1. The Myth of Spectrum Scarcity Steve Song Telecommunications Fellow Shuttleworth Foundation email:steve.song@shuttleworthfoundation.org blog:http://manypossibilities.net skype:steve_l_song twitter:stevesongsteve.song@shuttleworthfoundation.orghttp://manypossibilities.net

3. What Is Spectrum?

4. Why Does Spectrum Need To Be Managed? Interference

5. Spectrum - Public or Private Good Rival Non- Rival Excludable Non-Excludable Private goods food, clothing, toys, furniture, cars Common goods / (Common-pool resources) fish, hunting game, water Club goods satellite television Public goods national defense, free- to-air television, air

6. FM Radio Television Mobile WiMax WiFi The Communications Spectrum

7. Better Propagation More bandwidth per Hertz All Spectrum Is Not Created Equal

8. Source: The Mobile Provide: Economic Impacts of Alternative Uses of the Digital Dividend

9. Better Propagation More bandwidth per Hertz All Spectrum Is Not Created Equal

10. Cooper's Law Every 30 months the amount of information that be can transmitted over a given amount of radio spectrum doubles. Cooper's Law http://www.economist.com/sciencetechnology/tq/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13725793

11. The core of today's spectrum policy was developed in the 1930s... King Farouk in the inauguration of the international telecommunications congress 1938 which was fine until...

12. ...until the explosive growth of InternetMobile

13. InternetMobile So what needs to happen?

14. 1) Audit and publish spectrum use

15. “According to the best available data, at any one place and any one time in the U.S. it is likely that less than 10% of available spectrum is in use.” - Sascha Meinrath, New America Foundation

16. 1) Audit and publish spectrum use “According to the best available data, at any one place and any one time in the U.S. it is likely that less than 10% of available spectrum is in use.” - Sascha Meinrath, New America Foundation A recent spectrum audit of Dublin, Ireland showed that only 14% of available spectrum was in use. - Irish Communications Market: Key Data Report

17. 2) Standards for transparency and equity in spectrum auctions

18. Recent spectrum auction in the United States of the 700Mhz band resulted in 20 billion USD revenue for government.

19. 2) Standards for transparency and equity in spectrum auctions Recent spectrum auction in the United States of the 700Mhz band resulted in 20 billion USD revenue for government. Without good governance, natural resource wealth turns out to be worse for poor countries than if they hadn’t had those resources at all. - Paul Collier – The Bottom Billion

20. 3) Start sharing spectrum

21. Lite Licensing Sept 26, 2008 – 802.11y- 2008 “lite licensing” standard approved by the IEEE

22. 3) Start sharing spectrum Serendipitous Re-Use Nov 4, 2008 – Unlicensed use of Television White Spaces spectrum approved in the United States Lite Licensing Sept 26, 2008 – 802.11y- 2008 “lite licensing” standard approved by the IEEE

23. FM Radio Television Mobile WiMax WiFi Opportunies in South Africa 802.11y “lite licensing” Television White Spaces Digital Dividend Spectrum un-used government spectrum

24. Industry Alliance in the United States Television White Spaces Use of television guard bands Digital dividend spectrum Serendipitous re-use

26. The Cost of Not Engaging...fixing bad spectrum regulation can take a generation or more

27. Steve Song email:steve.song@shuttleworthfoundation.org blog:http://manypossibilities.net skype:steve_l_song twitter:stevesongsteve.song@shuttleworthfoundation.orghttp://manypossibilities.net

28. Creative Commons Hand Holding a Mobile Phone by WhiteAfrican http://www.flickr.com/photos/whiteafrican/2736565604/ We share this... by Miguel Ramirez http://www.flickr.com/photos/ibizadj/323305938/ Other photos courtesy of http://www.istockphoto.com King Farouk in the inauguration of the international telecommunications congress 1938 by KodakAgfa http://www.flickr.com/photos/96884693@N00/1509615338/ Martin Cooper by Rico Shen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2007Computex_e21Foru m-MartinCooper.jpg Water Amplifier by mdezemery http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdezemery/295687769/ Seattle Raindrops and Flash by by Spappy.joneS http://www.flickr.com/photos/swift/94108224/