http://www.newamerica.net/taxonomy/term/975 The taxonomy view with a depth of 0. en http://www.newamerica.net/pressroom/2007/jh_snider_on_spectrum_auction_nextel_in_gigaom <div class="field field-type-text field-field-body-copy"> <strong>New America in the News:</strong><br /> <p>Like a fresh spring breeze, new radio-frequency spectrum is in the air. It is so close that you can almost smell it -- and seek to keep others away from it.<br /><br />The next big spectrum land grab is over 700 Megahertz (MHz.) It’s the promised land of “beachfront property” that broadcasters are set to vacate on February 19, 2009, when the transition to digital television is supposed to be complete. Lots of folks are jockeying now to lock up these airwaves...<br /><br />With the February 2006 passage of the DTV legislation, 60 of those 108 megahertz will be opened at auction by January 2008... </p><p>But if you don’t want to actually pay for the best frequencies, there’s always the good old-fashioned way: convince politicians to give it to you. Morgan O’Brien has perfected this strategy. He used it in 1990 to convert his radio-dispatcher frequencies into cell-phone licenses and jump start cellular carrier FleetCall...<br /><br />“If there were a Nobel Prize for lobbying, I would give it to Nextel and Morgan O’Brien,” said <strong>J.H. Snider</strong>, research director of the New America Foundation’s Wireless Future Program...</p><p>For the complete article, please visit the <a href="http://gigaom.com/2007/04/06/inside-the-700-mhz-spectrum-land-grab/" target="_blank">GigaOm</a> website. </p></div> J.H. Snider GigaOm Spectrum Policy Reform Wireless Future Program Telecom &amp; Technology Fri, 06 Apr 2007 14:25:00 -0400 Communications 5127 at http://www.newamerica.net