VII. Conclusion

A national goal of not merely universal access to broadband, but of truly pervasive connectivity—high-capacity connectivity anywhere, anytime at affordable prices—will require an enormous increase in available spectrum capacity. The failure to move faster to authorize unused federal spectrum for at least opportunistic shared use (such as on a GAA basis) has an enormous opportunity cost as we enter an era where bandwidth abundance is in reach. The FCC’s recent adoption of a use-it-or-share-it approach in several bands are precedents that pave the way to an authorization of opportunistic access as the default policy for a growing number of underutilized and newly-allocated or auctioned bands, both federal and commercial. The commission should open a NPRM that proposes adding a use-it-or-share-it authorization for the most underutilized bands, as well as for all terrestrial flexible use bands that have not been built out in substantial portions of the country. Much of the prime spectrum auctioned over the past decade remains fallow—particularly in many rural and small town areas—and at the very least the FCC should consider conditional and temporary access to that spectrum capacity as part of this effort.