A Left-Right Divide Exists Even on Issues As Wonky as Spectrum

A LEFT-RIGHT DIVIDE EXISTS EVEN ON ISSUES AS WONKY AS SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Lee Gomes]
[Commentary] How can there be left-right divides on wonky tech issues like radio-frequency spectrum auctions? Quite easily, judging from the recent controversy over what the FCC should do with the airwaves soon to be emptied by TV broadcasters as they shift from analog to digital transmissions. The battle raised ideological issues: How well do markets work all by themselves? How much does government help or hurt when it tries to nudge the economy in a particular direction? And should property rights be curbed for the public good and, if so, how? In the end, the FCC split the difference, giving the consumer groups two of the four restrictions they wanted. Whoever wins the auction will have to allow different uses of the spectrum and won't be able to prevent other companies' devices from connecting to the networks. The spectrum-auction controversy isn't the last time an ostensibly technological disagreement will be the proxy for a bigger political debate. Next year, the FCC will have to decide what to do with even more spectrum being cleared out by broadcasters. Many of the same consumer groups involved in the recent debate want the FCC to leave the spectrum unlicensed, allowing anyone to do anything they want with it as long as the devices they use meet certain technical specifications. That's the case with the spectrum now used for Wi-Fi computing, a market most of Silicon Valley would consider a great success. But the nation's broadcasters, who own this spectrum, are expected to oppose leaving it unlicensed. So will many conservatives, who say that if no one licenses the spectrum, no one will have an incentive to spend the money needed to develop it properly. Industries like broadcasters and mobile-phone providers have historically been big political contributors in Washington. In recent years, tech companies have learned to catch up. Now that the money from the two sides is canceling each other out, perhaps the better ideas will win.
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