Summary
1. The FCC is well-equipped by itself “to provide data on the licensees or government users.” 2. It should not need the help of the NTIA. 3. Why the commission has not already done something resembling an inventory is a mystery.
Analysis
Spectrum allocation and supervision should be one of the few legitimate activities of the FCC. The fact that a national spectrum inventory is needed shows how far the commission has been unnecessarily preoccupied in irrelevant matters even though supposedly there has been a deregulated telecom market.
This kind of legislation is a total winner for the politician. As the source article points out, just about all types of groups related to spectrum are going to be in favor of its passage. However, it may only be able to go so far in obtaining information. An article in Communications Daily reports that government agencies are given a lot of latitude in keeping their holdings confidential by the NTIA (the entity that will purportedly help put the data together.) “[A]ny government...inventory faces a fight and significant pushback from agencies that are not anxious to give up spectrum,” according to the publication. In the final analysis, a lot this bill may just be another way to score political points.
Of course, the involvement of the NTIA is also so that the executive branch gets credit “for the greater accountability to the public.”
