Congress Will Auction Public Airwaves to Pay for Benefits

President Barack Obama is expected to sign legislation to authorize the auction of public spectrum now used for television broadcasts to create more wireless Internet systems. The revenue from these auctions will be used to offset the costs of the payroll tax cuts and extending unemployment benefits. This legislation draws from a 2008 Hamilton Project discussion paper focused on ways to reform spectrum policy to ensure the most efficient use of wireless spectrum. Among other proposals in the paper, author Philip Weiser suggests Congress facilitate an auction of remaining spectrum used for UHF broadcasting. Read more on Weiser’s proposal here.