There’s an important new study out that offers some historical analysis of spectrum auctions and how they can best be fashioned to benefit the economy and consumers . The study, by Georgetown University’s Center for Business and Public Policy visiting senior policy scholar... Read The Story...

There’s an important new study out that offers some historical analysis of spectrum auctions and how they can best be fashioned to benefit the economy and consumers . The study, by Georgetown University’s Center for Business and Public Policy visiting senior policy scholar Anna-Maria Kovacs, analyzed previous spectrum auctions to determine its consumer benefits and overall revenue impact.

Ms. Kovacs closely studied Auction 73, the 700 MHz spectrum auction run in 2008. She concluded that an auction open to all bidders, such as the 2008 Auction 73, can be successful for both competition and for maximizing federal revenue gains. Winning bidders in that auction included both small and larger companies – and that small players actually did well: bidders serving less than 10% of wireless subscribers won 28% of the MHz/POP (per unit of population).

What does this historical analysis mean today? As Congress takes the step to give the FCC the authority to hold incentive auctions to free-up additional spectrum, Ms. Kovacs analysis shows how an auction that is open to all bidders will yield the best results. Her study raises serious concerns about an auction that imposes restrictions on bidders:

“Bottom Line: That an incentive auction that imposes conditions and excludes the largest bidders will reduce proceeds to the Treasury is assured. That it will benefit consumers is uncertain, at best.”

The study clearly shows that an open auction is most beneficial to consumers and the economy.

The thoughtful Wall Street Journal piece by Gordon Crovitz (2/6) raises several concerns regarding the voluntary auction of reallocated spectrum. While most agree that we are rapidly approaching a spectrum crunch and that it is critical that more spectrum be made available, exactly how that spectrum will be allocated is a subject of great debate.

The sub-header of the editorial points to heart of the problem: “The government wants to pick the winners and losers before the bidding begins.” This would be quite unfortunate. It’s important for all carriers to be able to participate equally in the auction. Consumers rely on their carriers for better service and coverage, and obtaining more spectrum will help carriers build the networks that serve these customers.

Wow! The 2012 Super Bowl game was a super time for tweeting. The evening’s game started with about 10,000 tweets per second and by the final moments of the game the number of tweets increased to over 12,000 per second! That’s a good deal of action on the mobile broadband network. Does anyone out there really think that we’re not heading toward a spectrum crunch?

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Consumer Resources

Below are additional resources to more information about online privacy.

Consumer Guide to Online Privacy (PDF)
What is 4G Wireless Service? (PDF)
Consumer Online Privacy Survey
2008 Online Safety Survey
bNetS@vvy
www.onguardonline.gov
www.ikeepsafe.org/
www.getnetwise.org
www.fosi.org
www.enough.org

Other Organizations

National Caucus and Center on Black Aged:
http://www.ncba-aged.org/

National Consumers League:
http://www.nclnet.org/