Freeing Up More Airwaves

[Commentary] It took two years to overcome the opposition of television broadcasters, Broadway impresarios and Dolly Parton, but the Federal Communications Commission is finally releasing long-awaited telecommunications spectrum for public use.

This should vastly increase the reach of wireless broadband around the country, extending Americans' access to the Internet. The FCC is expected to issue rules for the public use of so-called white space -- spectrum allocated long ago to broadcast TV channels that remains unused. Releasing it would allow for new applications like high-powered Wi-Fi networks that penetrate buildings and work over long distances to connect rural schools to the Internet. It could be a godsend to beleaguered users of smartphones by easing data congestion on cellular networks. The change comes none too soon. The last time the FCC released short-range spectrum for public use 20 years ago, it set off a virtual technological revolution that brought us from the baby monitor to Wi-Fi. Who knows what the newly freed airwaves could deliver.