Vibrant financial markets exist for trading everything from bushels of corn to barrels of oil. Now a new company is hoping to do the same for the nation's airwaves, with an online trading exchange for radio spectrum.
Secondary market
The Invisible Battle for America's Airwaves
Competition for the 900mHz segment of the radiofrequency spectrum has grown fierce in recent years as more operators are pushed out of licensed spectrum and into the electromagnetic doldrums. What was once a lonely spectral highway for local news channels and the occasional surveying project is now crisscrossed with signal traffic from all kinds of industrial Internet of Things (IoT).
Chairman Pai's 5G plans make it harder for small ISPs to deploy broadband
The Federal Communications Commission is changing the rules for an upcoming spectrum auction in a way that will make it harder for small carriers to buy spectrum for deploying rural broadband. The change—requested by T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon—will help the big carriers deploy nationwide 5G networks, according to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's proposal.
UK Clears Way for 21st Century Fox Bid for Sky
Britain’s culture secretary said that 21st Century Fox should be allowed to bid for control of the satellite broadcaster Sky -- as long as Fox sells 24-hour news channel Sky News. The news from Britain sets up a potential bidding war with Comcast for a jewel of Europe’s media industry. The decision by the culture secretary, Matt Hancock, ends months of uncertainty over whether the British government would block Rupert Murdoch’s efforts to buy the 61 percent of Sky that his company does not already own.