US Infrastructure Policy Needs to Incorporate Spectrum Issues, Says Ex-FCC Chief
Any Trump administration push for infrastructure investment shouldn't leave out "our 'invisible infrastructure' -- the unseen airwaves that enable wireless connections," wrote former FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, now Carlyle Group managing director-buyout team, Global Telecommunications, Media and Technology group, in…
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a Bloomberg column Friday. Pointing to McKinsey Global Institute estimates of IoT creating $4 trillion in economic benefits by 2025, Genachowski said that requires "we pay attention to invisible infrastructure." Along with spectrum being a limited resource, he said, "a significant amount of spectrum is still allocated for the uses of the past, not the needs of the future." Genachowski said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has "the experience and capability to develop new policies to unleash spectrum; the challenge will be to resist distraction and make it a high priority." Genachowski's spectrum recommendations: the FCC increase efforts to free up 500 MHz of spectrum for broadband by 2020; the agency, White House and Congress set "a bold target for 2030" that includes high-band spectrum for 5G; and free up additional unlicensed spectrum. Genachowski also pushed for more spectrum sharing: Current "allocations are decades old and inefficient -- with twice as much reserved for certain satellite uses as is needed, for example." He said there should be a push to remove barriers to broadband deployment through Congress and the White House giving the FCC greater ability to pre-empt "unreasonable" state and local restrictions and expanding dig-once policies. The piece has "terrific insights," Pai tweeted.