No Windfall in an Auction of the White Space

Ben Lennett — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:44:00 -0400

In a last ditch effort to derail the opening of vacant TV channels for unlicensed broadband and innovation, TV band incumbents have begun beating the drums for an auction, claiming there is a pot of gold in the "Swiss cheese" spectrum that separates local DTV stations. A new working paper, released by New America's Wireless Future Program explains why these claims are fool's gold that would result not only in a failed auction and negligible revenue, but the continued waste of invaluable TV band spectrum.

Wasted White Space

Rather than a windfall, a one-time auction of licenses useful for commercial services would provide negligible revenue to the Treasury, while simultaneously ensuring that most of this unused "beachfront" spectrum will remain unused, stifling innovation that could generate far more long-term economic growth and benefits. Given the need for expanded interference protections for higher-power licensed use, many of thethe nation's most populous metropolitan areas would have little or no useable white space available for an auction.

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The working paper can be found here.

IEEE Announces International Dynamic Spectrum Access Networks Symposium

Wireless Future — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:13:00 -0400

From Wireless Design Online:

The IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc), the leading worldwide professional organization dedicated to the advancement of communications technologies, will host the International Dynamic Spectrum Access Networks (DySPAN) symposium from October 14th to 17th in Chicago, Illinois at the Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel.

This year, more than 300 economists, engineers, network architects, researchers and academic scholars from the United States, Europe and Asia are expected to discuss the decentralized access of the radio spectrum, its operation in wider bandwidths and the ability to process large amounts of information, while making intelligent decisions. Highlighted during the event will also be the ways in which international regulators can capitalize on these advances to increase spectrum utilization and foster future wireless communications and networks.