"What debates have caused spectrum policy to change course, and which will determine its future direction? This book examines these issues through a series of essays from a range of notable experts. The backdrop is a period of turbulent change in what was once a quiet backwater. The past quarter century has seen wireless connectivity go from nice-to-have luxury to the cornerstone of success as nations battle for leadership of the digital economy. The change has been reflected in the crucial role now played by markets mechanisms in a field once dominated by administrative decisions. Spectrum policy's goals have moved far beyond the efficient use of the airwaves to include encouraging economic development, investment, innovation, sustainability and digital inclusivity. Are historic procedures still appropriate in the face of this multiplicity of demands? Are market mechanisms like auctions still the best way to deliver what has become essential infrastructure? Does the process of international co-ordination need to change? Is spectrum policy's effectiveness limited by the power of global economic forces? Can it reduce rather than add to global warming? Where does 6G and AI fit in? Is public perception the new spectrum policy battle ground? These are all issues examined in The debates shaping spectrum policy"--

What debates have caused spectrum policy to change course and which will determine its future direction? This book examines these issues through a series of chapters from a range of notable experts. The backdrop is a period of turbulent change in what was once a quiet backwater. The past quarter century has seen wireless connectivity go from nice-to-have luxury to the cornerstone of success as nations battle for leadership of the digital economy. The change has been reflected in the crucial role now played by market's mechanisms in a field once dominated by administrative decisions. Spectrum policy’s goals have moved far beyond the efficient use of the airwaves to include encouraging economic development, investment, innovation, sustainability and digital inclusivity. Are historic procedures still appropriate in the face of this multiplicity of demands? Are market mechanisms like auctions still the best way to deliver what has become essential infrastructure? Does the process of international coordination need to change? Is spectrum policy’s effectiveness limited by the power of global economic forces? Can it reduce rather than add to global warming? Where does 6G and AI fit in? Is public perception the new spectrum policy battle ground? These are all issues examined in The Debates Shaping Spectrum Policy.

This chapter for a book on the future of digital television examines how spectrum policy priorities came to shape today's television broadcast system and the issues that will influence the future of wireless video. As video services come to migrate freely between wired and wireless platforms, and as broadcast television merges with other forms of wireless video, spectrum policy and the public interest values that it reflects will shape the video value chain. These values are often crosscutting and require tradeoffs among such interests as maintaining existing communications services, technical innovation, spectrum efficiency, universal service, media diversity, and competition. What tradeoffs are made, and what they cost, is too frequently hidden from public view.

Spectrum policy debates are generally divided between advocates for more robust property rights that would allow Coasian bargaining and advocates for spectrum commons that would permit more unlicensed applications. As recent debates about the upcoming broadcast spectrum incentive auctions indicate, there is also basic disagreement about what the Federal Communications Commission's role should be in managing spectrum for mobile wireless devices. Some advocates seek enhanced regulation that would implement bright-line limits of spectrum holdings and/or differentiate between spectrum bands in evaluations of spectrum aggregation, e.g., a separate limit for sub-1 GHz holdings, while others argue that the FCC should largely refrain from limiting spectrum aggregation across spectrum bands by wireless carriers. These debates are often seen as contests between the regulated and the regulator, i.e., wireless carriers and their organizations against the FCC, with a repetitive dynamic: the regulator seeks to implement its statutory mission by means of further regulation while the players in the industry resist constraints on their ability to act, or alternatively, seek regulation that furthers particular interests, e.g., regulation that benefits the dominant players, while disfavoring smaller competitors and new entrants. Interestingly, contemporary spectrum policy debates involve a broader set of actors than the regulators and the regulated. Today, spectrum policy advocates include numerous organizations and individuals that are not directly regulated, but believe they have a stake in spectrum policy. These advocates are distinct in their increased use and engagement with social media and new forms of Internet based advocacy instead of traditional processes, e.g., filing comments with the FCC at appropriate times in response to proposed rule makings. New forms of advocacy could allow for highly technical spectrum policy debates to engage large audiences, which encourages further participation by non-traditional actors. Despite its seemingly abstract and technical nature, spectrum policy is being debated in real time on Twitter on Facebook around the world and occupying the same space as commentary about Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga. This paper utilizes new tools for analyzing social media postings to understand the scope and contours of spectrum policy debates happening on social media. Raw Twitter and Facebook feed data is collected and analyzed using a variety of computational methods, including event detection, sentiment analysis, informational analysis and trending topic analysis. Visualization tools are also used to provide insight into the underlying data. These insights and analysis are then used to chart key events that lead to bursts of online activity; to map the geographic distribution of contributions, including international debates; and to synthesize recurring themes and memes. Based upon these empirical results, this paper seeks to engage academic debates regarding the contemporary politics of spectrum policy; the effect of online social media on policy debates, particularly regarding highly technical issues and resource allocation; and the efficacy of certain types of Internet engagement, including the social media efforts of the FCC and other established actors in this sphere.

Annotation Because the wireless industry is less capital intensive than others sectors in the telecommunications marketplace, it is expected to enjoy continued profitability. With survival at stake, telecommunications companies must ready themselves for battle to win access and operations rights in the wireless communications spectrum. This book maps out the strategies required to fight this battle by explaining how a telecommunications company should structure its entry and operations in the spectrum.

Across the globe, there are more than four thousand policy institutes, or think tanks, that research or advocate for economic and social development. Yet the relationship between these organizations and the policies they influence is not well understood. How Think Tanks Shape Social Development Policies examines case studies drawn from a range of political and economic systems worldwide to provide a detailed understanding of how think tanks can have an impact on issues such as education policy, infrastructure, environment and sustainable development, economic reform, poverty alleviation, agricultural and land development, and social policy. Each chapter provides an overview of the approaches and organizational structures of specific think tanks, as well as the political, economic, and social opportunities and the challenges of the environments in which they operate. The contributors study the stages of innovative think-tank-aided strategies implemented in highly industrialized world powers like the United States and Russia, emerging countries such as China, India, Brazil, and South Korea, and developing nations that include Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania. Accompanied by an extensive introduction to contextualize the history and theory of policy institutes, this comprehensive comparison of policy success stories will be instructive and transferable to other think tanks around the globe. Contributors: Assefa Admassie, Celso Castro, Kristina Costa, Francisco Cravioto, Marek Dabrowski, Matt Dann, He Fan, Rajeev Gowda, Oh-Seok Hyun, Christian Koch, Jitinder Kohli, R. Andreas Kraemer, Elena Lazarou, William Lyakurwa, Ashwin Mahesh, Florencia Mezzadra, Partha Mukhopadhyay, Mcebisi Ndletyana, Sridhar Pabbisetty, Miguel Pulido, Marco Aurelio Ruediger, María Belén Sánchez, Dmitri Trenin, Samuel Wangwe, Vanesa Weyrauch, Maria Monica Wihardja, Rebecca Winthrop, Wang Xiaoyi.