Use It or Share It

This report updates and expands on a paper the author presented nearly a decade ago at the Research Conference on Communication, Information and Internet Policy (TPRC), which predated the Federal Communications Commission’s adoption of a use-it-or-share-it approach in several underutilized bands. These use-it-or-share-it precedents should pave the way to an authorization of opportunistic access as the default policy for a growing number of underutilized and newly allocated or auctioned bands, both federal and commercial. A national goal of not merely universal access to broadband, but of truly pervasive connectivity—high-capacity connectivity anywhere and anytime at affordable prices—will require an enormous increase in available spectrum capacity. A use-or-share rule expands productive use of spectrum and facilitates more communication and consumer welfare without the undue risk of harmful interference or the undermining of primary licensees’ deployment plans.