"What debates have caused spectrum policy to change course, and which will determine its future direction? This book examines these issues through a series of essays from a range of notable experts. The backdrop is a period of turbulent change in what was once a quiet backwater. The past quarter century has seen wireless connectivity go from nice-to-have luxury to the cornerstone of success as nations battle for leadership of the digital economy. The change has been reflected in the crucial role now played by markets mechanisms in a field once dominated by administrative decisions. Spectrum policy's goals have moved far beyond the efficient use of the airwaves to include encouraging economic development, investment, innovation, sustainability and digital inclusivity. Are historic procedures still appropriate in the face of this multiplicity of demands? Are market mechanisms like auctions still the best way to deliver what has become essential infrastructure? Does the process of international co-ordination need to change? Is spectrum policy's effectiveness limited by the power of global economic forces? Can it reduce rather than add to global warming? Where does 6G and AI fit in? Is public perception the new spectrum policy battle ground? These are all issues examined in The debates shaping spectrum policy"--

What debates have caused spectrum policy to change course and which will determine its future direction? This book examines these issues through a series of chapters from a range of notable experts. The backdrop is a period of turbulent change in what was once a quiet backwater. The past quarter century has seen wireless connectivity go from nice-to-have luxury to the cornerstone of success as nations battle for leadership of the digital economy. The change has been reflected in the crucial role now played by market's mechanisms in a field once dominated by administrative decisions. Spectrum policy’s goals have moved far beyond the efficient use of the airwaves to include encouraging economic development, investment, innovation, sustainability and digital inclusivity. Are historic procedures still appropriate in the face of this multiplicity of demands? Are market mechanisms like auctions still the best way to deliver what has become essential infrastructure? Does the process of international coordination need to change? Is spectrum policy’s effectiveness limited by the power of global economic forces? Can it reduce rather than add to global warming? Where does 6G and AI fit in? Is public perception the new spectrum policy battle ground? These are all issues examined in The Debates Shaping Spectrum Policy.

This chapter for a book on the future of digital television examines how spectrum policy priorities came to shape today's television broadcast system and the issues that will influence the future of wireless video. As video services come to migrate freely between wired and wireless platforms, and as broadcast television merges with other forms of wireless video, spectrum policy and the public interest values that it reflects will shape the video value chain. These values are often crosscutting and require tradeoffs among such interests as maintaining existing communications services, technical innovation, spectrum efficiency, universal service, media diversity, and competition. What tradeoffs are made, and what they cost, is too frequently hidden from public view.

Spectrum policy debates are generally divided between advocates for more robust property rights that would allow Coasian bargaining and advocates for spectrum commons that would permit more unlicensed applications. As recent debates about the upcoming broadcast spectrum incentive auctions indicate, there is also basic disagreement about what the Federal Communications Commission's role should be in managing spectrum for mobile wireless devices. Some advocates seek enhanced regulation that would implement bright-line limits of spectrum holdings and/or differentiate between spectrum bands in evaluations of spectrum aggregation, e.g., a separate limit for sub-1 GHz holdings, while others argue that the FCC should largely refrain from limiting spectrum aggregation across spectrum bands by wireless carriers. These debates are often seen as contests between the regulated and the regulator, i.e., wireless carriers and their organizations against the FCC, with a repetitive dynamic: the regulator seeks to implement its statutory mission by means of further regulation while the players in the industry resist constraints on their ability to act, or alternatively, seek regulation that furthers particular interests, e.g., regulation that benefits the dominant players, while disfavoring smaller competitors and new entrants. Interestingly, contemporary spectrum policy debates involve a broader set of actors than the regulators and the regulated. Today, spectrum policy advocates include numerous organizations and individuals that are not directly regulated, but believe they have a stake in spectrum policy. These advocates are distinct in their increased use and engagement with social media and new forms of Internet based advocacy instead of traditional processes, e.g., filing comments with the FCC at appropriate times in response to proposed rule makings. New forms of advocacy could allow for highly technical spectrum policy debates to engage large audiences, which encourages further participation by non-traditional actors. Despite its seemingly abstract and technical nature, spectrum policy is being debated in real time on Twitter on Facebook around the world and occupying the same space as commentary about Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga. This paper utilizes new tools for analyzing social media postings to understand the scope and contours of spectrum policy debates happening on social media. Raw Twitter and Facebook feed data is collected and analyzed using a variety of computational methods, including event detection, sentiment analysis, informational analysis and trending topic analysis. Visualization tools are also used to provide insight into the underlying data. These insights and analysis are then used to chart key events that lead to bursts of online activity; to map the geographic distribution of contributions, including international debates; and to synthesize recurring themes and memes. Based upon these empirical results, this paper seeks to engage academic debates regarding the contemporary politics of spectrum policy; the effect of online social media on policy debates, particularly regarding highly technical issues and resource allocation; and the efficacy of certain types of Internet engagement, including the social media efforts of the FCC and other established actors in this sphere.

Annotation Because the wireless industry is less capital intensive than others sectors in the telecommunications marketplace, it is expected to enjoy continued profitability. With survival at stake, telecommunications companies must ready themselves for battle to win access and operations rights in the wireless communications spectrum. This book maps out the strategies required to fight this battle by explaining how a telecommunications company should structure its entry and operations in the spectrum.

The convergence of wireless telecomm. technology with the Internet Protocol (IP) is fostering new generations of mobile technologies. This transformation has created new demands for advanced communications infrastructure and radio frequency spectrum capacity that can support high-speed, content-rich uses. Wireless technologies support public safety commun., sensors, smart grids, medicine and public health, intelligent transportation systems, and many other vital communications. Contents of this report: The Role of Spectrum Policy; The Nat. Broadband Plan and Spectrum Policy; National Purposes; Issues for the 111th Congress; Conclusion. Append.: Spectrum-Hungry Technol.; Competition; Internat. Policies for Spectrum Mgmt.

This book explores how language and communication shape the increasingly entangled lives of people and sea turtles at the nexus of sea turtle conservation and ecotourism. Here, new ecocultural identities are taking shape as people strive to make sense of their shifting multispecies landscape, and as sea turtles gradually reclaim beaches after decades of absence. The book offers researchers in ecolinguistics and related ecologically engaged fields in discourse analysis an integrative theoretical and methodological approach to empirically investigate the human and 'more-than-human' discourses and practices shaping problematic human-wildlife interaction. Containing short vignettes in each chapter covering the biology and behaviours of sea turtles, this book suggests how discourse analysts might contribute to a 'life-sustaining multispecies ethics' in an uncertain socio-ecological time increasingly being referred to as the Anthropocene.

This book is organized to examine the major subjects taught in American politics through the lens of twenty-five hot button issues affecting American politics and policy today. These key issues reflect the ideas, principles, concerns, fears, morals, and hopes of the American people. The authors argue that these issues are the heart and soul of the American political system, serving as the basis for the disagreements that drive citizens, public servants, and elected officials into action. Features of this Innovative Text Examines 25 issues in light of the 2016 presidential election and beyond. Up-to-date chapters reflect important developments in the arenas of money and politics, immigration, health care, race relations and civil rights, gun control, and gay rights in particular. Includes international coverage with recent and ongoing events surrounding Iran, Syria, Israel and Palestine, and China. A chapter on Russia puts recent developments in Syria, Ukraine, Crimea, and the "near abroad" in context with US foreign policy.