Whitespaces after the USA´s TV incentive auction: A spectrum reallocation case study

Spectrum has traditionally been allocated for single uses and by now most of the “prime” spectrum has well-entrenched incumbent users. When a new service needs spectrum, there are two qualitatively distinct ways of making bandwidth available for it. A swath of incumbent users can be removed from a band, with the cleared band being reallocated for the new service. Alternatively, the new users can be allowed to utilize the interstitial spectrum holes (i.e. whitespaces) between incumbent users, with the requirement to protect the incumbents´ QoS. But these can also be used in combination by partially clearing a band and opening up the rest for whitespace-style sharing. In this case, the ability of regulators to “repack” incumbents, e.g. alter their operating channels, can reduce the need to evict them. An open question has been how whitespaces and partial spectrum clearing interact with each other and the ability to repack incumbents. Do efficient repacks completely eliminate whitespaces?