Incentive auction: a proposed mechanism to rebalance spectrum between broadcast television and mobile broadband [Spectrum policy and regulatory issues]

The lifeblood of wireless technology is the spectrum that it uses. Formal regulation of spectrum, on both the national and international levels, generally began after the Titanic disaster in 1912. Since that period the upper limit of practical spectrum use has moved steadily higher, spectrum efficiency has greatly improved, and new services have emerged that both serve the public and compete for spectrum with longer standing services. A general problem for spectrum managers around the world is how to adapt spectrum policy to such changes, for while technology moves at "Internet speed," most governments agencies move at "government speed," which is much slower.