FCC to Offer Rule on Trading Airwaves Rights

The Federal Communications Commission today is expected to formally propose rules aimed at allowing wireless telephone companies to trade unused rights to the airwaves, creating a market for the increasingly scarce resource, according to sources with knowledge of the initiative. The rule-making comes as federal authorities continue to grapple with a shortage of radio spectrum--a commodity that has become no less important to the modern technology world than coal was in the age of the steam engine. Wireless industry officials praised the proposed rules, which would allow carriers to buy and sell extra spectrum much the same way other commodities such as oil and electricity are now traded freely. But they added that the proposal is only a partial fix. Some executives also want the government to lift rules limiting how much of the airwaves a single company may own in a single market. The shortage of spectrum has become a growing political problem as the demand for wireless phones increases. Though busy signals and dropped calls can be caused by many things, often the reason is the carrier’s shortage of available spectrum.