Wireless

Interrelated gaps and failures in the process and policies used to efficiently allocate spectrum demand comprehensive reform. To prevent future failures, policymakers must improve device performance, increase data gathering and sharing, and clarify the spectrum allocation process.

The federal government controls large swaths of the electromagnetic spectrum, but the current system for managing it lacks effective ways to incentivize agencies to use it efficiently. Congress and the Biden administration should promote good stewardship of spectrum and better enable it to power both federal missions and the commercial wireless ecosystem.

Making productive use of spectrum is central to the FCC’s purpose and goals. It has an opportunity to increase the productivity of the 60-64 GHz band by permitting airborne radar devices to operate near ground level. Specifically, it should seek a technical arrangement that permits the maximum commercial use of this band while also protecting the federal interest in the Earth Exploration Satellite Service.

Joe Kane joins a panel speaking on what is being done to ensure spectrum is put to its best and highest use, and if there is enough spectrum to keep pace with demand and innovation.

Even as greenhouse gas emissions keep increasing, solutions are emerging—some of the most promising of which stem from technological innovations, including burgeoning 5G.

Many attempts to increase the flexibility of wireless spectrum rights meet objections that the method of reallocation will result in a windfall for corporate license holders. Far from being objectionable, however, allowing windfalls in spectrum reallocation creates virtuous incentives.

The Commission should incentivize voluntary, industry-led standards and take a forward-looking approach to the future interference environment by establishing a clear framework for adjudicating interference claims in the face of differential receiver quality.

To some, spectrum sharing is an innovative necessity. To others, it is a recipe for wasting valuable bandwidth. The truth is more nuanced. The spectrum-sharing landscape is marked with promising ideas and technologies that require further investment to be generalizable solutions.

The recent interagency spat between the FAA and FCC over the rollout of 5G services in the C band was a case study in more than just bureaucratic turf wars. It shows how failure to invest in technological upgrades can leave some players looking silly while they struggle to adjust to changing times.