FCC releases new spectrum

From Inside Radio, June 18, 2010 (Advertisement)

Looking to alleviate some of the growing spectrum shortage crisis, the FCC has announced a plan to open new spectrum for mobile broadband development.  The Commission’s goal is to make 500 MHz of new spectrum available for Wi-Fi services by 2020.  That includes a plan to get TV stations to voluntarily return some of what they’re using.

“One of the FCC’s oldest and most important responsibilities is to develop wireless spectrum policies that stimulate investment and keep pace with innovation,” FCC chairman Julius Genachowski says. “This Spectrum Task Force initiative will open the door to exciting new opportunities in mobile -- new networks, new devices, new competition, and new technologies. The mobile broadband revolution is upon us, the opportunities are huge, and the FCC is committed to ensuring that America has the spectrum it needs to lead the world.”  The Commission will begin looking at how to distribute the mobile satellite service (MSS) bands next month.

In a 3-2 party line vote on Thursday, the FCC opened a proceeding that would potentially give the agency more authority to regulate broadband access.  The proposal is now open for public comment.   If adopted, it would classify the internet as a utility such as the telephone.  That would give the FCC more power to regulate market competition and consumer protection.  Genachowski has proposed a so-called “third way” approach that aims to find a regulatory middle ground of limited regulation.  “Let’s not pretend that the risk of excessive regulation is not real, or, at the other extreme, that the absence of basic protections for competition and consumers is acceptable,” he said at the Commission’s Thursday meeting.

Republican commissioners Robert McDowell and Meredith Atwell Baker believe the FCC should stay out of the internet regulation business.  Baker says the FCC’s involvement will put “the heavy thumb of government” on the free market.