Super Wi-Fi, Incentive Auctions and the Emerging Unlicensed Economy

The airwaves that are open and unlicensed already generate more than $220 billion a year through Wi-Fi and other technologies for the U.S. economy.  And unlicensed access to vacant TV Band spectrum – the TV White Spaces – has already spurred deployments to connect unserved rural households and at universities and libraries. 
 
Less well known are the new technologies and services that are innovating to leverage the very special characteristics of this “Super Wi-Fi” spectrum to boost the productivity of many other industries, including agriculture, energy (smartgrid), oil and gas, ubiquitous Wi-Fi connectivity, rural broadband and device-to-device communication. This event highlighted the economic benefits of TV White Space spectrum – benefits that are presently at risk as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decides whether to adopt a balanced policy that prioritizes both licensed and unlicensed spectrum when it conducts “incentive auctions” to reallocate TV Band spectrum to wireless carriers next year.

Participants
Introductory Remarks: Overview of Unlicensed Market Adoption
Michael Calabrese
Director, Wireless Future Project, Open Technology Institute at New America Foundation
 
Featured Speakers:
Gabriel Desjardins

 
Brett Kilbourne

 
Robert Nichols
Declaration Networks Group
 
Elizabeth Bowles
CEO, Aristotle Inc.
 
Larry Koos
Co-Founder and VP Engineering, Koos Technical Services Inc.