The opportunity of private sector sharing of government spectrum [Spectrum Policy and Regulatory Issues]

As recent history has shown, the challenges of sharing government spectrum between commercial and public users are long standing, but not intractable. A 1991 National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) study, U.S. Spectrum Management Policy: Agenda for the Future, set a road map for spectrum auctions in the United States and elsewhere in the world. The study made other recommendations that covered "increased sharing of spectrum between private sector and government users" and NTIA\´s plans to explore fees "to promote greater efficiency among federal agency spectrum users," including through a shadow market price or as a cost recovery tool. Nearly a quarter century after the NTIA study was released, the factors behind the relative effectiveness of auctions and sharing vs. market-based fees for increasing the efficiency of spectrum use are instructive for the next chapter of spectrum policy.