Transition to yesterday: subsidizing the killer app of 1952

[Commentary] With the transition from analog broadcasting, policy-makers should seize a blessed moment to move boldly into the future. Opening TV bands to new entrants would inject a potent booster shot into the Information Economy. Consider that some 250 million mobile subscribers in the US paid about $140 billion to make 2 trillion minutes' worth of phone calls in 2007, accessing just 190MHz of radio spectrum. The digital TV band, in contrast, is allocated some 294MHz—and it's more productive bandwidth. Tapping into this mother lode would unleash powerful waves of rivalry and innovation. (Thomas W. Hazlett is Professor of Law & Economics and serves as Director of the Information Economy Project at George Mason University School of Law.)