DALLAS - The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) supports Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai’s policy, announced today, to conduct an open public auction of 280 mhz of the C-band. This announced policy is the right policy for continued innovation and expansion of wireless, and follows a well-understood and largely successful path of public spectrum auctions.
“It’s time for this controversy to be over, and to move on to the public auction,” said IPI President Tom Giovanetti. A public auction meets Chairman Pai’s four principles, which were (1) free up significant spectrum for #5G, (2) do so quickly, (3) generate revenue for the federal government, and (4) ensure continued delivery of services currently using the C-band. A public auction is in the best interests of the nation, in the best interests of continued innovation in wireless, and in the best interests of consumers.”
“The proposed alternative would have run significant risk of cronyism, and worse, would have followed the failed policies of the past with government created or sanctioned competitors acting as unnecessary middlemen. It was precisely the kind of government-managed scheme that might have succeeded under a previous FCC, but thankfully not during the Trump administration and not under the stewardship of Chairman Pai.”
IPI commends the FCC for today’s announcement, and urges prompt movement toward a successful public auction for C-band spectrum.