Fixing spectrum auctions - [Opinion]

THIS FALL, THE U.S. FEDERAL Communications Commission has a chance to set a precedent for how one of the most precious of resources in modern society-radio spectrum-is valued. That precedent could in turn help jump-start the next era of wireless innovation. • As part of its rulemaking around the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), the FCC will make available up to 150 megahertz of spectrum for wireless communications. Historically, the agency and spectrum buyers have arrived at a price for spectrum based on how many people it could cover. Thus, prices are measured relative to "MHz pops" (megahertz passing one person). So if you have 3 MHz capable of reaching 2 million people, you designate that as 6 million MHz pops. • With the CBRS band, this equation should change. The FCC needs to start thinking beyond cellphones and people: We are now building a world of connected devices, where sensors, appliances, drones, and tractors need cellular connections too. • CBRS is a vast swath of spectrum in the 3,550-to-3,700-MHz range currently used by the U. S. Navy and some satellite providers. It's relatively lightly used, so the FCC proposed in 2014 that this band be opened, for example, to companies seeking to enhance and deploy LTE networks in a way that's similar to Wi-Fi. • So far, the band is attracting a lot of interest beyond the traditional cellular carriers and cable companies. For example, the National Football League and GE Digital, the company's IoT arm, have asked the FCC for permission to build trial versions of these new types of Wi-Fi-like networks. The biggest sticking point is how large, geographically, the license grants should be.