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A Policy Framework For Spectrum Allocation In Mobile Communications, T. Randolph Beard, George S. Ford, Lawrence J. Spiwak, Michael Stern

Federal Communications Law Journal

With the National Broadband Plan's promise of an additional 500 MHz of spectrum for commercial purposes, the question of how to allocate those resources among competing uses and users will dominate the communications policy debate over the coming years. In this Article, the Authors provide a theoretical analysis of some of the relevant tradeoffs involved in allocating spectrum among service providers, with a particular focus on incumbent exclusion rules such as spectrum caps. Two key assumptions center the analysis: (i) more firms implies lower prices (i.e., Cournot competition); and (ii) more spectrum permits more advanced services due to greater capacity …