Wireless

As of 2023, the United States leads the OECD in 5G connectivity with 68.4 connections per 100 inhabitants.

In most cases, local governments have neither the competence nor the economies of scale to deliver broadband as well as private ISPs. So, favoring government-owned networks wastes societal resources, creates unfair competition, and is frequently unsustainable in the long run.

The Commission should foster the innovative and productive potential of the CBRS band by increasing maximum power limits and harmonizing out-of-band-emission limits on the upper part of the band with those in the adjacent C band.

The Commission should pursue all policy options to increase spectrum productivity. Here, however, it is highly questionable whether the NextNav proposal would accomplish that goal.

Watch now for an ITIF discussion alongside experts and stakeholders who will provide context and perspectives for the state of U.S. spectrum policy and discuss how we can increase the productivity of scarce spectrum resources.

These best practices should guide the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and all federal agencies as they implement the National Spectrum Strategy.

The implementation of the National Spectrum Strategy should ensure studies prioritize opening spectrum for commercial use. The Strategy will be a failure if agencies resist change rather than being active collaborators in opening spectrum to commercial users.

In an era where connectivity is paramount, the United States must seize the opportunity to recalibrate its approach to spectrum to ensure it remains at the forefront of the evolving wireless landscape.

Policymakers inundated with self-serving arguments for specific spectrum allocation need ways to evaluate which actually advance the public interest. By focusing on the goal of productive spectrum use, one can differentiate between reasoning that would enhance productivity and that which would only advance private interests.

The United States has long been at the forefront of spectrum policy, but it seems more willing to abdicate that post than to build a coherent spectrum strategy that prepares modern-day spectrum policy for the next decade.