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The End of Spectrum Scarcity -- an article and a comment on the article
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sun, 29 Feb 2004 16:00:40 -0500
From: Steven Cherry <s.cherry () ieee org> Subject: The End of Spectrum Scarcity X-Sender: steven () pop panix com To: "David J. Farber" <dave () farber net> Dave,I think IPers will be interested in an article in our March issue, "The End of Spectrum Scarcity," by Kevin Werbach and Greg Staple.
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/publicfeature/mar04/0304scar.htmlThe following is a comment on the article referenced above from Gerry Faulhaber and Dave Farber. ( I distributed to IP the paper we wrote last year on this subject but in case you forgot, it is at:
http://rider.wharton.upenn.edu/~faulhabe/SPECTRUM_MANAGEMENTv51.pdf ) Comment: The Werbach-Staples article is a very nice intro to what we all hope will be an age of spectrum abundance, replacing the old regulatory order of spectrum scarcity. The authors mention both new technology (mesh networks, agile radio, UWB) and loosening licensing restrictions (leasing,etc.) as means to achieve this abundance. The old world of the FCC handing out restrictive licenses is about to go, the authors believe (perhaps hope). In its place, the hardware will ensure that interference is a thing of the past. Well, I hope too. But the hard work is ahead. The problem has never been spectrum licenses (even though exclusive use); the problem has always been regulation and the huge inefficiencies it generates. Spectrum licenses can easily co-exist with the new technologies, including open-access-type use ("Part 15" in FCC-speak). Licenses can easily co-exist within a market, in which licensees can not only lease but buy, sell and subdivide their spectrum licenses, subject only to frequency, power and other restrictions. It is regulation, not licenses, that has led to a false spectrum shortage. It is not that regulators are venal or slow-witted. The FCC has some of the brightest engineers and economists in this field. It is the regulatory process itself, which leads to lobbying, rent-seeking, obfuscation, blocking rivals and legal manuevering to achieve competitive advantage within this regulatory/legal process. Success comes from manipulating the regulatory/legal process, not building better equipment nor pleasing customers. As the authors point out, economists have argued for making spectrum licenses marketable; not because economists love exclusive-use licenses but because they believe, with overwhelming evidence, that markets are orders of magnitude more efficient that regulation. Engineers would like to replace the arbitrariness of the assignment of licenses and use an open-access approach to spectrum (the "spectrum commons"), as we now do in Part 15 spectrum, claiming we can let the hardware take care of interference and allocate spectrum in real time. Unfortunately, the history of Part 15 (and the UWB proceeding) demonstrates that we are not out of the regulatory woods -- not even close! Tho users need have no license to broadcast, manufacturers and service providers still struggle mightily at the FCC, holding up innovation for years, to gain advantage for their favorite use. "Open access" means everyone can use it; it doesn't mean there aren't rules. And there must be rules which are enforced. Who makes up the rules? Who enforces them? Well, it looks like it will end up being...the FCC, the regulator that brought us the present mess. We need both exclusive use licenses (FM radio, airport radars, etc.) and open access spectrum (Part 15, agile radio, etc.). What we need to get rid of is regulation! We need to undertake spectrum reform that takes the politics and bureaucrats out of the allocation and rulemaking process and let the private markets deal with it. Spectrum abundance? Bring it on. New advanced technologies? Bring 'em on. Regulation? High time we lost it, and let's make sure we don't let regulators in the back door on our way to abundance, or it may never happen. Professor Gerald R. Faulhaber Business and Public Policy Department Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104 David J. Farber Distinguished Career Professor of Computer Science and Public Policy Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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