Waves of Innovation: Spectrum Allocation in the Age of the Mobile Internet

Waves of Innovation: Spectrum Allocation in the Age of the Mobile Internet
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
12:00 PM-1:30 PM

For many of us the term "spectrum policy" has to do with allocating relatively small parts of the radio frequency space to specific applications such as AM and FM radio, television, and public safety. It is a notion more apt for a time when we watched TV over the air and made phone calls over a wireline network. Today these patterns of usage are reversed and we live in a world where mobile broadband has emerged as a general-purpose technology that can support a wide range of applications. We need a need for general-purpose spectrum and spectrum policy that is ready for this and future technological advances. Join ITIF for an exploration of lessons learned in wireless networking that impact spectrum assignment policies and contemporary issues in spectrum policy such as the development of 3G and 4G networks, the rise of Wi-Fi and other unlicensed technologies, the role of microwave, the impact of dynamic spectrum allocation, the utility of spectrum auctions, secondary uses, and secondary markets.

Moderator:
Richard Bennett
Senior Research Fellow, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Participants:
Neeta A. Bidwai
Senior Policy Advisor, Office of Senator Mark Warner (D-VA)

Steven J. Crowley
Consulting Engineer, Steven J. Crowley P.E.

Thomas W. Hazlett
Professor of Law and Economics, George Mason University

Matthew Hussey
Legislative Assistant, Office of Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME)

Charles Jackson
Adjunct Professor of Electrical Engineering, George Washington University

Hal J. Singer
Managing Director and Principal, Navigant Economics

Capitol Hill Location to be announced