Talking About Things We Don’t Talk About

The Federal Communications Commission is an important institution. It oversees a huge input to our information economy: Spectrum. Fortunately, three decades ago, we developed a method for allocating spectrum that has garnered bipartisan praise, been copied around the world, underlaid two Nobel prizes, and is arguably the most successful communications policy innovation ever. Unfortunately, Congress can’t decide how to reauthorize that auction authority. Congressional dysfunction? Alas, not weird. The stakes are high: billions in investment capital, 10x more in economic impact. Industry needs, and deserves, a spectrum road map. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the FCC are reportedly working on a national spectrum strategy. With spectrum, at least we’re talking about what we should be talking about. But no roadmap or policy changes yet.

The current FCC has been busy on other things; reforming universal service, redoing the broadband maps, and administering the Affordable Connectivity Program, known as the ACP. Important things. Universal Service faces economic, legal, and institutional challenges, and a landscape changed by historic federal investments. Congress wisely asked the FCC to address how USF should adapt to it those challenges and changes. In July 2022, the FCC responded, proposing some half dozen major rulemakings. How many have been completed? How many have been started? Same answer for both. Zippo. Weird. As for maps, we’ve been waiting since 2021 for the final FCC maps so NTIA can send the states the correct allocations. Here’s what’s weird. Far better maps already existed. Apple and Android phones know the strength or absence of every wired and wireless signal everywhere. The ISPs also know. They make multi-billion-dollar capital decisions every year. You think they’d do it with bad maps