Commercial Spectrum: Plans and Actions to Meet Future Needs, Including Continued Use of Auctions

United States. Government Accountability Office.

United States. Government Accountability Office.

关键词: Government accountability -- United States.;    telecommunications;    business regulation and consumer protection;    commercial spectrum;    letter report;   

RP-ID  :  GAO-12-118
RP-ID  :  586481

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1994, FCC has made over 520 megahertz (a measure of quantity) of spectrum available for new uses, such as wireless broadband, through a process that can be lengthy. Because most of the usable spectrum in the United States has been allocated to existing uses, FCC must change its rules to move spectrum from an existing use to a new use, a process known as repurposing spectrum. Yet, this process can be lengthy—from 7 to 15 years for the six repurposings that GAO reviewed. Four factors contribute to the time it takes FCC to repurpose spectrum: the regulatory nature of the process, which to some extent is guided by statute; opposition of incumbent users, who could be required to vacate spectrum; coordination challenges between FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which oversees federal agencies’ use of spectrum, on the repurposing of federal spectrum for commercial use; and concerns about interference from users of spectrum in adjacent bands of spectrum. FCC has identified voluntary approaches that it thinks could speed the process, but these approaches generally require congressional approval and face some stakeholder opposition."