Spectrum: Public Trust or Cash Cow?
Connected Planet, March 11, 2010
By Kevin Fitchard
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's recently called for identifing new spectrum for mobile broadband. His proposal was to "buy back" licenses from broadcasters. This implies that broadcasters own those licenses and even paid for them. Like any other radio frequency license, broadcast licenses are owned by the people and held in public trust by the licensees. So what exactly are we compensating them for?
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