Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Details on Market-based Solutions for Realigning Spectrum Use in the 800 MHz Band

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 15:29:08 -0400

Market-based Solutions for Realigning Spectrum Use in the 800 MHz Band
Lee L. Selwyn
Helen E. Golding1
Economics and Technology, Inc.

June 2003

I. Introduction: The path to efficient spectrum allocation

For more than a decade, the FCC's spectrum policy has been following a path toward greater reliance upon market forces to accomplish the policy objectives formerly achieved through regulatory mandate. Each year, the Commission has progressed further down this path. As the Commission leads the way into this policy frontier, there will be many occasions on which it will be asked to revert to its traditional "command and control" approaches to resolve specific problems (whether actual or perceived).2 Whenever possible, it is important that the Commission strive for solutions that rely upon market forces.

The Commission's leadership can best be exercised by establishing a comprehensive spectrum allocation framework in which the vast majority of the specific transactions take place in a competitive market. In this paper, we discuss how these principles apply to the issues that have been raised in WT Docket No. 02-55 and the various proposed solutions to interference with public safety licensees operating in the 800 MHz band. Among the earliest indicators of the major shift toward reliance upon market forces came with Congress' 1993 amendments to the Communications Act of 1934 which, among other things, authorized the Commission to assign licenses through competitive bidding in place of a contentious administrative hearing process. As of the Commission's Seventh CMRS Competition Report, over 37,000 licenses have been awarded through such auctions, raising in excess of $43-billion for the U.S. Treasury. Moreover, the Commission has been spared the administrative burden of holdinghearings on competing applications and defending its decisions against frequent appeals. In 1997,Congress extended the Commission's auction authority and expanded it to cover additional categories of licenses.
In conjunction with spectrum auctions, legislation enacted since the mid-1990s has promoted more flexible policies of spectrum allocation. Both the 1996 Telecommunications Act6 and the amendments contained in the 1997 Balanced Budget Act broadened the FCC's mandate to encourage broadcast spectrum flexibility.

More:
http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6514282392

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/ySSFAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/