White House unveils plan to free up spectrum for wireless broadband

President Barack Obama has signed a presidential memorandum committing the government to freeing up 500 MHz of spectrum over the next decade
for wireless broadband use, the White House announced on Monday.

The effort mirrors the same goal set by the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) in the National Broadband Plan, but adds new details on
where and how the spectrum will be found. It also tries to fast-track
the FCC’s proposals, asking for spectrum sources to be identified by
October.

In the White House’s most high-profile broadband speech to date,
National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers unveiled the initiative at the New America Foundation on Monday.

Calling
spectrum “this generation’s crucial resource,” he warned of a “spectrum
crunch” and touted the economic benefit of devoting
spectrum to wireless broadband.

“This policy is a win three times over,” he said. “It creates
prosperity and jobs while at the same time raising revenue for public
purposes like public safety and increasing our ability to compete
internationally.”

The executive memorandum directs the Commerce Department (through
the National Telecommunications and Information Administration) to work
with the FCC to locate spectrum by October, initiating an inventory of
federal and commercial spectrum.

The inventory can go forward independent of congressional efforts to
do the same, currently stalled in the Senate, a senior administration
official said.

The White House order also backed one of the
most explosive recommendations in the National Broadband Plan: Creating
incentive-based auctions for broadcasters to sell off their airwaves.

Summers said the strategy would allow for more efficient use of
those bands, citing situations in which broadcasting stations worth tens
of thousands of dollars may have rights to spectrum allotments worth
tens of millions of dollars.

But the White House made assurances on Monday that spectrum
relinquishments will be voluntary.

“The president supports a
voluntary approach, one in which people are only giving up spectrum if
it is something they want to do based on the compensation they are
getting,” a senior administration official said. “The philosophy is
win-win-win.”

The National Association of Broadcasters Executive Vice President
Dennis Wharton said the group “appreciates assurances that further
reclamation of broadcast television spectrum will be completely
voluntary … we’re convinced that America can have both the finest
broadband and broadcasting system in the world without jeopardizing the
future of free and local TV service to tens of millions of viewers.”

The new effort will also scour government agencies for inefficient
spectrum use — and for ways to share the allotments — while attempting to raise proceeds from the auctions within the federal bands. 

It will use proceeds from those transfers for public
safety programs and infrastructure projects, such as high-speed rail,
according to a senior administration official.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski issued a statement welcoming the White House
initiative on Monday.

“The Administration’s strong action today
is a critical step toward ensuring that America will lead the world in
mobile broadband,” he said in a statement, noting that the goals in the
National Broadband Plan “require exactly the kind of cross-government
collaboration outlined by the Administration today.”

The White House effort could help reinvigorate public attention to
the
National Broadband Plan, which has languished on the PR front as
questions of the FCC’s legal authority over broadband have overshadowed
the blueprint’s sweeping goals.  

One FCC voice, however, saw
the effort as largely symbolic.

“Memoranda announcing intentions
to act can be helpful, but they should not be mistaken for real
action,” Commissioner Robert McDowell, a Republican, said in a statement. “I
remain hopeful that the FCC will do its part to spur innovation and job
growth sooner rather than later.”