Who Needs the FCC?

The WaPo reports,

Many of the FCC’s existing functions could be farmed out, Jamison wrote in the blog post. Subsidies for phone and Internet service could be handled by state governments, while the Federal Trade Commission could handle consumer complaints and take action against abuses by companies. There are some details that were not addressed in the blog post due to time constraints, Jamison said Tuesday, such as the possible need for new state-level powers to address broadband monopolies.

The story refers to Mark Jamison, an adviser to President-elect Trump.

I think it would be a great idea to reconstitute the FCC for the 21st century. Recall my essay, Sidestep the FCC and the FDA. There, I argue for replacing the FCC’s spectrum licensing system (which Jamison would retain) with an arbitration board to deal with disputes among spectrum users.

Unlike the FCC, the arbitration board would presume that any spectrum could be used for any purpose. The board would set ground rules for users to deal with one another to resolve potential conflicts. These ground rules might specify which user has priority until an agreement can be reached. The ground rules might set expectations for how negotiations ought to be conducted and resolved. If parties are unable to resolve disputes, then the board would rule on that specific dispute.

My thinking reflects a view of spectrum that I encountered over 15 years ago, which says that there really is no such thing as “interference” if you have the right hardware, software, and protocols in place.