Modernizing US Spectrum Policy

The House Commerce Committee is issuing a series of white papers as the first step toward modernizing the laws governing the communications and technology sector.

The committee initiated an examination of the regulation of the communications industry, and seeks comments from all interested parties on the future of the law. The most recent white paper focuses on spectrum policy. The Committee poses 10 questions and is asking for public input by April 25, 2014.

1. What structural changes, if any, should be made to the FCC to promote efficiency and predictability in spectrum licensing?
2. What role should unlicensed spectrum play in the wireless ecosystem? How should unlicensed spectrum be allocated and managed for long-term sustainability and flexibility?
3. What should be done to encourage efficient use of spectrum by government users?
4. What steps can be taken to increase the amount of commercially available spectrum?
5. Should the Act permit the FCC to use expected auction revenue as the basis for a public interest finding? What criteria should the FCC consider as part of its analysis?
6. Should all FCC licenses be flexible use? In what instances should the Commission exercise control over the service offered? How can the Act enable better use of spectrum, either flexible or specified?
7. What principles should Congress and the FCC consider when addressing spectrum aggregation limits? How has the converging marketplace and growing demand for services changed the discussion of spectrum aggregation?
8. How effectively has the FCC used the tools at its disposal to encourage competition?
9. What is the best balance between mitigating interference concerns and avoiding limiting flexibility in the future? Can engineering and forward-looking spectrum strategies account for the possibility of unanticipated technologies and uses in adjacent spectrum bands? How do we promote flexibility without unreasonably increasing the cost of services and devices? Does the Act provide the FCC tools to address this problem?
10. What role should NTIA play in the licensing and management of spectrum? Is their current role appropriate and necessary, given the potentially duplicative functions of the FCC and NTIA in spectrum allocation and assignment?