Whether looking at fixed network speeds, mobile network speeds or coverage in developing nations, Internet access availability, as tough as it might be, is a problem human ingenuity is able to solve. Consider spectrum sharing.
The 2012 President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology on spectrum reform report, known as the PCAST Report, if implemented, would represent a major innovation in assignment and use of spectrum, with some significant advantages for spectrum efficiency.
The PCAST “reforms” would end the practice of clearing government spectrum for auction to the private sector in the form of exclusive licenses, opting instead for the creation of a government-managed spectrum commons.
That is a big change.
The PCAST report proposes that perhaps 1,000 MHz of spectrum currently in government hands could be shared by commercial users.
The study also suggests current license holders might agree to share their spectrum in exchange for revenue sharing or pay-for-prioritization schemes.
PCAST is important as it represents one more way, aside from actual auctions of new spectrum, better air interface technology, new network architectures and use of offload mechanisms, that future spectrum and bandwidth issues can be addressed.
As was true for digital subscriber line technology, which some knowledgeable technologists suggested would never work in volume deployment, former technological barriers fall over time when enough effort is put into overcoming such barriers.
It seems inevitable that “spectrum exhaust” likewise will be finessed.
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