Promoting Spectrum Sharing In the Wireless Broadband Era

Working in consultation with the Federal Communications Commission, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has made good progress toward President Barack Obama’s target of freeing up 500 megahertz of spectrum for licensed and unlicensed wireless broadband services by 2020.

To achieve the President’s goal, we need to move beyond the traditional approach of clearing government-held spectrum of federal users in order to auction it off to the private sector for exclusive use. Too often, relocating incumbent operations is too costly, too time-consuming and too disruptive to federal missions. The future lies in sharing spectrum -- across government agencies and commercial services, and across time, geography and other dimensions in the future. If spectrum sharing is to become reality, we need to build trust. Trust in dynamic sharing technology, including spectrum databases and smart radios that can track which frequencies are available for use, trust between the public and private sectors, and trust in policies and processes to ensure that everyone plays by the rules.


Promoting Spectrum Sharing In the Wireless Broadband Era