Former Senator and presidential hopeful John Edwards is the first candidate to publicly address telecommunications policy -- specifically, how we should best use the analog spectrum.
The what? As of February 2009, over-the-air broadcasting will switch to digital, and television stations will no longer be using their analog airwaves. What will become of the analog spectrum after February 2009 is a matter of great value to our democracy. The spectrum, also known as the airwaves, are a publicly-owned resource. They belong to you and me, the American people -- and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Congress ought to ensure that the public receives some benefit from this valuable resource.
John Edwards, acknowledging the significance of providing fair access to the public airwaves, wrote a letter to the FCC with the following suggestions:
* Set aside as much as half of the spectrum for wholesalers who can lease access to smaller start-ups, which would improve service in rural and underserved areas
* Require anyone who wins rights to this valuable public resource not to discriminate among data and services and to allow any device to be attached to their service.
* Make bidding anonymous to avoid collusion and retaliatory bids.
A number of public interests groups are congratulating Mr. Edwards for addressing this issue and for raising the profile of the FCC, whose policies often remain under the radar. Spectrum policy is not always the most glamorous news topic, but what happens with our publicly owned airwaves is critical to ensuring that more Americans have fast and nondiscriminatory access to the world wide web.
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