Blair Levin: Spectrum Reallocation is Main Issue Impacting Carriers Post Election

How will the elections determine how the stock markets react? Traditional wisdom says internet service providers (ISPs) will do better in policy terms under Republicans than under Democrats as Democrats are more likely to take regulatory action that hurts ISPs. This may have been true in the past, but it’s now wrong, according to NewStreet Research Policy Advisor Blair Levin. “There are discrete issues on which ISPs favor the Republican approach. However, in terms of impacting revenues, margins and opportunities, Democratic control is likely to prove more benign,” says Levin in a client note. He believes the most important policy issue impacting carrier competition will be spectrum allocation. There is a small inventory of spectrum to be reallocated for commercial use, which suggests there’d be no new spectrum for the next few years “that materially changes the current spectrum positions,” notes Levin.