Recommendation

Congress should require federal agencies to open more spectrum for commercial use.

Details

The proliferation of wireless applications has been a boon to the economy. But the benefits of the wireless economy are limited by inefficient spectrum allocations.

To that end, Congress should ensure the National Spectrum Strategy stays on schedule and considers all options to enable more commercial access to federal bands. It should also ensure that the process is evidence based, rather than allowing agencies’ status quo bias to stymie reform. Congress should also expand the Spectrum Relocation Fund to pay for upgraded equipment, relocation studies, general planning of relocation and/or sharing, and research into new, more efficient equipment for federal spectrum users.

The executive branch must advance the national interest with its spectrum holdings, which must ensure a robust pipeline for commercial uses. NTIA and the White House must not allow parochial interests of individual agencies to control a spectrum policy that works for both critical federal missions and expanded commercial access.

Keep reading:

▪ Joe Kane and Jessica Dine “Building on Uncle Sam’s ‘Beachfront’ Spectrum: Six Ways to Align Incentives to Make Better Use of the Airwaves” (ITIF, January 2023), https://itif.org/publications/2023/01/30/six-ways-to-align-incentives-to-make-better-use-of-the-airwaves/.

▪ Joe Kane, Comments to the NTIA Regarding Development of a National Spectrum Strategy, April 2023, https://itif.org/publications/2023/04/17/comments-to-ntia-regarding-development-of-national-spectrum-strategy/.

▪ Joe Kane et al., “Filling Gaps in US Spectrum Allocation: Reforms for Collaborative Management” (ITIF, February 2023), https://itif.org/publications/2023/02/27/filling-gaps-in-us-spectrum-allocation-reforms-for-collaborative-management/.