March 2018

Washington became the first state in the country to pass its own network neutrality law in the wake of the Federal Communications Commission's repeal of the popular Obama-era rules. Gov Jay Inslee (D-WA) signed a bill forbidding internet service providers from blocking or throttling web content, or from charging websites for higher delivery speeds. During a ceremony for the bill signing, he called the legislation a "free speech bill." “All Washingtonians should enjoy equal and unfettered access to the educational, social and economic power of the internet,” Gov Inslee said.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is committed to ensuring that the government’s use of this valuable resource is as efficient and effective as possible. But what does it mean to be an efficient user of spectrum? And how can future systems make better use of spectrum? NTIA’s research laboratory, the Institute for Telecommunications Sciences (ITS), digs into these questions in a new report providing a thorough survey of the history of spectrum efficiency.