Spectrum Wars: The Policy and Technology Debate .

• Author: Rosston, Gregory L.
• Position: Book Review

Spectrum Wars: The Policy and Technology Debate, Jennifer A. Manner, Boston: Artech House, 2003, 186 pages.

1. INTRODUCTION 439 II. THE FREQUENCY MANAGEMENT PROCESS 440 III. MOVING TO A BETTER PROCESS 443 IV. CHANGES IN THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS MARKETPLACE 444 V. CONCLUSION 445 I. INTRODUCTION

   Not surprisingly, lawyers and economists have different viewpoints about a large variety of regulatory apparatuses. Economists have tended to come up with relatively simple and straightforward ways to reform spectrum policy to combat the inefficiency and tortuous nature of the spectrum allocation and assignment process. Spectrum Wars should convince any reader that radical reform of the current system, which is rife with inefficiency and special interest wrangling, would be a substantial improvement.

   The book goes a level further than most spectrum analyses do--it tries to integrate the complex relationship between domestic spectrum policy and international spectrum concerns. Given the author's career in the international arena this is not surprising, and the numerous tangible examples of spectrum fights add useful institutional detail to the complex, confusing, and contentious spectrum processes.

   Spectrum Wars can be divided into three major parts: a deep background of the institutional detail of the frequency management process, a description of the tensions between different theories on how to change spectrum management, and finally, a view about how the changes in the telecommunications marketplace may affect future spectrum management proceedings.

2. THE FREQUENCY MANAGEMENT PROCESS

   Many parties have argued that the frequency management process is obsolete, inefficient, and anticompetitive. But the author's description of several different "wars" for spectrum illuminates the infirmities in the current system. The examples highlight the need for deft inside-the-beltway counsel and knowledge of the entire domestic and international spectrum management process. However, the examples also highlight the fact that the current system provides little, if any, impetus to using spectrum to provide the most socially valuable services while generating long socially costly delays and large amounts of unnecessary spending. Perhaps the most important lesson from the book is that, by unpacking the spectrum war examples, the inefficiency of the current domestic and global spectrum management systems become clear.

   One of the examples in the book is the dispute over the 28 GHz band (otherwise known as the Ka band) that took place in the mid-1990s. (1) A closer examination of the details of that "war" demonstrates why the solutions do not serve the public interest. In that "war," I was one of the "judges" at the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC" or the "Commission") while Ms. Manner represented one of the parties to the dispute. A significant amount of spectrum was available, but it was less than the total sought by the parties involved.

   At the top level, there were four general competing interests. The first group was comprised of Geostationary satellite system ("GSO") companies. One of these companies, Hughes Spaceway, proposed a stationary satellite system that would complement its DirecTV DBS service with additional voice, video and high-speed data services. Hughes and other GSO companies wanted much of the band allocated for GSO service. (2) A second group of...