Tech Daily Dose

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced Thursday that the commission will raise three items related to unleashing spectrum during the agency's November meeting. More spectrum (airwaves) is needed to power the rapid growth of mobile broadband.

The first item will be a notice of proposed rulemaking for implementing spectrum incentive auctions in anticipation of Congress approving such a measure. The incentive auction rule would explore a licensing framework to allow for channel sharing.

A notice of proposed rulemaking to expand experimental spectrum licensing will be the second item. The goal of this proposal is to accelerate innovation and reduce the amount of time it takes for an idea to "get from the lab to the market," Genachowski said.

The chairman noted that under traditional avenues, it can take six to 13 years to repurpose spectrum licenses.

The third item up for discussion at the November meeting is a notice of inquiry to accelerate the "opportunistic" uses of spectrum. This is an attempt to advance the use of secondary markets for spectrum through dynamic leasing, among other measures.

The High Tech Spectrum Coalition applauded the FCC for supporting voluntary incentive auctions as a means of bringing more spectrum to market. The HTSC counts the Consumer Electronics Association, the Information Technology Industry Council and the Telecommunications Industry Association, among their members.

Genachowski's remarks came at a spectrum summit held at the FCC Thursday.