Better Broadband Is No 'Joke'

[Commentary] The real significance of the National Broadband Plan is the idea that the Federal Communications Commission should have the authority to let markets decide the best use of spectrum.

The plan calls for transferring needed spectrum from government agencies and analog broadcasters to digital wireless providers for better broadband access across the US. The FCC wants to be able to "determine rules for auctions of broadcast spectrum" so that broadcasters would be compensated for the loss of spectrum they don't need, which wireless providers could use to make Internet access faster. "There is no market incentive to move spectrum to better and higher uses," said the FCC's Blair Levin. The "biggest wasters of spectrum are government agencies that have one third of the most valuable spectrum." Moving this spectrum to better use is a worthy political challenge. Much of the rest of available spectrum is owned by broadcasters that don't need it. Some 90% of Americans access local channels via pay television such as cable, so broadcast spectrum can easily be reduced. Levin says that "we need the authority to share proceeds in auctions with broadcasters, not just to force stations into one area of spectrum or another." There would be plenty of proceeds to share: In some recent auctions, spectrum has been sold for 10 times the value of its previous analog use.