: an artificial spectrum scarcity that
inhibits the rapid deployment of wireless broadband services,
the sacrifice of tens of billions of dollars in public revenue,
reduced innovation and competition, constrained citizen
access to the airwaves, and a steady erosion of the civic,
educational, and other public interest obligations of
broadcasters and other licensees. To overcome these vexing
problems, 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, while simultaneously opening more of the spectrum
to sharing by individuals using Wi-Fi and other unlicensed
wireless devices. The Program also puts forth innovative
proposals for earmarking spectrum revenues for new public
investments to fulfill the public interest obligations of
broadcasters. These unmet needs include free airtime for
federal candidates, quality non-commercial programming,
and innovative educational content and software.

Since its inception in January 2001, New America’s Spectrum
Policy Program has produced four major reports and more
than a dozen working papers and issue briefs; published
numerous articles in the mainstream press; organized over
15 high-profile public events; and published a major book. In
addition, Program Director Michael Calabrese has testified
frequently on Capitol Hill and before the FCC and the
Commerce Department on a wide range of spectrum-related
issues.

A Citizen's Chart of the Spectrum. Spectrum politics is a
classic case of special interest politics. Rights to use
spectrum are worth hundreds of billions of dollars, yet the
press, public, and even most lawmakers have only a vague
understanding of how spectrum allocation policy works and of
the full potential of emerging wireless technologies. Nor does
the majority of the public understand the tremendous
“opportunity loss” resulting from the current mismanagement
of the airwaves - for taxpayers and consumers alike. Indeed,
the U.S. government’s official spectrum chart is virtually
indecipherable to the average citizen. To remedy this problem,
New America Senior Research Fellow J.H. Snider - working
with a team of leading graphic designers and policy experts -
produced a “Citizen’s Chart of the Spectrum” that graphically
illustrates the most important dimensions of spectrum policy
and allocation. It will be released in May 2003.

Protecting the Information Commons. New America also
works to ensure that the Internet’s architecture and intellectual
property laws continue to protect the public’s interest in free
speech, consumer rights, privacy, and open competitive
access. A critical issue is whether the public spaces made
possible by the Internet will be re-regulated to maximize the
commercial interests of dominant intellectual property owners
– or whether they will protect and expand the vital “information
commons” that enables individual citizens to freely
communicate, create, and control content. Current attempts to
privatize the nation’s public communications infrastructure
and its content include the removal of common carrier
obligations for Internet access and encroachments upon
traditional copyright principles of fair use. Among the policy
initiatives aimed at expanding the information commons, the
Program advocates universal broadband access premised
on common carriage and a choice of Internet service
providers. The Program also advocates new limits on
copyright and trademark law so that the public domain and
creativity may continue to flourish in the digital future. In 2002
the Program published a series of reports on the information
commons and a major book – Silent Theft, by David Bollier –
that popularized the fact that the American people are the
rightful owners of a wide range of public assets, and that
highlighted new policies for safeguarding the public’s rights
to these assets.

http://www.spectrumpolicy.org
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