Let us look at one of the oh-so-many turf wars in DC. The turf in question? Spectrum:
“Spectrum is the airwaves we use for all things wireless. From your intercontinental cell phone all the way down to your car key fob. The spectrum supply is finite – and not all spectrum is equally useful. Think of it as a Monopoly board. Some spectrum is Boardwalk and Park Place – some is Baltic and Mediterranean Avenues. And varying degrees in between.”
Most spectrum belongs to the federal government. Shocker: It’s using it very inefficiently. And it is very inefficiently getting more of it out to the private sector. Where it can be better used – in either a licensed or unlicensed fashion.
Unlicensed?: “Unlicensed spectrum is a part of the electromagnetic spectrum that can be assigned to or shared with anyone for non-exclusive usage….”
Licensed?: “Licensed spectrum is a part of the electromagnetic spectrum assigned exclusively to mobile network operators (MNOs) for independent usage.”
Except we are in a race with Communist China in the licensed spectrum space:
“(W)hen there is a race with China that we can still win? We must set aside our political and cultural neuroses – and get serious. To wit: The Fifth Generation (5G) wireless race.
“As with most things these days, the ‘global’ race – is really between just two horses: US and China. And here’s a fun fact: The nation that gets to 5G first – gets to set the 5G rules and standards for the rest of the planet.
“Given that 5G will incept the Internet of Things (IoT)? In which tens of millions of items will be connected to the Web – and which will traffic in INSANE amounts of our digital data? China being in charge is a really bad idea.
“The fuel for this race – is spectrum.”
And lest we forget….
Unlicensed Spectrum Doesn’t Help With Our China Problem
The current turf battle in the DC Spectrum War is over what is known as the mid-band:
“Mid-band (also called Sub-6) is the most practical spectrum for wireless data transmission.”
The government still holds about 60% of the mid-band spectrum (3,390 MHz). Of the remaining 40%? The government has allocated to unlicensed spectrum – the kind nigh utterly useless in the China-5G race – 33% (1,905 MHz). That means just 7% (450 MHz) has been licensed.
And yet the unlicensed advocates are demanding even more unlicensed spectrum. And the chief unlicensed advocates? Are Comcast and the other dinosaur wired Internet providers.
You’ve heard the phrase “cutting the cord”:
“Cord cutting refers to the process of cancelling traditional cable or satellite TV subscriptions in favor of alternative, often internet-based services….”
And with the speed and availability advances wireless Internet providers have delivered? With licensed spectrum, it is important to add? More and more people are cutting their wired Internet cords too.
Wireless is MUCH cheaper to deliver. Because you don’t have to dig trenches to lay wires across every inch of the United States. Which, in case you haven’t noticed, is a pretty large place.
And wireless is providing speeds fast enough to do what everyone wants. Just about everywhere everyone wants to do it.
Wireless is the future. Wired is the past. And Comcast and the Dinosaurs are freaking the heck out. So they are looking to block their faster, nimbler mammalian competitors – by hogging all the spectrum.
And so far, DC has largely obliged them. Including now steadfastly denying realities it had previously acknowledged.
DC used to acknowledge wireless service as an Internet connection. Mostly because it is. Here’s the Barack Obama Administration in 2015 doing exactly that:
“President Obama announced that we’ve reached our major broadband connectivity goal — 98 percent of Americans nationwide are now connected to high-speed wireless Internet, surpassing any point in history.”
Except the federal government subsequently stopped acknowledging wireless. Despite wireless’ quantum leaps forward in speed and availability.
Why on Earth would they do that, you ask?
Because it allowed government to pretend less people were connected. So they could continue to waste hundreds of billions of dollars on “connectivity” boondoggles.
Oh: And because government didn’t acknowledge wireless? Nearly all the government “connectivity” boondoggle money has gone to Comcast and the Dinosaurs.
And now Comcast and the Dinosaurs are looking for another government favor. They want to continue to hog the wireless spectrum.
Which is bad national spectrum policy. Because it is DC favoring yesterday’s technology over tomorrow’s.
And it is bad national security policy – because it damages US in our China-5G race.
Here’s hoping the America First Donald Trump Administration reverses this ridiculous course.