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Spectrum Access

The electromagnetic spectrum, comprised of frequency bands that transmit electronic communications, represents one of our greatest public resources. Unlike grazing land or forests, however, spectrum can be virtually inexhaustible. More importantly, its use can evolve and change with advances in technology and changing social circumstances. MAP believes that taking a more modern approach to our use of spectrum space would greatly improve access to communications for many Americans, catalyzing massive social and economic growth.

Outdated Regulations

Regulation of spectrum use has traditionally relied on a basic technological limitation. If two people try to broadcast on the same frequency at the same time, they interfere with each other. As a result, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) currently issues exclusive licenses that allow a single party to use a band of spectrum.

Recently, however, technology has advanced such that old rules about interference no longer apply. Modern “smart” transmitters and “smart” receivers allow multiple, competing users to operate in the same band of spectrum without interfering with one another. Yet FCC spectrum licensing structures still operate under an outdated technical framework that assigns spectrum to a single user, which often utilizes this scarce resource in an inefficient way.

Studies of spectrum use on the East Coast show that at any given moment, less than 10 percent of frequency bands is being utilized. Further, according to some estimates, the federal government owns or shares over 65 percent of allocated spectrum bands – yet agencies use only a small portion of that spectrum at one time.

New regulations allowing for more efficient use of these spectrum bands would open countless new avenues for free expression, civic discourse, and technological innovation.

But large industry groups that have long enjoyed monopoly use of the public airwaves, and have paid billions of dollars at auction to control those airwaves, object to this new “commons” approach to spectrum management. They argue that they should be able to use spectrum space as they see fit, without regard to public access or technological innovation.

MAP’s Mission

Media Access Project is dedicated to maintaining three iron principles in spectrum management:

  1. Spectrum belongs to the public, and the law prevents the FCC from turning it into private property.
  2. Those with exclusive rights to use spectrum must also serve the public interest.
  3. The public is best served by allowing as many people, institutions, and other entities to use spectrum space as technology will permit; the FCC should therefore favor expanding unlicensed uses to the extent technology allows.

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