The Wireless Innovation Act: Rational spectrum policy

[Commentary] Senator Marco Rubio has made a strong move for spectrum policy leadership, announcing a plan to introduce three bills that substantially reform America’s spectrum policy.

The Wireless Innovation Act (WIA) directs the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the previously toothless agency that coordinates the use of spectrum by federal agencies, to compile recommendations for the transfer of 200 MHz from the government to the people.

The WIA is not the kind of sweeping reform of the government spectrum status quo that we’re going to need eventually, but it’s a strong step in the right direction that tests the resolve of two key constituencies: Senate Democrats and NTIA. Perhaps the best thing about the WIA is the absolute deadlines it applies to government spectrum users: Three years from the delivery of the NTIA report, they’ll lose their authorization to use the 200 MHz of spectrum (even if they lose the memo.)

This is exactly the kind of sensible, rational, and technologically efficient approach to spectrum that’s long overdue.

[Bennett is a visiting fellow at AEI and was vice-chair of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) task group]